# Fade a Video In and Out Add a fade-in and fade-out to a video — picture fading from and to black, sound ramping out of and into silence. Free, private, runs in your browser. ## Run it - **CLI:** `gizza tool video-fade 'url=https://example.com/input' 'fade_in=1' 'fade_out=1' 'duration=12.5' 'streams=both' 'quality=balanced'` - **Web:** https://gizza.ai/tools/video-fade/ - **Agents:** machine-readable descriptor (parameters JSON Schema) at https://gizza.ai/tools/video-fade/tool.json ## Inputs - `file` — Video _(file; accept: video/*)_ - `fade_in` — Fade in (seconds) _(field)_ - `fade_out` — Fade out (seconds) _(field)_ - `duration` — Exact clip length (seconds) — needed for a fade-out _(field)_ - `streams` — Fade _(field)_ - `color` — Fade colour _(field)_ - `quality` — Output quality _(field)_ ## Output - Faded video (video) ## Query parameters Open the tool pre-filled and auto-run via URL: - `fade_in` — Fade in (seconds) - `fade_out` — Fade out (seconds) - `duration` — Exact clip length (seconds) — needed for a fade-out - `streams` — Fade - `color` — Fade colour - `quality` — Output quality - `url` — fetch the input file from a public URL (CORS-permitting) Example: `https://gizza.ai/tools/video-fade/?url=https://example.com/input&fade_in=1&fade_out=1&duration=12.5&streams=both&quality=balanced` --- ## Fade a video in from black and out to black Use this tool to soften how a clip starts and ends. The **picture** ramps up from a solid colour — black by default — at the beginning, and ramps back down to that colour at the end. The **sound** ramps out of and into silence over exactly the same spans, so the two never drift apart. Set either side to `0` to skip it, pick a different fade colour, or restrict the fade to just the picture or just the sound. Everything runs in your browser and nothing is uploaded. **Worked example:** load a 10-second `intro.mp4`, set **Fade in** to `1`, **Fade out** to `1`, and **Exact clip length** to `10`. The first second lifts the picture out of black while the audio rises from silence; the last second (starting at 10 − 1 = 9 s) sinks both back down. The result is a 10-second `intro-fade.mp4` — same length, same footage, softer ends. ### Why the clip length is asked for A fade-out has to be placed at an absolute time: `clip length − fade out`. The plan is built **before** the file is decoded, so the length can't be read off the video first — type it in the **Exact clip length** box (your player's total-time readout is the number you want). A fade-**in** always starts at `0`, so a fade-in-only run needs no length at all; leave the box at `0`. ### What each control does - **Fade in** / **Fade out** — length in seconds of each ramp, `0` to `30`. At least one of the two must be above `0`; both at `0` is rejected as a no-op. Their sum may not exceed the clip length. - **Fade** — `Picture and sound` (default), `Picture only` (audio stays at full level), or `Sound only` (the picture is stream-copied untouched). - **Fade colour** — any colour the ffmpeg filter accepts: a name (`black`, `white`), a hex value (`#101820` or `0x101820`), or `name@alpha` such as `black@0.8`. Ignored when you fade sound only. - **Output quality** — the H.264 CRF used for the re-encoded picture: high (18), balanced (23, the default), or small (28). A lower number keeps more detail and produces a larger file. ### Notes and limits - Fading the picture rewrites pixels, so that path **re-encodes** to H.264/AAC in an MP4 regardless of the input container. Quality loss is normal re-encode loss; pick high quality if the source is precious. - **Sound only** is the lossless path: the video stream is copied bit-for-bit and the input container is kept (`mp4` → `mp4`, `webm` → `webm`). WebM audio is written as Opus, everything else as AAC. - Each fade is capped at `30` seconds per side, and the clip length at 10 hours. - Input and output are each capped at 25 MB, because ffmpeg runs inside the browser tab rather than on a server. - The ramps are linear. The picture fade filter has no easing/curve option at all, so a curved audio ramp would no longer match the picture. - This fades one clip against a flat colour. It does not cross-dissolve between two clips, and it does not fade an alpha channel — H.264 in MP4 has no transparency to fade. - If the length you type is wrong, the fade-out lands in the wrong place: too large and it starts late (or gets cut off by the real end), too small and it finishes before the clip does. ### FAQ
Why do I have to type the clip length for a fade-out? The ffmpeg `fade` and `afade` filters take an **absolute start time**, so a closing fade is placed at `length − fade out`. The command is assembled before the video is decoded, so the length has to come from you. A fade-in starts at `0` and never needs it — leave the field at `0` for a fade-in-only run.
Can I fade to white, or to a custom colour? Yes. Put `white`, a hex value like `#101820` or `0x101820`, or a `name@alpha` value like `black@0.8` in **Fade colour**. The same colour is used for both the opening and the closing ramp. Colours containing filtergraph punctuation (`,` `:` `[` `]` `'` or spaces) are rejected rather than escaped.
Will the video be re-encoded, and will quality drop? If the fade touches the picture, yes — changing pixels requires a re-encode, and the output is H.264/AAC in an MP4 at the CRF you choose. If you set **Fade** to `Sound only`, the picture is stream-copied with no quality change at all and only the audio is re-encoded.
Can I fade only one end of the clip? Yes. Set the side you don't want to `0`. Fade-in only leaves the ending untouched (and needs no clip length); fade-out only leaves the opening at full brightness and volume. Setting both to `0` is rejected, because the output would be identical to the input.
How is this different from fading only the audio? A picture fade changes what you see — the frames dip to and from a solid colour — and therefore re-encodes the video stream. An audio-only fade changes only the volume curve and copies the picture untouched. Choose `Sound only` here for the audio-only behaviour, or `Picture only` if you want the visuals to dip while the soundtrack stays at full level.
What is the longest fade I can apply? 30 seconds per side. The two fades together also cannot be longer than the clip itself — a 3-second fade in plus a 3-second fade out on a 5-second clip is rejected, while 2.5 + 2.5 on the same clip is allowed and leaves no full-level frames in between.
## Related tools - [Change Video Speed](https://gizza.ai/tools/change-speed/): Speed up or slow down a video right in your browser, keeping audio in sync — pick a speed factor (0.25x–4x). Re-encodes locally with ffmpeg, nothing is uploaded, free. - [Extract Video Frames to a Contact Sheet](https://gizza.ai/tools/extract-frames/): Sample frames from a video by interval, fps or scene change and tile them into one contact-sheet image. Free, in your browser with ffmpeg, nothing is uploaded. - [Gamma Correct an Image](https://gizza.ai/tools/gamma-correct/): Apply gamma correction to image midtones in your browser, with per-channel gamma, highlight protection and PNG/JPG/WebP output options. - [GIF to MP4 / WebM](https://gizza.ai/tools/gif-to-mp4/): Convert an animated GIF into a much smaller MP4 or WebM video, right in your browser. Re-encodes locally with ffmpeg (H.264 / VP9), nothing is uploaded, free. - [Pad a Video to an Aspect Ratio](https://gizza.ai/tools/video-aspect-pad/): Letterbox or pillarbox a video to 9:16, 1:1, 16:9 or any preset ratio with colored bars or a blurred background — free, in your browser, nothing is uploaded.