Dip to transparent?

[Bob at IndigoHealth]

I often put song lyrics into my videos using the basic Graphics workspace. What I would really love is a transition I can drag onto the cut between two different text graphics, and dip to transparent so the the previous text fades out and the new text fades in. Dip to Black and Dip to White don't do what I want to do, because they make the entire graphic clip become black or white, hiding the layers beneath them.

Is there an easy way to do this, or must I put one frame between the graphics clips and use two Cross Disolve transitions (one at the end of the first clip and one at the beginning of the next clip)?

[John V Knowles · Accepted solution]

Hi Bob,

Unfortunately there's no "dip to transparent" like you're asking for. A cross dissolve on the ends of the clips will do the trick, you just have to set the start or end to be on the cut so that your text doesn't cross dissolve into each other. 

Alternately, look up "responsive design" with Essential Graphics. You can set a common time for your fades -- say 12 frames  -- then give the graphic a responsive buffer of twelve frames on both ends. Then go into Effects Controls and add opacity key frames at those 12 frame intervals (0% and 100% at the beginning, then 100% to 0% at the end). The nice thing about this method is that you don't need to worry about adding transitions and you can freely re-size the length of the clip and the keyframes you placed in the responsive areas (the opacity) will always stay locked to the ends. Just copy this graphic for each new one or better yet -- save it as a motion template!

HTH,

JVK