Basic Effects
DaVinci has many effects that can be added to both video and audio. While the large number of options might appear intimidating at first, most effects are added to the timeline in a similar way. After learning how to use one, applying the same process to other effects becomes much easier.
Let’s use adding a fade in to the beginning of our video as an example. First, start by opening the effects library. You can do this just by clicking the Effects tab with the magic wand icon in the upper left-hand corner of the DaVinci interface:
Once the effects library opens, click Video Transitions, then select Cross Dissolve. To add the effect, click and drag it on top of the footage at the beginning of your timeline. There should now be a fade in from black at the beginning of your footage. You can repeat this same process at the end of your footage to create a fade to black.
If you want to add a similar fade transition at another point in your timeline besides the beginning or end, you’ll need to use key frames.
Start by using the cutting tool to create a specific clip where you want the transition to be in your timeline. The length of the clip will depend on how long you want the transition to last.
Adjust your timecode bar to the beginning of your clip, then look to the Video panel on the upper right-hand side of the screen.
Find the Composite section of the menu, then click on the small diamond icon on the right. This will create a key frame at the location of your timecode bar, which should be at the beginning of your clip.
A similar small diamond icon will appear on the right side of your clip. Click on this to open the key frame editor so that your key frames are now visible.
Next, drag the Opacity slider all the way down to 0. This will darken your clip to the point where nothing is visible. After that, move your timecode bar to the end of your clip, create a new key frame, then raise the opacity back to 100.
What this does is tell DaVinci that the clip’s opacity should move from 0 to 100 between the two key frames you created. This creates a fade in effect that lasts the length of your clip.
To create a fade out effect, do the same process in reverse. Set the ending keyframe to 0 opacity and the starting one to 100.
Another helpful effect to know about is the ability to overlay text onto footage. Just like transition effects, text overlays are in the Effects Library. In the Effects Library, click Titles to see the options available to you. When you’ve chosen the style you want, click and drag it above the clip you want it to appear on. Once the text has been placed, you can also click and drag it from one end to extend its length over multiple clips.
To edit the text itself (it will say Title – Sample by default), highlight the text box and look to the Video menu in the upper right corner of the screen. In this menu, erase the default text in the text box and type in the desired replacement. You can also change settings like the font, size, color, position, and more in the options directly below.
Just like with visual transitions, you can also fade your audio tracks in and out. There are two main ways of doing this.
The first is to use the fade handles on an audio clip. Start by making a cut of the audio you want to fade. Once you select it, there will be two white tabs that appear in the upper left and right corners of the clip.
Click and drag these to determine where and how long you want the fade to occur. For example, dragging the left tab all the way to the end of the clip will create a fade in that lasts its entire duration. Moving the right handle all the way left will create a fade out.
To create more precise audio fades, you can use key frames the same way as with opacity transitions.
Start selecting your audio clip, then move the timecode bar to its start. Next, in the audio menu in the upper right corner, click on the small diamond icon across from Volume to create a key frame. Repeat this with the timecode bar at the end of your clip to create a second key frame.
Move your timecode bar back to the beginning of the clip, then click and drag the volume slider to the volume you want your clip to start at.
While you might be tempted to set the volume to –100.00, that will do more than quiet the beginning of the clip; in fact, it will likely mute most of the audio you’ve selected. Instead, try decreasing to around –15.00 to start, then adjust as necessary.
Make sure the volume on your second keyframe is set no higher than 0.00. If not, your clip will end louder than it started, then immediately jump back to the original volume as soon as the clip ends.
Like the opacity fades, simply do the same process in reverse (lower the volume on the second key frame instead) to create a fade out effect.
