Adding transitions cuts/extends my video clips?

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Level 1

13 points

Adding transitions cuts/extends my video clips?

Hi,

Hope you guys can help me!

I've just started to cut a project in FCPX version 10.2 (newest one.) I don't believe the version of FCPX on my computer has been used by anyone else so far and has not been customized in any way (it's at my workplace.) So it probably has all of the factory settings.

What happens is that when I have two clips (in this case a title clip and a clip of footage) and want to add a transition over it, instead of overlaying the two clips, adding the transition causes one the clips to be cut shorter by the length of the transition/s. If I try to extend or shorten the transition, it will extend or shorten my video clips along with the transition, which throws everything off.

All I want is to put the transition equally over the two clips, transition smoothly from one clip to another, without changing anything about the length of the two clips in the timeline. How can I do this? I've tried adding transitions in different ways, dragging and dropping, using Command T for the default transition. It's always the same result. I've tried to find a setting for this, but couldn't really find one. I probably wasn't looking in the right place.

Please help, it would save hours of time and frustration! 😕

Thanks! 🙂

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Jul 1, 2015 11:08 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 2, 2015 1:16 AM in response to quiensera

to create a 'cut' into a transition, both involved clips HAVE to be extended, to make them 'overlap'.

The built in Precision Editor illustrates this, ....

Only by extending the clips, the overall Project length is kept untouched.

When your clips do NOT offer handles, any transiton would shorten the overall Projects length ...

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Answer 2

quiensera Author

Level 1

13 points

Jul 2, 2015 2:12 PM in response to Karsten Schlüter

I'm not worried about the project length, just the length of my edits. What I'm editing is actually a simple project, there is a speaker who is asked a question of camera and then he responds. I need to put a fade in, a title, fade out and back in to him speaking, then one more fade out to a short end title. I have several dozen such questions I all need to edit in the same way. The problem is that the edits need to be very precise. If the cut is too early, one will hear (and see) the speaker perhaps babble something that isn't supposed to be in the edit. Or one will hear the director yell "Cut" or ask the off camera question.

I just want to put the fade OVER the edit point I have selected, without changing anything about the length of my clips. So the darkest part of the fade would be over the original edit point. I remember editing something in Premiere Pro before and that's how it was set up, the transition/fade would just be put equally OVER the two clips, not move anything. I think previous versions of FCPX had something called an "Overlay Edit" which might be what I need. However, that option seems to be gone now. So, how can I put in and adjust the fades and still keep the precise edit point that I need? Or can I at least shorten my clip again in the Precision Editor without also shortening the fade? There's got to be a way to do this.

Thanks for responding! 🙂

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