addressed Experiencing difficulties when applying transitions between clips

[John Kearns]

Hi, I am a new VideoPad user having recently installed it and this is actually my first experience of video editing too so, I am a real novice.  So far, I have found VideoPad to be generally pretty intuitive and I feel that I am getting along with it reasonably well.  That said, I am having trouble getting a smooth transition when I apply them between clips.   I've noticed that I quite frequently get a split second repetition of part of the clip I'm transitioning out of at the beginning of the clip I'm transitioning in to, just before the clips changes to the new view.  I've tried everything to resolve this but I'm really struggling to understand what is happening here.  My guess is I'm doing something silly but what?  Any guidance would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks,  John, Oxford, UK

[Nationalsolo]

Hi

If using an overlapping crossfade transition Clip 1 fades out for the selected duration whilst Clip 2 fades in during the overlap. 

If the fade out part of the transition is faulty, (There used to be a bug in an earlier version where Clip 1 faded out incorrectly.)then opaque frames at the end of Clip 1 might flash up.

Check this...

Place a clip on the timeline and follow it by a blank black clip. Add a crossfade to the join between them and see if the end few frames of clip 1 flash up at the end of the fade out or at some point around the join. This might imply that the the fade out part of the transition is faulty as Clip 1 should disappear completely.

As an alternative place Clip 1 on Track 2 with the black blank clip on Track one just overlapping underneath at the end of Clip 1. Add a Fade Out  effect to Clip 1 and check if there are any frames that suddenly show up  at the end of the fade out.

If you want some info re; what the transition process is just ask. Others may come in with suggestions here.

Nat

[borate]

As Nat noted, some older versions had a bug that affected some transitions.  What Videopad version is being used?

Install the latest version.  For licensed users upgrades are free for up to six months from purchase date.  After that, VP will continue to fully function but a fee will be required in order to register the newest.  Retain your old install file and registration info.

[John Kearns]

Many thanks for the replies.  I was using software version 10.96 which seems a little odd as I only downloaded the software on December 9th and that version was dated mid October.  Anyway, I have now updated to the latest version of 11.07 and the transitions appear to be behaving themselves now.  Thanks again for the very helpful guidance, much appreciated.  

Regards, John

[borate]

Odd.  There have been no other reports of transition problems with version 10.96.  But ... whatever succeeds.

Feel no pressure to use a newer version if the current one is working well. The latest can be test driven to see what's new.  It may be best to wait, should issues arise.

[John Kearns]

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.  I have to say that I'm generally very impressed with VideoPad.  As an absolute newbie to video editing, I'm finding my way around it pretty well and that, to me is a credit to the software.  Thanks again, John

[Mick99]

I've just bought a new PC, so had to re-download Videopad - and it's a new version, of course. Now when I try to use transitions (usually crossfade) it says there isn't enough "material" for an overlapping transition, and gives me 2 choices for what to do about it. The old version used to just put the transition in, with no fuss. Is this explained anywhere? I don't get it.

[borate]

The way this works hasn't changed in many years.  It's clip dependent.

If OPTIONS | EDITING is set to Ask 

and either the FROM or TO clip does not have enough extra content at their cut point to accommodate the transition length, then the warning will appear.

If Generate Freeze is chosen the FROM clip will freeze halfway through the transition and the TO clip will be frozen until halfway, when its movement begins.

           Shortening the length of transition length can minimize the 'look' of a freeze.

If Move Clip to Overlap is chosen, all later clips will shift slightly to make room for the transition.  This may throw audio that is not linked to video out of sync.

Allowing extra video at the end of the FROM clip and start of the TO clip may avoid the issue entirely.

If OPTIONS is set to Freeze or Move then that action will automatically be applied, with no prompt.

[Mick99]

Thanks. I'm still not clear what "enough extra content" means. For instance I may have 2 clips of about a minute each & I want a 3-second fade between them, or sometimes longer if it's slow-moving footage. The "move clips" option tends to get a better result.

[borate]

If untrimmed clips are placed on the sequence, then there's no excess content.  Transitioning between them will result in the behavior noted above.

Trim a few seconds from the tail of the FROM clip and the same from the head of the TO clip.  Add a transition between them.  If the trans is shorter than the excess that was trimmed there will be no prompt and no need to 'move.'  Of course, the clips themselves must be long enough to accommodate the transition.

Video that is trimmed out is not actually deleted - only the UNtrimmed portion displays.   Prove it with a test...

Place an untrimmed clip on the sequence and attempt to drag the right-border handle ] bracket to the right.  It won't go, because there's no more video.

Now trim off several seconds from the end of that clip.  Drag the handle again and note that as it's moved to the right, the trimmed-out section appears.

[Mick99]

Thanks, it's getting clearer. But sometimes I don't get the handle bracket ], just the double-headed arrow?

By "trim" do you mean split (with the scissor button), then cut?

[borate]

Yes, there are several ways to trim.  One is to scissors twice, to isolate the video you want, then Delete or Delete/Ripple the section between those cuts.

Another:  select a clip in the bin that's not yet on the sequence.  Move the red cursor to the start point and click Set Start.  Then to the end point and Set End.

Now click the ADD button and the section of the clip that was cut out will drop onto the sequence.  WHERE it's placed can be specified...

click the chevron at the right of the ADD button and make a choice. 

The double-headed arrow appears at a cut point.  Move the pointer slowly.

The [ for the FROM clip or the ] for the TO clip brackets may not appear unless the clip itself is dragged to create a gap...

 

.

[Nationalsolo]

Hi

The double headed arrow is associated with the cursor line. If the cursor line is on the join it is easy to click that in error instead of the handles.

You can also delete a section of a clip that is already on the timeline without using the scissors using that double headed arrow...

• Move the cursor by draggng the red block at its upper end to the start of the unwanted bit or by playing the timeline
• Grab the red cursor line on the line itself....you will now see a double headed horizontal arrow
• Drag the cursor right or left to highlight in blue the unwanted section.
• Right click and select Delete Selected region.
• The unwanted bit is  deleted.
• Use  the Undo arrow on the top tool bar in the event of an error.

Nat