Hey, don't really know how to explain what I want very well, so I made a video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1d1WSbj8b6YlWaJAYar1hlF9FWiDX5qU0/view?usp=sharing I want to have a clip fade out, but still have the clip below stay there, right now the above clip (piano) is turning black, then only after the whole screen is black can you then see the background again. I can do this fine in Screenflow, but not Final Cut Pro (which I just got today) Thanks

Hi - Apparently the way to do this in FCP would involve animating (automating) the Opacity control (under Compositing settings). From the FCP manual: - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Use the Opacity adjustment 1. Position the playhead in the Final Cut Pro timeline where you want to add a clip above the primary storyline. 2. Select the clip to add in the browser, then choose Edit > Connect to Primary Storyline (or press Q). 3. To see the composited clips in the viewer, position the playhead within the clip that was just added. By default, the new clip completely obscures the clip in the primary storyline. 4. To make the new clip partially transparent, select it in the timeline and adjust the Opacity control in the Compositing section of the Video inspector. The closer the Opacity setting is to 0 percent, the more transparent the clip above the primary storyline becomes. You can also use the Opacity fade handles in the Video Animation editor to have the composited clip dissolve on and off, or you can add keyframes to have the opacity value change at specified points. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - This link is to that relevant manual page: https://support.apple.com/guide/final-cut-pro/use-compositing-settings-ver52cf3376/mac I'm also linking this thread to a FCP course that's specifically about Compositing & video effects. Check out Videos 6 & 19 (+20?), which cover using the Opacity setting & animating controls..

Hi, course author here. Normally, when you use the Cross Dissolve as you've done here, it would do what you want; the entire screen should *not* go black as is shown. I think what you're seeing is a result of the specific fade-out mask effect you've used — but I can't be sure. There's a good chance that it's interfering with the crossfade, and if you use a Graduated Mask effect instead, the whole thing should work properly. Otherwise, you could try using the Opacity fade handles in the Video Animation editor, as mentioned in the manual linked above. Select the top clip, press Control-V to open Video Animation, press the small icon to the top right of the Opacity section, then drag the fade handle on the right edge in to the left.

Thank you both for your replies, I managed to get it to work by following these steps: Selecting the top clip, pressing control+v to open the video animation, pressing the top right button of the compositing: opacity section, and then pressing option+click to make 2 control points Then I made a line to fade out my clip manually using opacity (without a transition) Thanks so much.