You need at least 1 second of transitional material beyond the beginning or end of your clip to create a smooth transition. Longer if it's a longer transition. In other words, if you have a two second clip and you want a two second transition, you will see the transition -- but as soon as it's over the clip will end!

The only alternative is to force the program to work without transitional material. In this case, you'll end up with a freeze frame through the transition, then your clip will start.

Yes, you've definitely got us confused, gemgreg.

I'm not sure what you mean by "add a transition that will cover all 3 of them at once" and "not between them". Transitions are, by definition, BETWEEN CLIPS.

It sounds as though you may just be fading to black (or white). But how will you have all three clips onscreen at the same time?

If you're proposing to have one clip followed by the next followed by the next, all the while fading to black or white, that's easy enough to do. But you really need to be clear on what exactly it is you're trying to do.

Okay, here's what you need to do.

Open a separate project with just the two or three clips you want to use in your transition sequence. Put them on the timeline and then use Share/Computer to output them.

If you're working in standard definition video, use Share/Computer/AVI with the DV preset.

If you're working in high definition video, use Share/Computer/MPEG with the AVCHD 1920x1080i option.

This will create a single clip that includes your three video segments.

Put this new clip on your timeline and you should be able place your long transition over it.

There is -- in Premiere Pro, which allows embedded timelines. Not in Premiere Elements though. Sorry.