Bug (?) : Crossfade and audio

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At the moment the crossfade works well for video, but the soundtracks are simply overlaid at the join. It would be much nicer to crossfade the audio too. I'm spending a lot of time adjusting the audio volume envelopes to remove clicks and poor joins, when it could all be done automatically!

I hope the programmers do read these comments from time to time and pay heed

fecund

3.5 years later, and a new user hits the same issue... also, crossfade video could be better. Right now when transitioning into a 2nd video clip in the same track, the video of the 2nd clip is "frozen" while 1st clip fades out, then the 1st clip freezes while the 2nd fades in. I'd expect the 2nd clip (& all subsequent clips, if they are unlocked) to shift slightly earlier to get a true crossfade. In fact that should happen with any transition type where the two tracks are visible at the same time, along with the audio blending.

[deleted]

V2.41...If you make a crossfade between untrimmed clips, then you will have a still image between their ends, as you describe and I have noted in the past.

However, as I discovered a short time ago, if you use the in/out markers in the left hand preview screen to trim the clip ends, which I don't often use, or if you simply drag the ends of the clips left or right to shorten them, then, in effect, you provide some "unused" footage that VP uses to create the crossfade. If the amount you shorten each clip is at least as long as half your crossfade then there will be no "still image" effect.

Unless I am mistaken, it seems that when simply splitting the clip to shorten it, using the Split button, (as one tends to do with most film editing,) then even if you split off sufficient footage, the crossfade effect still produces the still frames. So although the split option produces the same visual effect,as the in/out trimming option, (and you can still drag the ends of the clips to replace the footage split off,) VP apparently doesn't use the section trimmed off in this case to create the crossfade even when you trim enough off as mentioned above.

Nat

borate

VP 3 has a real problem with transitions...

I have trimmed clips in the preview window and added them at a split or to the end. Transitions often jump and/or freeze. Altering the transition point lby sliding video left or right on the timeline doesn't usually fix it.

These clips had plenty of additional video at both head and tail.

No other of a half-dozen of so reasonably comparable editors that I have tested burps at transitions, which is a make/break bug IMO. I have registered another NCH product and would purchase VP 3 if not for this bug.

2.41 performs better, but I have occasionally seen the fault there as well.

Repeated attempts to communicate with NCH support and marketing have failed. They do not participate in the community forums.

borate

fecund wrote:

In fact that should happen with any transition type where the two tracks are visible at the same time, along with the audio blending.

An audio crossfade might best be achieved by splitting and overlapping the two tracks, adding a fade out to the first and a fade in to the second.

[deleted]

Hi Borate

I agree with your audio crossfade suggestion which I think may work in Version 3. However in 2.41 you can't overlap video tracks as there is only one, and you can't simply overlap the soundtracks without unlinking or copying at least one of them, in which case precise synch afterwards will be lost.

In 2.41..This is one way to do it,..

Put the two clips on the sequence line.

In the media list window, right click the second clip and "Save the audio track as a separate file"

Right click the soundtrack of the second clip on the sequence line. Select "Adjust clip volume" and click the "Mute clip" option.

Now drag the copy soundtrack down to soundtrack 1

Add the fade out for the soundtrack of clip 1 (Right click the soundtrack and select "Fade out")

Add an equal fade in for your copy sound on soundtrack 1 (Right click the soundtrack and select "Fade in")

Now drag the copy on soundtrack 1 so the fade-out and fade-in portions overlap.

The sound tracks will now dissolve from one to another.......but after the join the sound will be out of synch.... so...

Grab the left end of the right hand film clip and drag it to the right. As it moves along it is shortened and it's soundtrack (muted) will move with it. Stop when the soundtrack for clip 2 lines up exactly with the copy

on soundtrack 1. It should now be back in synch. (Zoom in if you want VERY exact synch)

If you now want to add a crossfade to the join then this must be of equal length to the fade-in but....

NOTE: You have created the sound dissolve with only one of the clips (The right hand one) and this starts before the join and finishes at the join whilst your film crossfade overlaps the join!

You can now add the crossfade if you need to which appears as a yellow bar over the sequence line and equally spread over the join.. Now in version 2.41 (but not 3.0) you can grab and drag the left hand end of the yellow bar along to the start of your sound dissolve and then drag the right hand end along to the end of the sound dissolve. The crossfade should now match the sound dissolve and afterwards remain in synch.

It might be better to make the crossfade slightly longer in practice.

You need to try this with a couple of clips to see how it works.

Nat

budfox

I've just joined the forum to view/ask this very question. I'm just staggered that it's so difficult.

I used to edit professionally and I've lost count of the amount of edit systems I've tried recently. All I want is a simple editor with a basic timeline, easy trimming and simple fades/mixes.

Every single one has fallen down in some way or other. They all seem to offer a billion wipes and other unwanted 'features' but can't do the simple things well.

I'm seriously thinking of buying a Mac just so that I can use iMovie.

borate

budfox wrote:

I used to edit professionally and I've lost count of the amount of edit systems I've tried recently. All I want is a simple editor with a basic timeline, easy trimming and simple fades/mixes.

Every single one has fallen down in some way or other.

That does seem to be the case, doesn't it. ^_^

The free version of VP is a bargain, but in its current state has several glitches that discourage purchase of a license. Reportedly, some of these shortcomings are known and soon to be fixed.

In the interim, this information should help with smooth effects/dissolves.

pan

fecund wrote:

3.5 years later, and a new user hits the same issue... also, crossfade video could be better. Right now when transitioning into a 2nd video clip in the same track, the video of the 2nd clip is "frozen" while 1st clip fades out, then the 1st clip freezes while the 2nd fades in. I'd expect the 2nd clip (& all subsequent clips, if they are unlocked) to shift slightly earlier to get a true crossfade. In fact that should happen with any transition type where the two tracks are visible at the same time, along with the audio blending.

I totally agree. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to make the crossfade work on the whole contents of a video clip. This includes audio as well as video - e.g. a video with someone talking or with someone playing. In these cases it is vital that the crossfade applies to all aspects of the "video" when the audio is linked to the video.

[deleted]

Both myself and Borate have outlined the way to eliminate the faint "still" image that results from using the crossfade effect between the ends of a simple split in a clip or between the ends of untrimmed clips.

In these cases the soundtracks are simply added end to end.

If the clips have been trimmed in any way and the transition added then the soundtracks are overlapped and play together for the area that has been trimmed off. If only one clip has been trimmed then the overlap of the soundtracks will not be central over the join and will only extend into the untrimmed clip by the length of the amount trimmed off.

If you follow the method we have outlined (i.e. pulling the ends of theclips back by at least half the duration of the crossfade) then the "still" images will be eliminated and the soundtracks will be overlapped for the full duration of the crossfade.

However, there will be NO fade-in over the fade-out of the two sound clips..they will just play together.

If you want the soundtracks to fade in and fade out at the same time (i.e.cross dissolve) then..

BEFORE you add your crossfade to the join in the video add a fade-out to the first soundtrack and a fade-in to the second soundtrack. Make the fades half the duration of your proposed crossfade.

Now add your crossfade effect.

Now pull back the end of the first video clip to just before the yellow effects bar and pull out the start of the second video clip to just beyond the end of the yellow effects bar.

Your sequence will now play without any still frames and your soundtrack will have a correct fade-in/fade-out dissolve.

Nat