7. Fading In and Out

I start almost all productions by fading in from black and end by fading to black. Some programs have a dedicated filter to accomplish this (most notably Movie Maker 2), though the predominant general technique is to apply a dissolve transition to the beginning or end of the video file. This topic should be well-documented, so if you're not sure how to fade in and out, check your manual or help file.

Once you've accomplished your first and last fades, you can skip to Chapter 7 to learn how to render your project for distribution to your viewers.