Add a transition at the playhead with Cmd+D

Applies to 0.11Updated 6 Nov 20262 min read

Cmd+D puts a transition on the edit nearest the playhead, including the start and end of the video. Dragging a transition outlines the clips it will join.

Put the playhead near an edit and press Cmd+D (Apply Video Transition). Shift+Cmd+D (Apply Audio Transition) works the same on sound tracks. As in Premiere Pro, the transition goes on the edit nearest the playhead.

Cmd+D uses Cross Dissolve and Shift+Cmd+D uses Constant Power. To change either, right-click a transition in the Effects panel and choose Set Selected as Default Transition; it then shows a Default label.

Where it goes

• The cut between two clips, when the playhead is near the joint, on either side of it.
• The start of the first clip: a fade in from black.
• The end of the last clip, or of any clip with nothing after it: a fade out.

It goes on the targeted video tracks, or on every video track when none is targeted. A selected clip counts only when the playhead is on it. The status line says where the transition went, for example "Cross Dissolve at the cut between “interview_A” and “broll_2398”."

Drag a transition onto the timeline

While you drag a transition from the Effects panel, the edit it will go on is shown:

• Between two clips: both clips are outlined in white, with the transition's box centred on the cut.
• At the start or end of a clip with nothing beside it: only that clip is outlined, with the box inside it.

The half of the clip under the pointer decides the edge: the right half means its end, the left half its start. Dropping near a cut puts the transition on the cut.

Change the length at a clip's start or end

Hold the transition's strip at the top of the clip and drag. The length changes in whole frames, from 1 frame up to the clip's length, and the status line shows the frames. It is one undo step. The outer edge of the clip still trims the clip.

To type a length, use Effect Controls › Transitions. A transition at a clip's start or end has no double-click length window.

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