I'm trying to do a standard fade in, fade out dissolve between 2 sequences but I get an error, "Insufficiant content for edit." Is it not possible to sandwich these standard dissolves between entire sequences in FCP HD?

I can do it manually w/ the opacity but just wanted to know why it won't accept dissolves from the menu.

You didn't leave enough "handles" to accommodate the time needed to do the dissolve. You need to start the transition earlier, or try moving the dissolve. Is it centered on the cut? Try moving it to the start of the cut.

Yes it is centered on the cut. So instead of placing the playhead between sequence 1 and 2 to insert the transition I should place it at the beginning of sequence 2?

Yes, try that and it should work. depending on your extra material or "handles".

Thanks, I'll try that out. Do "handles" refer to alotting enough space on each clip to allow the transition to run through?

"Handles" are extra material after the in point and out point of the edit, to use in the transitions.

I'm using FCE and have a similar problem. I'm fairly new to editing but I do understand that a clip has to have have "extra" material at the ends (handles) in order to use transitions.

I do a lot of editing with sequences and once I get them right, I put them together. FCE treats the sequences like clips, and I think that means that when you build a sequence you have to leave material at the beginning and end. Then when you put the sequences together, roll back the ends by 15 or 30 frames to get the necessary handles to do transitions.

At least I think this is how you have to do it. Is this how everyone else works with sequences or is there a better way?