Audio Editing Essentials: Two Ways to Create Smooth Fades in Final Cut Pro

Two Ways to Fade In/Out Audio in Final Cut Pro

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

Creating a fade in or out effect in Final Cut Pro will make your audio amazing. However, as Final Cut Pro is for pros, not every user knows how to make fade in/out audio. In fact, it is very easy to fade audio in Final Cut Pro. This tutorial will show you how to apply effects like fade-in, fade-out, and crossfade to your audio clips using Final Cut Pro in two ways.

Part 1: Use the Modify Menu to Fade In/Out Audio

Part 2: Use Fade Handles to Fade In/Out Audio

This tutorial offers only the basics of the audio fading techniques in Apple Final Cut Pro X, which is a specialized video editing software used by professionals worldwide. If you are an amateur who is new to video editing, we suggest you begin with Wondershare Filmora for Mac (originally Wondershare Video Editor for Mac). It is a powerful yet easy-to-use software that is ideal for beginners. You can download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora below.

Download Mac Version ](https://tools.techidaily.com/wondershare/filmora/download/ )

With this modern and extremely user-friendly tool, you’ll find that applying effects like fade-in, fade-out, or crossfade to your audio clips is very easy.

Before we get started, you can firstly detach the audio from video to better edit it. Locate your audio clip in the timeline, highlight the desired audio/video clip, right click on it, and choose Detach audio to unlink your audio from your video to edit them as separate elements.

Check more articles here, if you are also interested in other audio editing tips in Final Cut Pro or want to know how to record a voice over with FCP.

Part 1: How to Fade Audio by using the Modify Menu

You can go to the Modify menu and easily apply fade-in or fade-outs to the audio clip you are editing. The Final Cut Pro preferences also allow you to adjust the fade duration.

Step 1 : First, you have to select the audio or the video clips with audio in the timeline.

Step 2 : Select Modify> Adjust Volume> Apply Fades.

You should remember that the fades appear at the beginning and the end of each clip. The default duration of the fade is one half-second. If you want to modify that duration, you just have to drag the fade handle up to the point where your fade is supposed to begin or end.

Step 3: If you want to remove the fades, choose Modify > Adjust Volume > Remove Fades.

See more details on how to fade audio in Final Cut Pro from the following video.

Part 2: How to Fade Music by using Fade Handles

You have already learned how to find the fade handles on the screen. Now, you just have to manually drag the handle to the exact point from which you want the fade to begin or end. Just keep in mid this simple rule: fade handles at the beginning of a clip produce fade-in effects, whereas fade handles at the end give fade-out effects.

You can manually fade-in or out a portion of the audio clip on your timeline by using the fade handles. Place the pointer over the clip and you can see the fade handles appearing in the top left and right corners of the waveform. To change the sound of the fade, you’ll have to modify the shape of the fade by selecting one of the several preconfigured choices.

Using the fade handles to create crossfades:

Step 1 : To create a crossfade, first you have to select two adjacent clips in the timeline. After that choose Clip> Expand Audio (or press Control-S). You can see the waveforms on your screen expanding.

Step 2 : To overlap the audio parts of the two clips on your timeline, just drag the end point of the first clip and the start point of the second clip.

Step 3 : Now, you’ll have to drag the fade handles of each clip to the exact points where you want the fade to start and finish.

Tips: How to change fade shapes while using the fade handle

You can easily change the sound of your fades by modifying the default fade shape. For this, you’ll have to control-click a fade handle and select one of the fade preferences from the list.

• Linear: The rate of change is constant over the length of the fade.
• S-curve: Eases in and out of the fade with the midpoint at 0 dB.
• +3dB: Picks up quickly and then gradually peters out toward the end. This is the considered to be the most useful mode while choosing a quick fade.
• –3dB: Begins slowly and then toward the end picks up fast. This setting allows you to maintain a perfectly natural volume while crossfading two clips.
• Linear: Maintains a constant rate of change over the length of the fade.
• S-curve: Eases in and out of the fade with the midpoint at 0 dB.
• +3dB: Starts quickly and then slowly tapers off toward the end. This is the most useful setting for quick fades.
• –3dB: Starts slowly and then moves quickly toward the end. This is the default setting and is best for maintaining a natural volume when crossfading between two adjacent clips.

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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