[Ritchie Sax]

KC,
Thanks for the response. I tried it both ways. Nesting does work with the dissolve but I found my Live Type layer shifting at the end of the dissolve. One fix creates a new problem. So, I tried the matte layer and found that I could place a slug the length of my dissolve and change the opacity from 100 to 0 and that would act as a dissolve from color. AVID speak, I know, but it did the job. I wish there was a preset transition that did the job but you led me down the right road.
Thank you,
RItchie