Adding multiple dissolves in Final Cut Pro
It wasn't until I took a Final Cut Pro class, that I was shown a trick on how to add multiple dissolves all at the same time using Final Cut Pro. I'll admit, I didn't think it was possible. Here are the steps.
Make sure that you have enough (handles) between each edit point. Otherwise there will be insufficient source material to place a standard 30 frame dissolve. Next, highlight all of the clips in your Final Cut Pro sequence. You can do this by using the (arrow tool) to lasso them all, or using (command + A) to select all of the clips.
Then park your yellow position indicator at the front of the sequence. Next, drag all of the clips into the Final Cut Pro Canvas window, where it says (overwrite with transition). As crazy as it seems, it will edit all of your clips on top of your existing clips. It's a strange concept, but it works!
Be careful, because you are basically blowing over top of your existing sequence. You might want to duplicate your sequence before you try this.
If you want to apply multiple transitions (other than a dissolve) you can set a different default effect by going to the effects tab. Simply find the Final Cut Pro transition that you want to use, and control click on it and set it to (default transition). Then repeat the same process as described above.
In this example, a page peel would then be applied to every single transition point, instead of a dissolve.
