Cross-doesnt work??

Question

Ok its not really that the cross-fade transition doesnt work, its just that sometimes when i will atempt to add this default transition in between two clips, it will only be 3 fams long (or something like that).
I always wondered why exactly this happened. to avoide it, well i dont really know what i do, it seems that only every now and then ill add the transition and fcp does this. It wont let me change the duration of the transition at all, it just adds a very short unoticable 3 or maybe 5 frame cross-fade, and the only thing i can do is delete it write.
So, i would appreciate some enlight the reason for this and how can i stop it?

Answer 1

You could search this forum for "handles" for ad nauseum explanations.
My favorite is the drunk driving analogy. You are stopped by the police. you are asked to close your eyes, extend your arms and touch your fingertips together. If you hit tip to tip dead on you cannot dissolve. If you overlap by a knuckle or two, that's the limit of your possible transition.