Adding transitions: 'not enough extra footage left.' What am I doing wrong?

Hello everyone. I hope you all are all right
This may be a strange question but I need guidance here. Up until now, adding transitions was simple, or so I thought. Now, every time I add one I get the message 'not enough extra footage left (or something like that)'. The thing is that I can add the transition but my footage is trimmed. What am I doing wrong?

I add the transitions after mounting my project. What I mean is that I don't add a clip into the timeline and then add the transition. I go up to the end and then I see where transitions could fit. Sometimes a fade out is more than enough.

Can you help me out here? This is quite limiting. If I can go away with a transition is just by chance. I don't have any control.

Thanks so much

Have a good one,

Oscar

A transition is always centred between 2 clips or a clip and a gap.
You can't change the alignment of the transition (eg start 5 frames before the cut and end 25 frames after)

So say you have a 30 frame dissolve then the dissolve starts 15 frames before the cut and last for 15 frames after. If your incoming clip doesn't have 15 frames before the first frame after the the cut, or doesn't have 15 frames after the last frame before the cut, FCP will tell you that it can't apply the transition in the current situation but has to shift the cut so it gets the frame before or after.

Need extra frames? To keep from affecting the entire timeline my trick is to speed ramp the tail & head of the clips. Won't take many frames to give you the 'handles' needed and nobody will notice any slowing since it's slight and masked by the transition iteself.

Hi Carsten. Thanks so much for your explanation. What I think after reading you is that I should apply the transition before mounting the video because otherwise, the duration of my clips will always be altered. Does this make any sense? 
I'm sorry. I feel a bit stupid because this must be something pretty obvious, isn't it?

Thanks again

Thanks VTC. I am definitely going to investigate your method. And thanks for the concept "speed ramp". I didn't know it. I get what you mean and it makes sense. 

Thanks !!

Many of the questions people have about FCP would be answered by taking a proper training course. When I started with FCPX I took a seminar with Ripple Training and purchased some of their courses. Many of the questions I see asked about FCP would be answered within the first hour of training. Just make sure the course is provided by someone who actually does real-world work with the app. I’ve seen many training videos that don’t get in to real practical day-to-day use of the app but use drag-and-drop and the dropdown menus for everything. That’s not the easiest and most efficient way to work in FCP. I’ll get off the soapbox now. 😉

Check this out: 

Totally agree: Ripple Training is the best. We can keep chopping wood with a dull axe or spend some $$ and take the time to sharpen that tool. If you plan on getting better at FCP, it is well worth the money and the time to learn your craft properly.

Thanks a lot, anickt. The video is great and your advice too. My field is audio. That's why I don't plan on taking a course on FCP. I need some more knowledge, but not much, in order to do what I need with the software. But you're right and I want to say that I am a course person. YouTube is not enough most of the time and I feel that I'm wasting time sometimes. Definitively, many courses and direct training are worth the money because time is priceless.

I'll keep the name of the course creators because you never know...

Thanks so much!

Oscar

RoxaneLag wrote:

Thanks a lot, anickt. The video is great and your advice too. My field is audio. That's why I don't plan on taking a course on FCP. I need some more knowledge, but not much, in order to do what I need with the software. But you're right and I want to say that I am a course person. YouTube is not enough most of the time and I feel that I'm wasting time sometimes. Definitively, many courses and direct training are worth the money because time is priceless.

I'll keep the name of the course creators because you never know...

Thanks so much!

Oscar

Glad to help. I should have mentioned I’m speaking more to the regular or “professional” user than the casual user.

No problem I got what you meant, and even with hobbies a course is always a good idea. Time's best invest in good practice and not in looking for random tutorials.

Cheers!