Tuesday Tips: Default Audio Transition

The default audio transition duration in FCP is one second, which is obviously not very useful for dialogue. To change the default to something more useful like 3 frames, do the following:

1. In your timeline, add a default audio transition to the end of any audio.
2. Double-click the transition to open the duration box, and change the duration to suit your needs. In this case, 3 frames. Hit OK.
3. Click on the ‘Effects’ tab in your Browser to open it, then drag the modified transition from the timeline to the ‘Favorites’ bin.
4. Select the transition in the favorites bin and change the name to suit. I use imaginative titles like ‘Cross Fade 3’.
5. Right-click this in the browser and select ‘Set Default Transition’.

Now whenever you need to apply an audio transition in the timeline, just right-click the edit point and select ‘Add Transition Cross Fade 3’ (Or whatever you named your favorite). Of course, you can also add as many different durations as you want to the favorites bin, which will all be accessible in the Effects > (Audio Transitions) Favorites menu.

Thanks to Sam Wallin for showing me this handy method many years ago.