Need help with CS4 transitions

Question

Hi,
I am trying to use a cross dissolve transition. To make it simple, I have two clips. I'm obviously doing something wrong here. I've watched the Adobe TV tutorial and all the guy does is to select cross dissolve from the effects box, and drags it over to the clip on the timeline. I think I am doing the exact same thing, but when I play my clip back, I can see no transition effect played back.
Maybe I'm putting it in the wrong place I thought, so I tried putting it in front of the split between the two clips. Then again at the beginning of the second clip. Neither of them worked, so I shut CS4 down, and booted it up again. I started a new project, and put two new clips in it. I put the dissolve transition at the beginning of the second clip, and it worked like a charm. Then to see if that was a fluke, went to a point about 3 minutes earlier in the timeline. So now I am on clip one. I go and make a cut in the timeline, and try to place another Cross dissolve at this spot. It appears to place the transition there because it creates the rectangular box, and it has the name cross dissolve in that rectangular box,but when I try to play it to see the transition, it isn't working. Go back to the beginning of the second clip, and that one still works perfectly.
I noticed that there is a difference in the appearance of the two cross dissolve rectangular boxes. The one that works has a single diagonal line that goes from lower left to upper right in the cross dissolve box, and then there are a whole series of diagonal lines that go from upper left to lower right all across the cross dissolve box . It looks like a whole bunch of dark gray and white backslashes. In the one that doesn't work, there is just that single diagonal line that goes from lower left to upper right. No backslashes on this one. What am I doing right in the first one, but not in the second?
I find that it will work perfectly if I put in a new clip. If I put in the Cross Dissolve at the beginning of a new clip that I add to the timelime,  it will work perfectly. It is only when I try to split a clip that is already on the timeline, and then put the cross dissolve in at that point.
Perhaps it is not possible to do what I am attempting to do. Maybe you can't split a clip and place the transition at that point?

Answer 1

When I am shooting video, it is not unusual for me to be taping a scene of a mountain, for example, and then put the camera on pause, while I briefly position myself to take video of the river that is flowing at my feet. That is what is happened on this clip that I am attempting to put the transition in between. Rather than having the scene just instantly change at this point, from the mountain to the river, it would be nice to have a smoother transition then that.
My mind was working on the problem while sleeping last night, and I think I might understand how to handle it. It might have been too simple for me to think about yesterday. I haven't tried it yet, but would it not work, to insert the mountain scene from my source monitor into the timeline, and then go back and insert the river scene into the time line instead of inserting both of them at the same time. Would these not now be two separate clips on the timeline, and the transition could now be applied?
Your analogy with the DJ is very good, but it isn't quite the same. You are correct in that he would be only fading from one song to the same spot on the same song. In my case I am going from an image of a mountain to an image of a river. Same clip, but different images. I appreciate the help, and your thoughts.
Terry Lee Martin
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 2009 23:15:55 -0600
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Subject: Need help with CS4 transitions
From a creative standpoiint, I don't understand the desire to transition from one clip to the exact same spot on that same clip.  That's like a DJ at a night club fading from one song to the exact same spot on that same song being played on a second CD player.  What's the point?
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