Dip to Black — effect skill for transitions

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A fades to black, then B fades up. Marks the end of a section or a bigger jump in time.

What it does

Built on Fade Through by HeyGen (HyperFrames), Apache-2.0. The write-up and recipes below are varg's.

Picture darkens fully for a few frames, then the next shot rises out of black.

When: Chapter breaks, endings, before a title card, emotional pauses.

Watch out: Using it between every shot makes the piece feel like it keeps ending.

Timing: 0.5–1.2 s total, hold black 2–6 frames; CapCut default 0.47 s

Also called: Black Fade, fade through black, fade to black, dip to black

In FFmpeg

Same size/fps/pixel format on both inputs (see the Normalize card). offset = duration(A) - T = 5.0 - 0.8 = 4.2.

ffmpeg -i a.mp4 -i b.mp4 -filter_complex \
"[0:v]fps=30,settb=AVTB,format=yuv420p[a];[1:v]fps=30,settb=AVTB,format=yuv420p[b];\
[a][b]xfade=transition=fadeblack:duration=0.8:offset=4.2[v];\
[0:a][1:a]acrossfade=d=0.8[au]" \
  -map "[v]" -map "[au]" -c:v libx264 -crf 18 -c:a aac out.mp4

In HyperFrames

CSS colour dip: tween #s1 opacity 1→0 (power1.in, 0.4 s) and #s2 0→1 (power1.out, 0.4 s) starting 0.4 s later, over a black root. Block: npx hyperframes add fade-through.

In Remotion

import {TransitionSeries, linearTiming, springTiming} from '@remotion/transitions';
import {fade} from '@remotion/transitions/fade';

<TransitionSeries>
  <TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={90}><ShotA /></TransitionSeries.Sequence>
  <TransitionSeries.Transition presentation={fade({shouldFadeOutExitingScene: true})} timing={linearTiming({durationInFrames: 24})} />
  <TransitionSeries.Sequence durationInFrames={90}><ShotB /></TransitionSeries.Sequence>
</TransitionSeries>

Total = 90 + 90 - 24 frames: the transition overlaps the two shots. Put a black <AbsoluteFill> behind the series so the dip goes through black, not the background.

In CapCut

Transitions tab → Basic / Overlay → Black Fade. Desktop: drag the tile onto the cut between two clips and set Duration in the right panel ("Apply to all" reuses it on every cut). Mobile: tap the small white square between clips, pick the transition, drag the duration slider, tap ✓. Tab labels and placement change between versions and regions.

Ready-made components

Where this comes from

Use when

Not for

Install

Example output

https://s3.varg.ai/how-to/previews/0e809e151e60/take-black-fade.mp4 — dip-black between two shots, with the timeline strip of the edit. Footage: Coffee Run (2020), Blender Studio | studio.blender.org, CC BY 4.0; Coffee Run (2020), Blender Studio | studio.blender.org, CC BY 4.0. (credit: Rendered by varg · Coffee Run (2020))

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