Transition between 2 movies using a MPMoviePlayerController

I'm trying to make a smooth cross fade between 2 movies in my iPad App. On a button tap the visuals randomize & the movie which is playing fades to the next movie.

Since 2 movies cannot be played simultaneously (from the docs) a straight-forward cross-fade isn't possible. To get around this I use a still image of the initial frame of the new movie (which is to be faded in). I used two players to handle the interchange of movies.

The original movie is paused, Then I transition to the image. Now I add my 2nd movie (with alpha = 0.0) & then transition so that its alpha = 1. I then play the new movie. This all works ok except for a noticeable darkening as the new movie transitions in over the image.

I tested it without the still image & the darkening doesn't seem to occur during said transition.

My code for the switch is below (first half of the if-statement). It looks pretty strange ,looking over it, but it's the method that brought me closest to what I needed.

Maybe there's a better way to go about this task? Thanks in advance :)

- (void) switchMovie;
 {
 
 NSURL *movieImageUrl = [movieImageUrlArray objectAtIndex:index];
 NSData *data = [NSData dataWithContentsOfURL:movieImageUrl];
 UIImage *movieImage = [[UIImage alloc] initWithData:data];
 UIImageView *image = [[UIImageView alloc] initWithImage:movieImage];
 
 image.alpha = 0.0f;
 [self addSubview:image];
 
 if (moviePlayer1Playing) {
 
 moviePlayer1Playing = NO;
 moviePlayer2Playing = NO;
 
 [moviePlayer1 pause]; //pausing later in the method caused a crash, stopping causes a crash.
 
 [UIView animateWithDuration:1.0
                       delay:0.0
                     options:UIViewAnimationCurveEaseIn
                  animations:^{
 
                      image.alpha = 1.0f;             //fade in still of first frame of new movie
 
                  } completion:^(BOOL finished) {
 
                      [moviePlayer1 release];   //release original movie.
 
                      moviePlayer2 = [[MPMoviePlayerController alloc] initWithContentURL:[movieUrlArray objectAtIndex:index]]; 
 
                      moviePlayer2.shouldAutoplay = NO;
                      [moviePlayer2 prepareToPlay];
                      [moviePlayer2 setControlStyle:MPMovieControlStyleNone];
                      moviePlayer2.scalingMode = MPMovieScalingModeAspectFill;
                      [moviePlayer2.view setFrame:CGRectMake(0, 0, 1024 , 768)];
                      moviePlayer2.view.backgroundColor = [UIColor clearColor];
                      moviePlayer2.view.alpha = 0.0;
                      [self addSubview:moviePlayer2.view];
 
                      [UIView animateWithDuration: 3.0 
                                            delay: 0.0 
                                          options: UIViewAnimationCurveLinear  
                                       animations:^(void){ 
 
                                          moviePlayer2.view.alpha = 1.0f;
                                          //During this transition the view goes dark half-way through, before lightening again.
 
                                       } completion:^ (BOOL finished) {
 
                                           [moviePlayer2 play];
                                           moviePlayer2Playing = YES;  
                                           moviePlayer1Playing = NO;
 
 
                                       }];
 
                  }]; 
 
 
 }
 

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