Setting Dissolve Length

jetdv wrote on 5/14/2002, 10:08 AM

Is there any way to manually set the dissolve length to a specific number? For instance, the "Cut to overlap conversion time" setting will allow you to set the default length of a transition (.5 = 1/2 second). However, there are times when the dissolve length needs to be a different size.

Is there a place where you can enter "I want this dissolve to be 4 seconds long" without having to manually calculate the starting point and ending point from the center and moving the dissolve start and stop to those points?

Comments

Chienworks wrote on 5/14/2002, 11:54 AM

What do you mean when you say you want a dissolve length to be different from the transition time? Aren't these by definition the same thing? The effect will last as long as the overlap between the clips.

jetdv wrote on 5/14/2002, 12:22 PM

I would like to be able to enter, from the keyboard, how long I would like the transition to be. By default, it is about 1/4 second. I have upped that to 1/2 second since that is what I want most of mine to be. However, if I want a 4 second dissolve, I would like to be able to right-click the dissolve, choose "Set dissolve length" and enter 4 seconds (or 120 frames) on the keyboard instead of having to drag the left edge 1 3/4 seconds and the right edge 1 3/4 seconds. Ideally, I would like to be able to specify:

This dissolve is "x" seconds or frames long (prefer frames)
The "center" of the dissolve is at "x" frames. This would allow for off-center dissolves but the default should be center.

SonyEPM wrote on 5/14/2002, 1:06 PM

Vegas doesn't make you go through the AVID-style add transition dialog that asks for all the parameters of the transition up front, but you can easily measure the length and adjust after the transition is created:

add a transition and double click on it- a time selection is created. Time selection length is displayed in the "selection length" box on the lower right of the timeline. This will allow you to tweak the length to a specific duration.

As stated earlier you can adjust the default transition length in prefs>editing if you find that you typically want a specific duration that differs from the default.

TIP: Create a selection that is bigger than the transition and play with Loop Playback enabled. You can adust the transition as you play back the loop- slide it, trim edges, change the transition type...with RAM preview turned on complex transitions are background-rendered to RAM and get smoother each time you play through the loop.

SonyDennis wrote on 5/14/2002, 3:53 PM

Also, try this:

Trim the transition or dissolve back into a cut. Set your desired transition time. Drag and drop a transition (from the Transitions window) to the cut. It's converted back to a transition with your desired length.

Some additional tips:

NumPad /, *, and - drop a Crossfade, Dissolve, or Linear Wipe at the cursor (if it's at a cut) for the focus track.

When you're dragging clips with the mouse, and additional "snap point" (besides the end of the previous clip) is "the end of the previous clip minus the default transition time". This allows you to set up standard sized transitions with mouse-based editing.

///d@

jetdv wrote on 5/14/2002, 4:22 PM

Thanks for the additional tips. I will test them out. I wasn't suggesting a replacement for the existing method, simply an augmentation to it - another way of fine-tuning the transition.