I have a 7sec video clip that I want to play at the start of a slideshow.
However, I want the screen to be black and to hear the audio from the clip for about 2 seconds BEFORE the video begins to visably fade in.
For the life of me, can’t figure out how to accomplish this. Any help appreciated!
Try this – drag the video clip into the Timeline. In the Video options panel, adjust the Opacity slider of the clip by dragging the start point down to the bottom (i.e., 0% opacity), then add two new points along the opacity “curve” by Command-clicking on the line. Drag the first added point down to the bottom, and drag the second added point to the top. Move the two new points accordingly so the opacity fades in around the 2 second mark. If the points line up one over the other, the video will just “pop” onto the screen. If there’s a ramp up, then the video will fade in. Meanwhile, the audio should play right from when the slide appears. As an FYI, if you want the audio to fade in from the start as well, you can add a Dissolve transition to the slide so the audio ramps up as well. If you don’t, the audio will start as soon as the slide starts (which is kinda what you wanted).
Hope that helps…
You are truely Stantasic! That was exactly what I was looking for and worked like a charm. Many thanks!!
Glad that worked.
Thanks, Oliver. If I can, I try 
His tips are better than any manual could be