Fade audio in and out and crossfade between clips

A sound that starts or stops at full volume draws attention to itself. A fade removes that edge. DepCut has fades at three levels: on a single audio clip, across a transition between two video clips, and over the whole video. Each one lives in a different place.

Fade a single audio clip

Click a music, voice or sound clip on the timeline. The right panel shows its tabs.

1. Open Fade in and drag the slider to set how long the sound takes to rise from silence. The value box beside it takes a typed number of seconds.
2. Open Fade out and set how long the sound takes to fall away.

Each fade appears on the bar as a dark ramp at that edge, so you can see its length. A fade can take at most half of the clip, which keeps the fade in and the fade out from overlapping.

Some uses:

• A music bed that starts under the first shot gets a slow Fade in so it does not arrive abruptly.
• A track that ends with the video gets a Fade out long enough for the last notes to settle.
• A sound effect with a hard tail gets a short Fade out.
• A recorded voice take gets short fades on both ends to hide the points where it starts and stops.

Fade the sound of a video clip

A video clip has no fade controls for its own sound. To fade it, open the clip's Clip options menu on the timeline and choose Detach audio. The sound moves to a soundtrack bar, the video clip is muted, and the new bar has Fade in and Fade out like any other audio clip. Detach needs a clip that has sound, and it does nothing on a reversed clip or one with a speed curve.

Crossfade across a transition

When one video clip hands over to the next through a transition, the two sounds overlap in time. The Crossfade audio switch decides what you hear.

1. Select the transition on the timeline. If the cut has none yet, open the Transitions tab and add one first.
2. Switch on Crossfade audio at the top of the Transitions tab in the left panel. The tab shows it while the transition is selected. The outgoing sound fades out while the incoming sound fades in across the transition.

With the switch off, the outgoing clip's sound plays at full volume through the transition and the incoming clip's sound starts when the transition ends. That suits a sharp change of scene. Switch it on when the two clips share a mood and you want the sound to flow from one to the other.

The Duration slider sits just above it. A longer transition gives a longer crossfade.

Fade the whole video

Open the Details tab on the left. Under Video you find two sliders, Fade in and Fade out. They apply to the whole cut: they veil the picture, titles, captions and the mix at the start or the end. A value of zero reads Off.

Use a fade in to open on a soft start, and a fade out to bring the picture and sound down together. This is the one fade that covers everything at once, so it suits the open and close of a finished piece.

Choose a length

Fade lengths follow the pace of your video.

• A quick social cut wants short fades, long enough to remove the click and short enough to go unnoticed.
• A slow, calm piece can carry a longer fade at the end.
• If you hear a bump at the edge of a clip, lengthen the fade a little and play it again.

Play the transition and each fade at normal speed. A fade that sounds fine in isolation can feel long once the picture is moving.

Try it on your own footage

Open DepCut, add a music track under a clip, and give it a Fade in and a Fade out. Watch the dark ramps appear on the bar as you move the sliders.