I'm using Premiere CS6 with video footage from a Canon T2i. However, the issue appears regardless of the video source.
When I apply a Film Dissolve to a clip in the timeline, then add an Adjustment Layer with an Unsharp Mask on a track above the clip, the whites in the clip appear to become crushed over the length of the transition, while still fading to black. This does NOT happen if I use a Sharpen filter instead of an Unshark Mask, and if I apply the Unsharp Mask to the clip directly instead of using an Adjustment Layer. Fading with another clip looks normal as well, the whites only get crushed when fading to black.
If the problem had to do with the Film Dissolve processing in a linear color space, then I would expect similar results with the Sharpen filter. Likewise, if the problem had to do with the Unshark Mask, then I would expect to see the same thing when it is applied to the clip directly.
Any ideas? I appriciate the help!