Cross Dissolve NOT Smooth

[DanielFrick]

I've been having this issue since I first started with Premiere Pro (cs5) and it has kept me from using any dissolve transitions or the program altogether:

Dissolve transitions (specifically Cross Dissolve) will not end smoothly - there is always a jump at the last, seemingly, 10% or so of the transition. In other words, the dissolve goes from 100% opacity to 10% opacity of the previous clip. This is not a result of me having set those parameters in the effects controls. As well, it is not a playback quality/speed issue as you can advance frame by frame and see the problem. It also shows up in all timeline renders and final exports.

I've been hard pressed to find an answer anywhere. I had come across an OLD Creative Cow post with what I thought was my identical problem. In that thread it mentioned manually adjusting opacity keyframes with bezier controls. That was not the solution and the thread was left answer-less. It is a very noticeable difference in dissolve smoothness compared to After Effects or Final Cut and is not professional-looking.

Extending the length of the dissolve is no fix either. The problem persists in both Hardware Accelerated Mercury Extreme playback AND Software-Only settings. However, I have found intermittent success with Software-Only. BUT, that's kind of useless as editing without the Hardware Acceleration is a much larger step backward (absolutely a must when working with RED footage, DSLR or higher bitrate/resolution material).

I pray someone has had this issue too and can shed some light on a solution.

Some of my specs:

8 Core 2.8Ghz Xeon Mac Pro (early 2008 - 3,1)

12GB Ram

Geforce GTX 285 Mac Edition

RAID for video (there is no bottle neck here)

OSX 10.6.8

Premiere Pro CS5

Thanks for your time!

[DMH79]

Thank you very much for all your input. Unfortunately, even though I have the latest iMac Adobe has yet to support its card (AMD 6970M) for hardware acceleration. Even more unfortunate, I don't  really know how to use waveform so I couldn't test the footage in my timeline. Sigh. Still, linear should be linear and consistent and I'm not sure what the exact cause is of the issue. In FCP, I never had to ease in/out. Their linear was smooth all the time. This is all very strange to me.

[Magnus Allgurén]

Love the video!

now...just want to chime in. This video was exported using GPU acceleration I assume? I noticed quite a few opacity jumps in the beginning and ending of the dissolves. I have experienced the same issues ever since the mercury engine was introduced.

Generally what I do, is to have the GPU on during work and turn it off, using software mercury engine upon mastering/exporting. That is the only way I have found working 100% of the time.

[shooternz]

I think that viewing the video I posted is displaying streaming and/or compression issues...that I dont see in the original or the sequence.

[Magnus Allgurén]

I suppose you'd be right! lol

[Jim_Simon]

is there a way to set it to always default as EASE IN or EASE OUT?

Already done.

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1010578?tstart=60

[DMH79]

Jim Simon wrote:

is there a way to set it to always default as EASE IN or EASE OUT?

Already done.

http://forums.adobe.com/thread/1010578?tstart=60

Thanks Jim! Two Questions:

1) Exactly how is this Film Fade Preset different than the current Film Dissolve? How is it different than Cross Dissolve? Does it incorporate a smoother start/finish (eg. ease in/out)?

2) I see in that thread its set to default at 1 second? Can I change that to two seconds somehow by default? If not, its not a big deal as I can just manually adjust, just curious.

Thanks!

[Jim_Simon]

The preset is based on keyframing the Opacity, Tint and Levels effects.  It is designed to emulate an optical fade with real film, during which you will see the darker areas fade to black quicker than the highlights.  Similarly, you will see the highlights appear first, with the rest of the image following, during a fade in.

Currently those keyframes do not Ease Out or In because I didn't feel it was necessary, but you can always change that and save new Presets.

[DMH79]

Jim Simon wrote:

Currently those keyframes do not Ease Out or In because I didn't feel it was necessary, but you can always change that and save new Presets.

That's awesome. How would I go about changing and saving new presets? Never done that before.

[Jim_Simon]

Change it, then right click on it.

[DMH79]

I was able to create my own preset fades with the ease-in/out. Thank you for the advice. Now is there ANY way to create a cross dissolve preset (that can span accross two clips when they are back to back on the same track like the cross dissolve effect can) or can I somehow adjust the current cross dissolve so that it eases in/out? The current cross dissolve and film dissolve effects aren't bad, its just not as smooth at the start and end as if you put tracks on top of each other and eased in/out. 

[Jim_Simon]

Now is there ANY way to create a cross dissolve preset

Not as such, no.  You can use what you have with an A/B type edit, but not if the clips are on the same track.

[RyanGV]

Looks like this is still an issue in Premiere Pro CC (over 2 years after the intial post).  I don't notice it when using a cross dissolve between 2 clips, but it's very noticeable if I try to fade out a title.  For example if there's footage on track V1, title text on V2 and a cross dissolve transition dropped on the end of the title, it doesn't fade out completely. Looks like it jumps from 10% to 0%.  This happens both with the default transition and if I try to keyframe the opacity from 100 to 0.  The fix mentioned by another poster about switching mercury playback engine to software only works for me, but It's pretty annoying to have to keep turning it off and on.

[Jim_Simon]

It's not an issue, it's by design.

One new feature of Premiere Pro CC is that you can turn off Linear Color in the sequence settings, without disabling GPU acceleration altogether.

[Danielpremiere]

Hi. I have simply left the hardware MPE GPU Acceleration (CUDA) disabled and purely used the MPE software only.

It is unfortunate as everything has to be rendered, but it least it has the desired effect. Given that the two states (MPE hardware on or off) give different results, I don't understand why it is by design, rather than an issue.

I find it difficult to believe what I am seeing with the MPE hardware on is really what Adobe intended - and why did the look change from CS3, when there was no "option" but the dissolve looked like it does now with the MPE hardware off.

I will try and find the time to post a video with both types so you can see the difference.

[Jim_Simon]

Given that the two states (MPE hardware on or off) give different results, I don't understand why it is by design, rather than an issue.

Because Adobe designed it that way.  Software processes it one way, and hardware another way.

I will try and find the time to post a video with both types so you can see the difference.

No need.  I'm well aware.

[DMH79]

Unfortunately, the issue is not fixed for video cross dissolves when GPU is disabled. Since we use hundreds of cross dissolves a week, we got around the issue by creating a fade-in/out preset with the "ease in" "ease out" applied to each fade. Using CS6, my computer was not GPU enabled and we experienced the issue all the time as stated above. Seems worse with text so maybe disabling GPU acceleration resolves that, but it doesn't fix it for video unfortunately. We've become used to using the custom preset now so all is well and I haven't even tested it on CC with or without the new "Linear Color" setting. But I just wanted to toss in here that while going software only may help the text, the only way around the issue with video is to use a custom preset and ease-in/out. I guess that's life. BTW, if you want to see what the issue is with video that I'm referring to, then check out the video in post #4 of this thread...that is a perfect example.

[Jim_Simon]

my computer was not GPU enabled and we experienced the issue all the time as stated above.

That will happen if you check Max Render Quality, which also use linear color.

[RyanGV]

Jim Simon wrote:

Given that the two states (MPE hardware on or off) give different results, I don't understand why it is by design, rather than an issue.

Because Adobe designed it that way.  Software processes it one way, and hardware another way.

I will try and find the time to post a video with both types so you can see the difference.

No need.  I'm well aware.

I have to agree with Daniel on this, why would Adobe design it that way? Something as simple as a cross-dissolve should look smooth in a render/export regardless of GPU acceleration being on or off.  It wouldn't be an issue if the little glitch was only in renders but it also shows up on exported files.

[Jim_Simon]

why would Adobe design it that way?

"...processing is done in a linear color space (i.e., gamma = 1.0) at 32 bits per channel (bpc), which results in more realistic results, finer gradations in color, and better results for midtones."

http://blogs.adobe.com/premierepro/2011/02/cuda-mercury-playback-engine-and-adobe-premiere-pro.html

[Averdahl]

...but it's very noticeable if I try to fade out a title.  For example if there's footage on track V1, title text on V2 and a cross dissolve transition dropped on the end of the title, it doesn't fade out completely. Looks like it jumps from 10% to 0%.

This is fixed in 7.0.1. If you already have 7.0.1, go to Sequence > Sequence Settings and un-check "Composite in Linear Color...".

I just checked, it's present in 7.0.0 and it is fixed in 7.0.1 when you have let's say video on V1 and a Title on V2.

[RyanGV]

Thanks Averdahl, seems to be working when I uncheck that option and looks like it's still able to use Mercury when rendering.

[Michael_J_Titera]

Thanks, Averdahl!

It's sad that Adobe has not properly addressed this issue even in CC Version 12 (October 2017).

[Averdahl]

It's sad that Adobe has not properly addressed this issue even in CC Version 12 (October 2017).

Yes it is, especially when third party companies such as filminpact.com have a transition that works no matter what the Sequence Setting are. Try their free Impact Dissolve from Transition Pack 1. Download the demo and try.

I don´t know why Adobe refuses to admit or comment that there is a problem with their stock transitions in certain situations when using GPU. I have filed numerous bugs regarding this very issue during the years. And i also don´t know why Adobe staff refuses to reply to threads like this.

I have seen broadcasted documentaries that clearly was edited on Premiere Pro since the transitions started and ended very abruptly all the time. It did look really bad.

[RyanGV]

For reference here are stills of the last frame of the cross dissolve with each MPE option (white text on black background):

Mercury Playback Engine GPU acceleration

http://imgur.com/GBtte8q

Mercury Playback Engine software only

http://imgur.com/KOjK7q0

[marcfratto]

i've had the same problem with adobe for years.  my workaround has been doing the dissolves using the opacity controls and keyframing them and stretching out the dissolve on the last few frames.  It sucks but it is what it is, I guess.