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Adjust the opacity of clips



By default, clips on tracks appear at full (100%) opacity except for areas marked by a clip’s mask, matte, or alpha channel. Make an entire clip more transparent by setting an opacity value below 100%. When a clip’s opacity value is set to less than 100%, clips on lower tracks may be visible. At 0% opacity, the clip is completely transparent. If no clips are stacked below a partially transparent clip, the sequence’s black background becomes visible. You can set a selected clip’s opacity in the Effect Controls panel or Timeline panel, and you can fade a clip down or up over time by animating opacity.

Rendering order affects how opacity interacts with visual effects. The Video Effects list is rendered first, then geometric effects such as Motion are rendered, and then alpha channel adjustments are applied. Within each effects group, effects are rendered from the top down in the list. Because Opacity is in the Fixed Effects list, it renders after the Video Effects list. If you want opacity to render earlier or later than certain effects, or if you want to control additional opacity options, apply the Alpha Adjust video effect.

If you simply want to create a fade to black, consider applying a transition such as Dip To Black to the clip instead of animating opacity keyframes manually.

Specify clip opacity in the Effect Controls panel

You can adjust opacity for a clip in the Effect Controls panel using the same method you would use to set any other effect property. However, it may be simpler sometimes to adjust these effects in a Timeline panel.

  1. Select a clip in a Timeline panel.
  2. In the Effect Controls panel, click the triangle next to the Opacity effect to expand its settings.
  3. (Optional) If you’re animating the Opacity effect over time, click the Toggle Animation icon  and make sure the current‑time indicator is at the time you want in the Effect Controls timeline.
  4. Do one of the following:

    • Enter a new opacity value.

    • Click the triangle next to the Toggle Animation icon to expand the settings controls and drag the Opacity slider.

      If you click the Toggle Animation icon in step 3, a keyframe is created in the Effect Controls timeline where the current‑time indicator is positioned.

  5. (Optional) If you are animating the clip opacity over time, move the current‑time indicator and do any of the following to make an adjustment:

    • Enter a value for the setting.

    • Drag the Opacity slider to specify a value.

      When you make the adjustment, a new keyframe and a graph representing the adjustment appear in the Effect Controls timeline. You can make further adjustments by entering a value, dragging the Opacity slider, or dragging an Opacity handle on the graph. You can also adjust the interpolation between keyframes by editing the keyframe graph. Repeat step 5 as needed.

Specify clip opacity in a Timeline panel

  1. Expand a track’s view, if necessary, by clicking the triangle next to the track name to expand its options.
  2. If necessary, click the Show Keyframes button , or the Hide Keyframes button , and choose Show Opacity Handles from the pop‑up menu. A horizontal opacity control rubber band appears in all the clips of the track.
    Note: If no keyframes exist on the track, the rubber band appears as a straight horizontal line across the entire track.
  3. In a Timeline panel, do one of the following:

    • Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) the Selection tool and drag the opacity control rubber band up or down.

    • Use the Pen tool to drag the rubber band up or down.

    The opacity value and current time appear as a tool tip as you drag.

  4. (Optional) If you’re animating the Opacity effect over time, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) on the opacity control rubber band with the Pen tool wherever you want to set an opacity value. A keyframe is created where you clicked. Then drag each keyframe up or down to set its value. For example, to fade a clip in, create a keyframe at the beginning of the clip and another a few seconds later. Drag the first down to the bottom of the clip at 0 opacity. Drag the second up to 100%.
    After you create one or more keyframes on the graph, you can move the keyframes or Opacity handles with either the Selection tool or the Pen tool. To adjust the smoothness of the animation change the keyframe interpolation from linear to Bezier.