So, I'm trying to fade in a transparent div, kinda like hulu does when you click dim lights... here is what i have:
  //show the bg
  new Effect.Appear('darkBackgroundLayer', {duration: 0.3});
then when my pop up is initialized
// create the div for background dimming
 if($('darkBackgroundLayer')){
   Element.remove('darkBackgroundLayer')
  }
  var transparentBG = document.createElement('div');
  transparentBG.className = 'darkenBackground';
  transparentBG.id = "darkBackgroundLayer"
  transparentBG.style.display = "none";
document.body.appendChild(transparentBG);
and the CSS for the new div
.darkenBackground {
 background-color: rgb(0, 0, 0);
 opacity: 0.7; /* Safari, Opera */
 -moz-opacity:0.70; /* FireFox */
 filter: alpha(opacity=70); /* IE */
 z-index: 20;
 height: 100%;
 width: 100%;
 background-repeat:repeat;
 position:fixed;
 top: 0px;
 left: 0px;
    }
but, currently, it fades in... all the way to a solid back, then jumps to the .7 opacity...
ideas?