FFmpeg Fade & xfade Filters — Crossfade Transitions

What You Will Learn

• The command to fade video in and out with the fade filter
• The command to crossfade between two clips with the xfade filter
• A full list of built-in transition effects
• How to chain multiple clips together with transitions

Tested with: FFmpeg 6.1 (verified against real FFmpeg)

Supported OS: Windows / macOS / Linux

The fade Filter — Fade In and Fade Out

Fade In (gradually reveal the opening from black)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fade=t=in:st=0:d=2" output.mp4

Fade Out (fade the end of the video to black)

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "fade=t=out:st=8:d=2" output.mp4

st=8 fades out over 2 seconds starting at the 8-second mark. Adjust it to match the length of your video. To find existing fade-to-black points automatically, see detecting black frames with blackdetect.

Apply Fade In and Fade Out Together

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "fade=t=in:st=0:d=1.5, fade=t=out:st=8.5:d=1.5" \
  output.mp4

Fade to a Color Other Than Black

ffmpeg -i input.mp4 \
  -vf "fade=t=in:st=0:d=2:color=white" \
  output.mp4

With color=white the fade goes through white (a white fade-in). To fade the soundtrack along with the picture, pair this with audio fade-in and fade-out using afade.

The xfade Filter — Crossfade Between Two Clips

Basic Crossfade

ffmpeg -i input1.mp4 -i input2.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0][1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=4" \
  output.mp4

offset=4 means “the transition starts 4 seconds into the first clip.”

List of Built-In Transition Effects

# Wipe-left example
ffmpeg -i input1.mp4 -i input2.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0][1]xfade=transition=wipeleft:duration=1:offset=4" \
  output.mp4

A Note When the Two Clips Have Different Lengths

offset is measured in seconds of the first clip. Set it so that offset + duration stays within the total length of the first clip.

# If the first clip is 6 seconds long: offset=5, duration=1 is fine
ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -i clip2.mp4 \
  -filter_complex "[0][1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=5" \
  output.mp4

Joining Three Clips with Two Transitions

ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -i clip2.mp4 -i clip3.mp4 \
  -filter_complex \
    "[0][1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=4[v01]; \
     [v01][2]xfade=transition=wipeleft:duration=1:offset=8" \
  output.mp4

1. A fade between clip1 and clip2
2. A wipe between that result and clip3

Handling Clips with Audio

xfade is a video-only filter. To apply a matching transition to the audio as well, use the acrossfade filter.

ffmpeg -i clip1.mp4 -i clip2.mp4 \
  -filter_complex \
    "[0:v][1:v]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=4[v]; \
     [0:a][1:a]acrossfade=d=1[a]" \
  -map "[v]" -map "[a]" \
  output.mp4

Adding Crossfades to a Still-Image Slideshow

ffmpeg -loop 1 -t 3 -i img1.jpg \
       -loop 1 -t 3 -i img2.jpg \
  -filter_complex "[0][1]xfade=transition=fade:duration=1:offset=2" \
  output.mp4

Things to Watch Out For

• xfade is available in FFmpeg 4.3 and later. Older versions required a combination of overlay + fade.
• The offset value must be smaller than the length of the video.
• Matching the duration of acrossfade to the duration of xfade produces a natural-feeling transition.

Common Pitfalls

• Symptom: xfade reports Buffer is full or an offset-related error. Cause: offset + duration exceeds the length of the first clip. Fix: keep offset well below the first clip’s duration. If the first clip is 6 seconds, offset=5:duration=1 is the safe limit.

• Symptom: the crossfade works but the audio disappears or cuts off. Cause: xfade is video-only and the audio needs separate handling. Fix: pair it with acrossfade and map both with -map "[v]" -map "[a]". Match acrossfade’s d to xfade’s duration for a natural result.

• Symptom: the fade-out starts at the wrong moment. Cause: in fade=t=out, st is the fade start time, not the end time. Fix: to fade out the last 2 seconds of a 10-second clip, use st=8:d=2 (because 8+2=10).

• Symptom: the transition glitches when the two clips differ in resolution or fps. Cause: xfade expects both inputs to share the same size and frame rate. Fix: normalize them with scale and fps before feeding them into xfade.

FAQ

Q. What is the difference between fade and xfade? A. fade fades a single clip in or out to black (or a chosen color). xfade is a transition that blends two clips as it switches between them, and it requires -filter_complex with two inputs.

Q. Can I fade to a color other than black or white? A. With fade, set it via color= (e.g. color=white). With xfade, choose a dedicated transition name like fadeblack or fadewhite in transition=.

Q. Can I chain three or more clips? A. Yes. Label the output of one xfade and feed it as the input of the next. As in the three-clip example above, separate the chains with ;.

Q. Does it work for a still-image slideshow? A. Yes. Loop each image as input with -loop 1 -t 3 -i img1.jpg and join them with xfade. Set offset to match how long each image is shown.

Q. How many transition effects are there? A. Many — besides fade, there are wipeleft, slideup, circlecrop, dissolve, and more. Pick a name from the table above and pass it to transition=.

Related Filters

• afade — Audio fade in/out
• acrossfade — Audio crossfade
• overlay — Compositing video on top of video
• concat — Concatenating video