Let’s go quickly over the mechanics of adding a transition, and then discuss how to solve potential problems.

After all, editing is all about precision-often down to the single frame. In fact, I’d argue that you’d almost never want to apply transitions in this way, since good editors spend a lot of time finding the perfect IN and OUT points for each shot-and you don’t want to compromise that by 15 or 30 frames per edit. This is certainly not always desirable, especially when you have timed out your show perfectly. So, what does this mean? Well, this new way of doing things results in the duration of your A-side and B-side shots-as well as your entire sequence-becoming shorter with each transition you apply. (Drawing from shot handles is, of course, the “old” way of doing things in previous versions of Final Cut Pro, as well as most other editing software.) When you add transitions in Final Cut Pro X, the default behavior is to use your material already edited in the Timeline, rather than to use material from your shots’ handles. If there is not enough media avaliable to complete the transition FCPX will prompt and ask if you’d like to create a “full overlap” transition instead. UPDATE: Since FCPX version 10.0.3 all transitions are applied using “avaliable media” – using the media that exists outside of a clips preexisting in and out points. Every time you add transitions, is the duration of your show getting shorter and shorter? Change this behavior by quickly adjusting some basic Final Cut Pro X preferences!

Final cut pro transitions missing