How can I easily do fades-to-black, fades-from-black, crossfades, etc.?

Here's how to do a fade-to-black, fade-from-black, crossfade, or any other sort of fade effect in Premiere 5.0. (I actually use 5.1c and if you're using 5.0, the upgrade to 5.1c from the Adobe website is free, so do it.)

Way early, I realized that the fancy transitions are severely limited because they can only be applied to Tracks1A and 1B. Later, I thanked the Lords of Adobe for not allowing us to clutter up all the superimposition tracks with that junk. What a mess that would be!

Let's say you have a clip called ScaryMonster.mov and a clip called PensiveMonster.mov and a clip called SleepingChild.mov. Each is 4 seconds long. You want the scene to be ScaryMonster.mov, with a 15-frame (half-second) fade-to-black, followed by one second of black, followed by a 15-frame fade-from-black to PensiveMonster.mov, and at the end, a 15-frame cross-fade to SleepyChild. Total time: 12 seconds; 15 frames (basically, 12-and-a-half seconds).

First step, in order to do a fade-to-black, it's best to make a black, so use the image editing app of your choice (Photoshop, Paint, whatever) and make a single black image. I make mine 720x480, but you can make it whatever your project size is. Doesn't matter. Save that image as a PCT file or a BMP file, calling it ScreenBlack.pct or ScreenBlack.bmp (I tend to use PCT, but it doesn't matter). Don't save it as JPG or anything else unless you absolutely must. (Note -- if you prefer violet to black, you can make a violet image and save it as ScreenViolet -- I have lots of different colors for different effects)

Now, import that new graphic image into your project.

Put ScaryMonster.mov on Video Track 1. It'll fill out to 4 seconds. Above it -- on Video Track 2 -- place ScreenBlack.pct.

Right-click on ScreenBlack.pct and select "Duration..." and choose 15 frames. You'll note that this probably makes the image on the timeline skinnier.

Slide ScreenBlack along the timeline of Video Track 2 until the end of ScreenBlack clicks directly above the end of ScaryMonster.mov. That will eventually be your 15-frame fade-to-black.

The next step is the 1 second of black.

Right-click on ScreenBlack.pct and change the duration to 1;15 (1 second and 15 frames). Now you'll note that ScreenBlack has extended to the right by a second. Yay!

Now place PensiveMonster.mov on Video Track 1 such that the beginning of PensiveMonster.mov lines up with the ending edge of ScreenBlack.pct. Premiere will help you out with this by doing a little snap-to action.

Right-click on ScreenBlack.pct and change the duration to 2;00 (adding another 15 frames to it). You'll note that it now overlaps PensiveMonster.mov by -- drumroll, please -- 15 frames. That will eventually be your fade-from-black.

Now you'll place SleepingChild.mov. Remember, we're going to arrange for a 15-frame crossfade.

Right click on PensiveMonster.mov and change the Duration to 3;15 (three seconds, 15 frames). If you can't get the Duration to change this way, then try changing Duration via the Rate dialog box, which should be right next to Duration.

Place SleepingChild.mov on Video Track 2, sliding it until the beginning of SleepingChild.mov lines up with the end of PensiveMonster.mov.

Right-click on PensiveMonster.mov and change the Duration back to 4;00. Note that they now overlap.

Almost there -- we just have to do the cross-fades now...

All the way to the left of Video Track 2, you'll see a little triangle, probably pointing to the right. If you click it, it'll switch to pointing down and Video Track 2 will magically expand. Here's the real joy -- video tracks 2 and up are all superimposition tracks, which means you can monkey with their transparency. That's what we're going to do next!

When you expanded Video Track 2, the icons basically stayed the same and a section of color opened up beneath each one. Under SleepingChild.mov, it's probably yellow or white (I can't remember). Under ScreenBlack.pct, it's pink. Note that in that newly-opened section, right at the top is what appears to be a very thin red horizontal line. On either end of each of the clips, that line terminates in a tiny red square. These squares are adjustment handles and the thin red line is the opacity rubber band. It rocks my world.

Use the finger tool. At the very beginning of ScreenBlack.pct, grab the adjustment handle and drag it to the bottom of the pink region. Note that as you do so, the opacity rubberband starts to form a diagonal line from the lower left of the pink region to the upper right of the pink region under ScreenBlack.pct. Leave the handle at the bottom left corner of the pink region.

Now, on that diagonal opacity rubber band, click and hold somewhere close to the end of ScaryMonster.mov. You'll notice that your click will make a new adjustment handle. Way cool! Slide that adjustment handle to the top of the pink region, as near the end of ScaryMonster.mov as you can. Again, Premiere will try and be helpful and kinda' snap it into the right place.

Now, your opacity rubber band for ScreenBlack.pct goes from 0% (totally transparent) at the beginning of ScreenBlack.pct to 100% (totally opaque) at the end of ScaryMonster.mov and stays at 100% to the end of ScreenBlack.pct. The first fade-to-black is complete!

Now, grab the adjustment handle at the end of ScreenBlack.pct and drag it down to 0% (because we're going to do a fade-from-black to transparent). Again, it makes a big diagonal from the last adjustment handle, but you're going to add a new adjustment handle -- by clicking on the opacity rubber band -- right about where PensiveMonster.mov starts. Slide the new handle back to the top (100% opaque). Now, your opacity rubber band starts at 0% and in 15 frames hits 100%, stays there for a second and then drops back to 0% in the last 15 frames.

You'll probably notice that SleepingChild has an opacity rubber band, too. Anything in a superimposition video track has an opacity rubber band. Set SleepingChild's opacity rubber band to 0% at the start of the clip, 100% at the point where PensiveMonster.mov ends (you'll have to make a new adjustment handle, but you can do so by clicking on the opacity rubber band, easy-as-pie).

Okay, now the next-to-last thing you do is a nearly no-brainer. Above ScaryMonster.mov is the marker that indicates how long the clip is. It's probably at 2 seconds or so. Drag the right-hand of that until it clicks into place directly above the end of SleepingChild.mov.

The very last step is critical: Save the clip and -- when it's done saving -- press "Enter" to initiate a preview.

When it's done chunking, you'll have exactly the correct sequence as described above.

For future reference, you can add superimposition tracks and put all kinds of things in those tracks, messing with the opacity settings, and the motion settings and the filters of any item. You can build really complicated-looking effects solely with these techniques. Very handy stuff!

I hope this proves useful for you!

Cheers,

Edward Martin III