Fade in/out using Avidemux

[VenusAndMars]

Hi, I have a tiny (7 second) clip I want to fade in from black for one second, run for five seonds, then fade out to black for another second. Like in my crude sketch:



Can I do that using Avidemux? When I try the fade-in-out filter on my own it looks like as the link (second link, the first is the original clip). No good.

I started out with this:



and got his:



I am thankful for any hint.

[DarrellS]

Use Virtualdub with the Fill filter in Blend mode. Under View, choose Curve Editor and adjust the curve to get the fade that you desire. Under compression, choose the original codec and choose Smart Render to keep from re-encoding the whole file (with a seven second file it's not a big issue but on a large clip it would be).

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v473/DarrellS/?action=view&current=Fade02a.mp4

[poisondeathray]

did you apply 2 instances of the filter, 1 for fade in, 1 for fade out ? did you specify the frame numbers ? it seems to work fine here

[DarrellS]

did you apply 2 instances of the filter, 1 for fade in, 1 for fade out ? did you specify the frame numbers ? it seems to work fine here

No. That is what the curve is for. You create points at the bottom and raise them to create your curve. You can make as many fade ins and fade outs as you want with the curve and only the points where you have created your fades will be re-encoded if you use Smart Render.

[poisondeathray]

did you apply 2 instances of the filter, 1 for fade in, 1 for fade out ? did you specify the frame numbers ? it seems to work fine here

No. That is what the curve is for. You create points at the bottom and raise them to create your curve. You can make as many fade ins and fade outs as you want with the curve and only the points where you have created your fades will be re-encoded if you use Smart Render.

Thanks, but I was talking to the OP, about avidemux

I know it works in vdub , but have you coaxed smart render to work with h.264 in vdub successfully ?( I thought smart render only worked with mpeg4-asp)?

[DarrellS]

did you apply 2 instances of the filter, 1 for fade in, 1 for fade out ? did you specify the frame numbers ? it seems to work fine here

No. That is what the curve is for. You create points at the bottom and raise them to create your curve. You can make as many fade ins and fade outs as you want with the curve and only the points where you have created your fades will be re-encoded if you use Smart Render.

Thanks, but I was talking to the OP, about avidemux

I know it works in vdub , but have you coaxed smart render to work with h.264 in vdub successfully ?( I thought smart render only worked with mpeg4-asp)?

Yes I have. I have x264vfw installed and also fcchandler's aacacm. I use x264vfw as compression and Smart Render (or Direct Stream Copy) x264 and aac into AVI container and then use MKVmerge to create MKV. I have also Direct Stream Copied using ffdshow. You may have to put mp4 in mkv container first. mp4 doesn't play fair in Virtualdub (from my experience, it doesn't play fair in avidemux either).

[poisondeathray]

Interesting, smart rendering AVC didn't work when I tested it last. Did something change recently ? I'll look at it again

[VenusAndMars]

@poisondeathray
@DarrelS
Thanks both for your ideas. Preferably, I would like to continue using Avidemux as I am very lazy and also, like everybody else, I have a great many programs and software I know and try to keep updated on. It seems for every new piece of info I try to aquire, something else is pushed out.

No poisondeathray, I did not apply 2 instances of the filter, 1 for fade in, 1 for fade out. Your point is well taken, I just have to get the frame numbers right and I think that will maybe do it.

I will try Vitualdub also, as everybody here speaks highly of it. I will post asap on any progress. Again thanks for the tips.

[poisondeathray]

Well it works here in avidemux if you apply it correctly, and it works in vdub as well . Vdub would be preferrable, if AVC smart rendering worked





I just had questions about AVC smart rendering , which did not work in the past

I did a bunch tests ,and it seems AVC smart rendering works most of the time, but there are issues still.

Vdub still has problems with b-frames and frame accuracy with non linear seeks, even when re-wrapping into mkv container and using mkv plugin .

e.g. if you navigate to a section to apply a curve to a filter , you can "lose your place" and the resultant frames will be out of order, even on the exported encode (even if you re-wrap the export, or examine the raw elementary stream in a stream analyzer)

[VenusAndMars]

Yes, you have obviously 'been there'. I am a novice and a n00b and generally blissfully unaware of the complexities of video editing. But I have a hunch it can be real tricky, and what seems to the uninitiated a straightforward, simple procedure is in reality not so easy, much like anything else in life.

As Dr Samuel Johnson said, back in the latter part of the 18'th century:

"Among the innumerable mortifications which waylay human arrogance on every side may well be reckoned our ignorance of the most common objects and effects, a defect of which we become more sensible by every attempt to supply it.

Vulgar and inactive minds confound familiarity with knowledge and conceive themselves informed of the whole nature of things when they are shown their form or told their use; but the speculatist, who is not content with superficial views, harasses himself with fruitless curiosity, and still, as he inquires more, perceives only that he knows less."

That's a lot of words, but then you cannot express a complex notion in one brief, catchy sentence, I don't think.

Also, Charles Darwin said:

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge." How true.

[DarrellS]

Well it works here in avidemux if you apply it correctly, and it works in vdub as well . Vdub would be preferrable, if AVC smart rendering worked





I just had questions about AVC smart rendering , which did not work in the past

I did a bunch tests ,and it seems AVC smart rendering works most of the time, but there are issues still.

Vdub still has problems with b-frames and frame accuracy with non linear seeks, even when re-wrapping into mkv container and using mkv plugin .

e.g. if you navigate to a section to apply a curve to a filter , you can "lose your place" and the resultant frames will be out of order, even on the exported encode (even if you re-wrap the export, or examine the raw elementary stream in a stream analyzer)

Yeah, trying to edit H264 can be very tricky (mp4 is almost impossible). When editing mkv, if I go far enough back then I can go forward and get to the correct frame, if not then then you can end up at the wrong frame. If you go back frame by frame, you can see the jump when you get to the correct spot. This is most obvious when using the curve editor. With mp4, you can jump all over the place trying to find the right spot and never find it. I usually give up and put it in an mkv container. You can't smart render or direct stream copy an mp4 into an AVI container anyway. It pops up an error telling you it's not compatible even though they are the same elementery streams that are in the mkv.

It's best when using the curve editor to start at the beginning and work forward and try not to jump all over the place (it's OK to go back to the last keyframe and test your fade). Also, when you've finished with one file and want to work on another, close that instance of Virtualdub and open another one and start all over. Trying to get the curve editor to forget where it was at and what it was doing can be tricky. It's better just to start from scratch.

[poisondeathray]

Well it's still progress. If they can somehow fix this (maybe with a separate indexing function) it would be awesome. I suspect it will be very difficult because vdub is still VFW based, 1 frame in, 1 frame out. B-frames will screw that up everytime . A while back there was not even a faint hope of smart rendering AVC (maybe with videoredo 4 beta, but that has it's share of problems too)

@VenusAndMars - did you get things sorted out with the fade in/out yet ?