Difficulty and Failure trying to apply cross-fade transition

[Ken Nielsen]

It has worked well in the past but now, applying transitions to clips on the timeline seems to be a hit and miss process. I've tried selecting two clips and with cross-fade set as my default transition hitting command + D does nothing. When I drag the cross-fade icon from the effects panel over the point between two adjacent clips it acts like it is going to work but when I release the cursor the transition is not there. The best I have been able to do is drag the cross-fade to one side of the adjoining poing between clips and it then drops to one side or the other. Only by accident, I don't know how, just one time after an hour of attempts, one cross-fade did land where it should have and is affecting the trasition evenly between two clips. Is there any advice in what might be going wrong? or should I just turn the computer off and walk away and do something else today?

TIA,

Ken
Cross-fade a hit or miss or not work at all proposition...

[Jeff Bellune · Accepted solution]

The stripes in your transition icons indicate "danger". There are not enough "handles" (or frames of footage) in one or the other or both clips to create the transition. Try overlapping the clips to give yourself enough frames, then reapply the transitions.

[Ken Nielsen]

Thanks Jeff. Amazing that none of the references I looked at even mention such a 'now obvious' requirement. I appreciate your keen sense and for helping me out of a rut with this.

Ken

[Kevin-Monahan]

Hi Ken,

Sorry for the frustration in seeking out info. Did you check out the manual? Handles are explained there if you scroll down a little: Applying transitions in Premiere Pro.

User guide is a good source of stuff. I try and help the writing staff if I can. Let me know if there's anything you are having trouble with finding, or just ask here. We can help you.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Ken Nielsen]

Kevin, I studied Premiere Pro for over a year, bought the best books and made notes and my own library of discoveries put down in a way that I could grasp the meaning, the 'world' of each subject. I have to say that something about this 'overlapping' which makes so much sense now, never even made it into my notes. Don't every let anyone tell you that this stuff is easy. The user guide is the best I agree. but daunting in its volume so the publications that 'cover' it all in a sense is better for the beginner as you will be led through the process without being bogged down in too much detail. So now, years later, I discover it is the 'too much detail that I really need right now. Thanks for pointing to the user manual... and that is where I will keep my nose pointed now that I'm entering the world of shooting 8k RAW format... It's already getting very deep on demand for equipment performance just to work with this footage.Thanks Kevin, I'll go to the link you providedd and thanks for these forums for being the realy amazing help because of so many like yourself, who are willing to help... Thanks To All Who Have and Are Responding Here... 

Ken

[Jeff Bellune]

"Thanks Jeff. Amazing that none of the references I looked at even mention such a 'now obvious' requirement. I appreciate your keen sense and for helping me out of a rut with this."

You're welcome. 😀

[R Neil Haugen]

"Handles" are one of those gotcha things. Until you understand them, transitions are screwy. After you understand them, they make sense. And for a lot of us, it takes some time to really absorb what is happening, and why 'handles' are necessary. And understanding what happens during them.

Neil

[Ken Nielsen]

Thanks R. Neil, It's very humbling to discover how much I don't know... Just this one subject should keep me busy for a while now... Thank You.

Ken

[R Neil Haugen]

I'm very, very aware of my vast lack of knowledge compared to so many others. I've told people that Premiere has a steep learning curve at first, but don't worry about it.

It gets a lot steeper a little farther in ... sigh.

Neil

[DrTc]

Is there not a transition in PR that fades in and out adjacent clips?
I want to apply on captions, make one fade out and the next fade in, but NOT crossfade. 
The only way I have found is separating them apply the fade and then manually bringing them together...
If I use  effect presets instead again requires applying one to to each clip finding exact positions etc.

Is there no option to fade out and in on a single transition?