Fading Audio In or Out

One of the more common audio effects is to fade the sound in from silence at the beginning of a scene, or fade it out at the end. Follow these steps to create and customize your audio fades.

To fade audio completely in or out:

1.	If the volume levels aren't already visible, choose Show Clip Volume Levels from the View menu.
2.	Select a clip in the Timeline Viewer.
3.	Click the volume level bar to create a new marker at the beginning or end of the clip, depending on which fade you want.
4.	If you want a fade in, drag the beginning point (the square box) to the bottom-left corner of the clip (Figure 10.5). Figure 10.5. To fade in, move the beginning point to the bottom-left corner of the clip. If you're looking to fade out, drag the volume marker (yellow circle) to the lower-right corner of the clip (Figure 10.6).

Figure 10.6. To fade out, move the volume marker to the bottom-right corner of the clip.

To change the fade duration:

• Drag the beginning point left or right to dictate the fade's length (Figure 10.7). You may need to first move the volume markerwhich drags the beginning point behind itthen adjust the beginning point to extend the fade duration.
  
  

  Figure 10.7. Move the beginning point left or right to determine the duration of the fade.

  

  
  

Tips

• If you drag a marker so that it lines up with an existing volume level, a dotted line appears and the marker is automatically deleted.

• When you apply a Fade In or Fade Out transition (see the next chapter), the audio automatically fades to accompany the visual effect. But you can edit the volume levels in the transition, too (if you want the video to fade to black, but bring the volume down only halfway, for example).