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Finally, hit F, the hot key for auto-append. All of your clips have been put onto the timeline as straight cuts. And that's all there is to it.

Now that you've got straight-cuts under your belt, let's go to a timeline comprised of dissolves. The steps to building this timeline are very similar. Again, get your clips in the proper order in the gallery. It should be noted that you can use video files or graphics files or a combination of both…dpsVelocity is not picky. Now, double-click your first clip to load it into the trimmer. Trim the clip to your satisfaction.

Then, on the right side of the expanded trimmer, place your mouse over the large preview window. You'll notice that the cursor has changed into two small arrows. Move the cursor left and right, to adjust the position of the playhead on the timeline.

When the playhead is in the place where you'd like to begin your timeline, hit the Insert From In button (hot key +) on the left side of the trimmer. This will place the trimmed clip onto the timeline at the desired location, and simultaneously load the next clip in the gallery.

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Next, since we're making a timeline of dissolves, let's define this dissolve. Right-click anywhere in the advanced trim window to open your options. In the box labeled "Default transition length", enter the length you'd like your transition to be. Hit OK.

Now, trim your next clip, and hit the transition button (hot key / ). You'll see that it has been added to the timeline, automatically forming a dissolve with the previous clip. Again, the next clip in the gallery has automatically been loaded. Continue to trim each clip, and add it to the timeline with the transition button, until you're through the entire gallery. Just like that, you're done.

Click on image for larger view

Feel free to go back to the timeline to customize transitions, and add titles or music. I find this method to be particularly beneficial when building photo montages; that is, a project consisting of a series of dissolves between still images.

Have fun with both methods, and take advantage of the time you save by fine-tuning your projects to make them a cut above the rest….or maybe a dissolve above the rest….you decide.

For more information on DPS and its products, please visit the DPS website at www.dps.com

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