How to Fade Clips in DaVinci Resolve (in Less than 30 sec)

One of the essential techniques in post-production and storytelling is fading your clips in and out.

Fading a video out to the black, fading in, cross dissolving, etc., convey different meanings to a scene inside a movie or a YouTube video.

Fading in or out is generally used to open and end a scene or a video so that the opening and ending are not abrupt.

It can also convey a change of location or passing of time based on your edit.

Today we’ll see how to fade in, and fade out different clips like video, audio, images, text, etc., – each of them taking a little less than 30 seconds.

Without wasting time…

Let’s dive right in!

Fade Techniques for Video in DaVinci Resolve

There are quite a few techniques for video clips that you must know, like fading in, fading out to the black, fading one video to another in the timeline, fading multiple clips at once, etc.

Let’s see how to achieve them in Resolve – step by step.

How to Fade Out a Video Clip or Image to Black in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Edit” page, which contains your timeline.
Hover the mouse over the upper right-hand corner of the video clip till you see a white handle (called a fade handle).
Click on the handle and drag it to the left. This is your fade-out.

What to do If You Can’t See White Fade Handle Over the Clips in DaVinci Resolve?

If you can’t see the white fade handle, expand your timeline by clicking on the plus button (zoom in) above the timeline. This should enlarge your clip horizontally. Then position your mouse over the left side of the track (over the track header) and then press “Shift” and scroll up/down your middle mouse button till it expands vertically.

This makes your clip big such that the white handle is now revealed when you place your mouse over the clip.

Related Article:

DaVinci Resolve Audio Fade Out & Fade In (In 30 Seconds!)

How to Fade In a Video Clip or Image in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Edit” page, which contains your timeline.
Hover the mouse over the upper left-hand corner of the video clip or image till you see a white handle (called a fade handle).
Click on the handle and drag it to the right. This is your fade-in.

Fade in is a very good technique to open a video or a new scene.

Sometimes you might need to end your video or a scene by fading it to white instead of black. This is how you do.

How to Fade Out a Video Clip or Image to White in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Edit” page, which contains your timeline.
Select the clip which needs to be faded out to white. (We are assuming you don’t have another clip immediately at the end of your required clip).
Now click on the “Effects Library” tab from the upper left-hand side.
Under “Toolbox”, click on “Video Transitions”, go to the “Dissolve” section, which contains “Dip to Color Dissolve”.
Drag and drop “Dip to Color Dissolve” onto the right end of the required clip in the timeline.
Select the dropped transition and click on the “Inspector”, then go to the “Transition” tab.
Select the “Color” to white using the eyedropper tool.
Update the “End Ratio” value to “50”. (Let the “Start Ratio” be at “0”).
That’s all! The clip should now fade out to white.

How to Fade In To a Video Clip from White in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Edit” page which contains your timeline.
Select the clip which needs to be faded in from white.
Now click on the “Effects Library” tab from the upper left-hand side.
Select “Dip to Color Dissolve” from the “Video Transitions” > “Dissolve” section.
Drag and drop “Dip to Color Dissolve” onto the left end of the required clip in the timeline.
Select the dropped transition and click on the “Inspector”, then go to the “Transition” tab.
Select the “Color” to white using the eyedropper tool.
Update the “Start Ratio” value to “50”. (Let the “End Ratio” be at “100”).
That’s all! The clip should now fade into your video from white.

How to Fade Between Clips in DaVinci Resolve without Trimming?

The best way to fade between clips without trimming is by positioning your mouse over the upper right-hand side of the first clip till you see the white fade handle. Then, click and drag it to the left. Similarly, position your mouse over the upper left-hand side of the second clip and drag the fade handle to the right.

This will fade out your first clip to black and then fade into the second clip from black. This is basically changing the opacity value of your clip.

This technique doesn’t require trimming. It can be applied to a whole length clip without any edit points (or trimming).

If you don’t see the white handle, then zoom in on your timeline by clicking on the plus button above the timeline. This will enlarge your clip which should reveal the white handle.

How to Fade One Video into Another in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Edit” page, which has your timeline.
Place 2 clips adjacently without any gaps.
Right-click on the meeting point of the 2 clips and select the required option, say, “24 Frame Cross Dissolve“.
This will place a “Cross Dissolve” transition of 1-second duration. Of course, you can change the duration to your taste from the “Inspector” tab.
The “Cross Dissolve” will fade the first video clip to the second one smoothly.

You can click on the transition and go to the “Inspector” tab to further fine tune the controls to your taste.

You can change the “Duration“, “Alignment“, “Ease“, etc., parameters to your taste.

Sometimes DaVinci Resolve won’t allow you to place a transition between 2 clips.

What to do If You’re Not Able to Add Transition Between Clips in DaVinci Resolve?

Resolve won’t allow you to add a transition between 2 clips because DaVinci Resolve needs edit points or to put in terms of BlackMagic’s Resolve manual – “If there is no overlap between the heads and tails of the two clips, you may not be able to add a transition where you want.”

If you place 2 whole clips (without trimming) end to end in timeline, then there is no overlap between the tail of the first clip and head of the second clip. So you won’t be able to place a transition between the 2 clips.

When you click on the meeting point of the 2 clips and get a red highlight, that indicates there is no overlap.

If you right click on the meeting point of the 2 clips and select “Add 24 Frame Cross Dissolve”, you’ll get the below message from DaVinci Resolve:

“Some of the clips selected have insufficient handles to apply the transition. You can choose to trim clips and shorten your timeline or skip clips with insufficient handles. What would you like to do?”

If you click on “Trim Clips“, Resolve will automatically trim few frames from the 2 clips so that it can place the transition between the clips.

Which leads us to…

You must trim the end of the first clip and the starting of the second clip. This will result in overlap of the heads and tails of the clips.

This provides handles so that a transition can be successfully applied between the clips.

How to Add Transition Without Trimming in DaVinci Resolve?

If you don’t want to trim the clips and want to apply a transition, there is a workaround. You’ll need to add 2 transitions. Add the first transition to the end of the first clip. Then, again add the same transition to the starting of the second clip. Let me explain through an example for better understanding.

Let’s say you want to fade out to white from first clip and then fade into the second clip from white.

Then click on the first clip in the timeline. Go to the “Effects Library” > “Dissolve” > Right-click on “Dip to Color Dissolve” and select “Add to Selected Edit Point and Clips”.

It will place 2 transitions at the start and end of the clip. Select the transition from the starting position and delete it by pressing the backspace button.

Similarly, click on the second clip and do the same as above. Now delete the transition placed in the end.

Now you should have 2 transitions back to back on the 2 clips.

Click on the first transition, go to the “Inspector” tab and change the “End Ratio” value to 50. Next, change the “Color” to white using the eyedropper.

Click on the second transition, go to the “Inspector” tab and change the “Start Ratio” value to 50. Next, change the “Color” to white using the eyedropper.

When you play it back, the first clip will fade out to white and from white, you will slowly fade into the second clip.

If all you want is to fade out to black and then fade in from black without trimming the clips, then simply grab the fade handles, and fade out and fade in respectively. (For step by step instruction, please scroll above as this is already covered).

What is the Shortcut for Fade Out in DaVinci Resolve

The shortcut for fade out is “Ctrl + t” (or “Cmd + t”) which will place a cross dissolve (defined in default transition) at the edit points.

How to Add Fade Out to Black in Multiple Clips in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Effect Library” > “Video Transitions” > “Dissolve” > Right click on “Dip to Color Dissolve” and select “Set as Standard Transition”.
Select all the clips that need fade-out transition either by “Ctrl” clicking or “Shift” clicking them in the timeline.
Then press “Ctrl +t” (or “Cmd + t”).
Instantly the transitions are placed in all the edit points!

Make sure the “Dip to Color Dissolve” has “Color” as black in the “Inspector” tab before applying to multiple clips.

How to Add Fade Out to White in Multiple Clips in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Effects Library” > “Dissolve” > Drag and drop “Dip to Color Dissolve” between 2 clips in the timeline.
Highlight the transition by clicking and then go to the “Inspector” tab.
Change the “Color” to white instead of black using the eyedropper tool.
Right-click on the added transition in the timeline and select > “Create Transition Preset” and enter any name to save it.
Go to the “Effect Library” > “Video Transitions” > “User” > Right-click on the saved preset (in this case “Dip to Color Dissolve WHITE)” and select “Set as Standard Transition”.
Select all the clips that need fade out to white transition either by “Ctrl” clicking or “Shift” clicking them in the timeline.
Then press “Ctrl +t” (or “Cmd + t”).
Instantly the transitions are placed in all the edit points!

How to Fade Out a Video to Black and White in DaVinci Resolve?

Go to the “Color” page.
Click on the required clip in the timeline.
Now click on the “Keyframes” tab found on the right-hand side of the screen (diamond symbol).
Move your playhead to the endpoint in the clip where you want it to be completely black and white.
Click on the keyframe before the “Corrector 1” (the small diamond icon turns orange).
Set the “Saturation” value to “0” under the “Primaries” > “Wheels” (found on the left-hand side of the screen).
Now move your playhead to the point where the black and white should start.
Set the “Saturation” value to “50” under the “Primaries” > “Wheels”.
Automatically a keyframe will be placed under the “Keyframes” tab.
Now when you play the clip, the video will slowly turn to black and white (or desaturate) but not yet fading out.
Go to the “Edit” tab. Then, hover the mouse over the upper right-hand side of the clip.
Click on the white handle and drag it to the left.
Now play the clip – the video will fade out to black and white!

How to Fade In or Out a Title or Text in DaVinci Resolve?

Under the “Edit” page, click on the “Effects Library” from the top left.
Go to the “Titles” under “Toolbox” and click on the “Text“.
Drag and drop it on top of your existing video (a new video track is created).
Position your mouse over the upper left-hand side of the title till you see the white handle.
Click on the handle and drag it to the right for a fade-in effect.
For the fade-out effect, position your mouse over the upper right-hand side and drag the white handle to the left.

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