Help with Final Cut Pro basics?

Software
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1

I have a bunch of video clips (all mp4).

I would like to put them together with a brief “fade out to black” / “fade in from black” between each clip.

Does not need to be fancy, at all. Just looking for something extremely straightforward.

I tried searching for this on YouTube and was extremely surprised not to find anything useful. Either I’m searching for the wrong terms or this is too basic for anyone to bother explaining how to do.

But I’m not sure how to do it.

Anyone have any suggestions, either what steps to take, or where to look for FCP “Absolute Beginner” levels of help?

TIA.

2

I’m a super beginner. Everything I’ve learned has been due to moving services online because of COVID. If I couldn’t find a real way to do it I would:

  1. Make a black slide in keynote.
  2. Export it as a JPEG
  3. Drop it between each video segment and adjust its length.
  4. Add transitions

You might be able to do it just once and then copy and paste, but I’m not sure on that.

3

I believe you’re looking for the “Fade to Color” transition. This should fade out / in based on whether it’s added at the beginning of the clip or the end.

To get to the transitions you’ll want to click on the icon on the right-hand side that looks like a sideways hourglass.

I would add all clips in a row to the Timeline and then drag the Fade To Color transition from the transitions panel to each clip.

I’m not at my computer but I can record a short tutorial later if it’d help. :blush:

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4

Yes, and please upload it to YouTube for the world to see!

5

I’d be interested to see it, although I think I followed your steps in theory.

I’m sure such a thing would help others, too.

6

Here’s a quick demo of how I’ve done it. I’m definitely not a FCP expert, so there might be better ways to accomplish this. I’ll record this with a bit more “finesse” another day when I can talk and put a little more time into it.

Note: FCP will sometimes prompt for that “Create Transition” alert when the clips are smaller and it can’t create the transition without bleeding into the other clip(s).

7

Lynda.com has a bunch of Final Cut training. Many local libraries offer it free so worthwhile to check there.

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8

Hey! I just wanted to say thanks for this. I finally had a chance to try it today, and it was super-simple to follow.

If there’s a way to make the transition a little more gradual, that would be good to know how to do (I looked around but couldn’t figure it out and have 22 videos to edit for Christmas Eve so…), but even as it is, it’s much nicer than a harsh “cut to black” which is what I was getting with my old method.

Thank you!

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