Quote For all of my videos, the first 1 to 3 seconds on the timeline show as black even though there is video there. This make the video start in black which I don't want. I would like my videos to start at the first frame showing whats in the frame.

Is there a way to fix this without losing the first few seconds?

Thank you.

I see that you have applied effects to the clip, maybe even keyframed a fade in Place the mouse cursor on the orange i in the black box on the left of the clip to see what effect you may have inadvertently added.

Play the same clip in the media library to see if you have the fade in on the original clip. Let us know.

Quote Hello,

I'm using PowerDirector 17 which I know is an older version. For all of my videos, the first 1 to 3 seconds on the timeline show as black even though there is video there. This make the video start in black which I don't want. I would like my videos to start at the first frame showing whats in the frame.

Is there a way to fix this without losing the first few seconds?

Thank you.

I'm not sure I understand your concern. What's shown in the timeline are thumbnails, not exact time accurate frames of video. What's shown in the preview window is accurate pic for the current scrubber position. That current timeline thumbnail probably occurs as your first frame in the video is maybe black. This black thumbnail covers the first 7 frames of video in the timeline. Since timeline is set at 30fps, that's 7/30 or 0.2333 seconds, The next thumbnail covers the next 7 frames of video, another 0.2333 seconds and so on. If the timeline thumbnails bother you, turn them off in pref > Editing > "Enable continuous...." That's actually preferred as timeline thumbnails can slow up timeline fluidity during editing, just use the preview window.

If your video does have a black initial video frame based on the preview window, trim those few frames off.

Jeff

Quote I'm not sure I understand your concern. What's shown in the timeline are thumbnails, not exact time accurate frames of video. What's shown in the preview window is accurate pic for the current scrubber position. That current timeline thumbnail probably occurs as your first frame in the video is maybe black. This black thumbnail covers the first 7 frames of video in the timeline. Since timeline is set at 30fps, that's 7/30 or 0.2333 seconds, The next thumbnail covers the next 7 frames of video, another 0.2333 seconds and so on. If the timeline thumbnails bother you, turn them off in pref > Editing > "Enable continuous...." That's actually preferred as timeline thumbnails can slow up timeline fluidity during editing, just use the preview window.

If your video does have a black initial video frame based on the preview window, trim those few frames off.

Jeff

I actually thought about that before answering the OP. The screenshot shows Gallery Hotspots.mp4 is not a black thumbnail in the media library. It is a black thumbnail when placed on the timeline.

I produced the Skateboard .mp4 clip with a 2.5 second fade in and it shows as a black clip in the media library and on the timeline. See the attached screenshot. That is why I believe that fade in is not on that original clip but may be an effect added by keyframes by the OP.

Whatever it is, the OP should be able to fix it by trimming or reversing what was done.

Quote I actually thought about that before answering the OP. The screenshot shows Gallery Hotspots.mp4 is not a black thumbnail in the media library. It is a black thumbnail when placed on the timeline.

I produced the Skateboard .mp4 clip with a 2.5 second fade in and it shows as a black clip in the media library and on the timeline. See the attached screenshot. That is why I believe that fade in is not on that original clip but may be an effect added by keyframes by the OP.

Whatever it is, the OP should be able to fix it by trimming or reversing what was done.

Maybe, I don't know where the 2.5 sec comes from. Could be confusing the timecode of HR:MM:SS:Frames as the scrubber is on 3 frames.

To me it looks like attached, I put a single black frame at the beginning which won't show in the media library clip. The clip in the OP preview shows no sign of a fade. The clip in the timeline will show this black thumbnail for what appears to be 6 frames, however the duration is not real accurate as it's just a thumbnail. The apparent duration of the thumbnails depends on timeline zoom.

Will have to wait for clarity from OP.

Jeff