Fade Effect for Video Clips in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows

When you insert a video clip in PowerPoint, you may find that the inserted video starts playing instantly causing a jarring interruption to the flow of your slides. Not only can the sudden movement within the video clip area disrupt the flow, but the sudden sound from the video clip may take the audience unaware. This sort of disruption can be worse if you have trimmed your video clip. Clearly this is not a very professional or acceptable state of affairs.

Fortunately, this is avoidable if you opt to add Fade In and Fade Out effects to the beginning and end of your video clip (see sample presentation slides with these Fade effects at the bottom of this page). The Fade In and Fade Out options not only edit your video clips to make them appear and finish smoothly, but also provide a more enhanced look.

Follow these steps to add Fade effects to the start and end of a video clip in PowerPoint 2010 for Windows:

1. Open your presentation, and navigate to the required slide where you have already inserted a video clip. Select or double-click the video clip to bring up the two contextual Video Tools tabs in the Ribbon. These two tabs are Format and Playback. Click the Playback tab to activate it, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 1, below.
2. 
   Figure 1: Video Tools Playback tab of the Ribbon

Contextual Tab

The Video Tools Playback tab is a Contextual tab. Contextual tabs are special tabs in the Ribbon that are not visible all the time. They only make an appearance when you are working with a particular slide object which can be edited using special options.
2. Now, within the Video Tools Playback tab, locate the Editing group. Within this group, you'll find the Fade Duration options, as shown highlighted in red within Figure 2, below.
3. 
   Figure 2: Fade Duration options
4. These are the two Fade Duration options:

Fade In

5. The Fade In option adds a timed fade effect at the beginning of the video clip. Within the Fade In box, directly enter the exact number of seconds you want the clip to fade in. Alternatively, use the Up and Down arrows besides the box to increase or decrease the Fade In duration.

Fade Out

6. The Fade Out option adds a timed fade effect at the end of the video clip. Within the Fade Out box, directly enter the exact number of seconds you want the clip to fade out. Alternatively, use the Up and Down arrows besides the box to increase or decrease the Fade Out duration.
3. Experiment with different values to get the effect you want. Play your video clip to preview the difference. Make sure to save your presentation.