Help correcting audio levels

I have a recording where the microphone level was set slightly too low and the speaker wore the lavalier microphone a little off center. I tried to raise the overall gain by 4db which brought the higher levels of the recording up correctly, but throughout the entire recording the speaker turns his head away from the microphone and in those spots the levels are still way to low. I tried bringing the gain back down to its original level and then brought it into soundbooth and equalized the audio, but that amplified everthing including the speakers breathing and room airflow to unacceptble levels. Is there an easier way to fix the levels other than manually adjusting the audio throughout the entire video. Is there a way to raise the entire recording 10db to fix the lowest levels and set a peak point so the louder parts of the recording don't clip?
thanks

Honestly when a speaker turns their head in my personal experince you probably won't ever get it totally perfect tone and sound wise. However I normally just use a highpass filter to remove the room's AC noise and a denioser to remove the hissing that gets added by all the gain. I usally set the highpass to around 130-170 in Premiere. The denioser usually gets set to around -12 to -20 depending on how much is required.
You could also use the dynamics effect and then use a compressor so that it adds gain to clips but also keeps the audio levels of the louder clips lower/reduces them (do this by enabling the limiter and also adjusting the compression ratio/threshold etc.)
Another option would be to use adobe audition or soundboth to remove specific frequencies, although for the most part you could just use the highpass filter I mentioned and achieve the same goal since your problem seems to be a lot of AC noise.
If you wanted to simply raise the audio by 10 you could use the compressor/dynamics effect and turn the gain to 10 and then set the limiter on the effect to w/e you want the limit to be and then the levels won't clip. Unless you push them really hard into the limit which almost never happens unless you just crank something way up.

Similar Messages

Need help with audio levels

What is the best way to level out the audio throughout my entire project. I want all my clips audio levels to fall within the same range.

Take it into STPro and 'normalize' it, or boost all levels, then put a compressor filter on it.
I use the following settings on the compressor filter...30/3/10/500. You may need to tweak those for optimum sound.
K
EDIT - my bad...that's -30 on the threshold
Message was edited by: Kevan D. Holdsworth

I no longer have sound when playing my clips through adobe premiere elements 12. How to I correct this problem? I have checked all audio levels and there is no mute on etc. I have updated to 12.1. Still no sound.

I no longer have sound when playing my clips through adobe premiere elements 12. How to I correct this problem? I have checked all audio levels and there is no mute on etc. I updated to 12.1, but still no sound in any clips. Even not on old files which used to work.

bfun
What computer operating system is your Premiere Elements 12/12.1 running on? Can we assume that this audio plays back OK
on the same computer when you are using a computer player independent of Premiere Elements?
What are the properties of these clips that worked before but do not know with regard to sound
For now, I will assume that you are working on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit.
Have you checked the Edit Menu/Preferences/Audio Hardware ASIO settings? Do you have any 3rd party audio devices incorporated in your computer environment?
Please delete the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file and, if that does not work, then the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. The Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 64 bit path is
Local Disk C
Users
Owner
AppData
Roaming
Adobe
Premiere Elements
12.0
and, in the 12.0 Folder, is the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file that you delete. If that does not work, then delete the whole 12.0 Folder in which the Adobe Premiere Elements Prefs file exists. Make sure that you are working with Folder Option "Show Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives" active so that you can see the complete path cited.
Do you have installation files or installation disc with the purchased serial number in case we need to resort to uninstall/reinstall?
We will be watching for your follow up.
ATR

Blackmagic audio levels low. Need some help!!!

I just got the blackmagic sp. Everything is working great except for the audio input to the computer. I have set the reference level for tone to 0 on my beta sp deck. I'm clipping with the gain all the way down on my monitor sound board. The main problem is that i cannot get my audio level above -15 in FCP. Any Suggestions?
Dual 2.5 GHz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.4.4) 4 GB DDR SDRAM

Try this:
Beta deck 0dB on the meter
Set the mixer at unity (what sort of mixer is it?) Put the master output fader at whatever the mixer thinks is zero on the slider. Raise the L&R input sliders until you get 0dB on the mixer's meters. Open log and capture and play bars and tone from the deck. Look at the meters in fcp. Adjust the mixer master fader until the level raises to -12 dB.
Does this not work?
If it doesn't you might want to check how you are coming out of the mixer-- are you sure you're using the proper outputs?

Logic Pro 9: Playhead/Playback/Audio Levels/Logic Pro X Issue, PLEASE HELP!

When I press play within the project, the playhead doesn't move from left to right with the audio like it should. As well as within the mix window, the audio levels are not displayed. However, when I click and hold within the arrange window, everything is fine and working properly, but I'm not going to be holding down the mouse the whole time I'm working on a project.
Does anybody have any sort of advice for me at all?
Also, if I were to buy Logic Pro X, would all of my projects currently running in Logic Pro 9 be able to open up in Logic Pro X? I also have the Waves Mercury Bundle, Vangard and Antares Auto-Tune, would all of those work with Logic Pro X?

When I press play within the project, the playhead doesn't move from left to right with the audio like it should. As well as within the mix window, the audio levels are not displayed. However, when I click and hold within the arrange window, everything is fine and working properly, but I'm not going to be holding down the mouse the whole time I'm working on a project.
Does anybody have any sort of advice for me at all?
Also, if I were to buy Logic Pro X, would all of my projects currently running in Logic Pro 9 be able to open up in Logic Pro X? I also have the Waves Mercury Bundle, Vangard and Antares Auto-Tune, would all of those work with Logic Pro X?

Proper Audio Levels

I have a project that has 3 different songs playing in the background. All 3 play at different levels/volumes. How can I adjust them to all play at equal levels?

Sure there is - take your pick -
1. adjust in audio tab in viewer
-with level line over wave form
-numerically in level field
-using level slider
2. use ctrl-bracket keys to adjust selected clips in 3dB increments during playback
3. drag pink line with clip overlays on in timeline
4. option-apple-L to type in a numeric level adjustment on selected clip(s)
5. adjust levels in the audio mixer for that track/clip
In the audio mixer, you can click the "record audio keyframes" button at the top right - this will add keyframes to the audio level as you drag the faders up and down during playback. The audio mixer also allows smooth uninterrupted audio while making adjustments during playback - my favorite.
Oh, and you can also
6. copy a clip with correct levels and paste attributes onto other clips.
If any of these eight methods of adjusting audio levels don't suit you, perhpas you can submit a feature request.
Hope this helps -
Max Average

Adjusting audio levels in a clip

I've just stepped up to iMovie 08 and I cant seem to find a way of creating different audio levels for the one clip. It seems like there is just one audio level *per clip*. Unlike the old version where you could adjust the audio 'wave' up and down where ever you wanted.
Is this correct.

It's a while since I used iMovie '08, but from memory I think the audio worked in a similar fashion to iMovie '09. In iMovie '09 you can right-click (Control-click) on a clip, then select Split Clip from the pop-up menu. First, click and drag across the clip to highlight with a yellow border the section where you wish to adjust the volume. Then right-click and choose Split Clip. The section you highlighted will now show as a separate clip.
Click on the small gear icon on the separated clip and choose Audio Adjustments from the pop-up menu. In the Inspector that opens you can adjust the volume of the clip. Also, if you have a separate music track or voiceover running under the clip, you can use the Ducking feature to reduce the volume of the other tracks. Tick the Ducking box and move the slider to the desired level. You can also fade the audio in and out on the main video track for the separated clip.
Sorry if this advice is not entirely applicable to iMovie '08 (I don't have access to that version at the moment). But this is how it works in iMovie '09, if that helps at all.
John

Audio level output too low, even if set to maximum

OS: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3-Build Lab: 2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236
Audio driver: SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio - Analog Devices - Driver date: 08/02/2008, Driver version: 5.10.1.5520
The audio level output is too low, even if setting the output for all sources to the maximum level.
Does somebody have the same problem?
Need your help to see how to correct this and return to a normal operation!
Thank you very much in advance for your help and answers.

Additional informations:
Tested with the audio driver found at Lenovo's website, without any success.
After this was done, the audio driver was updated also without success too.

Manual Audio Level Controls! - Sony Alpha DSLRS (A65)

Dear Sony -I absolutely love your DSLRs. However, to use the camera as an acceptable tool for amateur/indie/professional film, manual audio level controls in video mode are a must-have. Equal Canon competitors all feature this simple leveling option for managing audio.Currently, the automatic gain control is the only option for audio recording capabilities on Sony Alpha DSLRS in video recording. While in theory OK, AGC leads to terrible problems such as unnecessarily high and distracting background noise/hiss. Filmmakers desire crisp, clear audio!For quality results using an external microhpone, manual audio levels are the only way for filmmakers to achieve decent in-camera audio to compete with Canon users. Many amateur and professional videographers are in desperate need of this function! Audio is often MORE important than the image quality of your film, although Sony seems to increasingly neglect its video DSLR users by not implementing this ability and falling short on video options (Auto-focus in Manual Mode, audio levels on HUD etc.).To keep my Sony A65 a viable option for video work - please see if anything can be done! (Should be able to be added with a firmware update to all current and existing Alpha DSLRS) Thanks!!! - Love, a filmmaker who would desperately like to keep their A65 for professional video work! (Also from "Join The Inspiration")

Though a great idea, you also have to understand that the a65 isn't as film oriented camera like other cameras.
DSLR cameras with the audio controls are designed with film making in mind, thus they have that option.
Most DSLRs (at least, back in the days) was simply a camera to take photos. If you wanted to do film, you'd buy a dedicated film recorder for that. Having video capabilities in a DSLR was a bonus.
Nowadays, it's merging, bang for buck, reaching to a boarder audience, one size fits all, etc, and unfortunately, the a65 wasn't part of that 'nowadays' era.
The a99 and a77ii, if I remember correctly, has audio controls.
A lot of the newer Sony models (mirrorless) also have audio controls, that is, the ones that a targeted towards film making and not just great photos with the bonus of great video.
Also, I would presume that a lot of 'professional' videographers will either use external mics such as on a pole, a lapel mic, etc, to capture perfect audio, or if not, at least a shotgun/boom mic attached to the camera.
When doing such, there technically shouldn't be a lot of problems with the audio quality. Of course, if those external mics are still recorded into the camera, then yeah... but if they're recorded separately and slapped on during post processing... shouldn't be any problems...
If you're relying purely on the a65 and it's AGC, then there definitely will be shortcomings here and there unfortunately.
I recently filmed my niece-in-law's wedding. I didn't have any fancy mic setups (can't afford it at this stage), and this wasn't any sort of 'professional' work, more of just something for the family (free), but the audio came out excellent. Yes, it caught ambient noise (obviously), but I don't hear any cutoffs or badly pitched noises, or anything. The loud music and people cheering on and such all came through very clearly. Sure, it's no 'professional' bitrate or anything, but at 192kbps, it did the job.
Anyways, that was off topic, but all I'm saying is, you can't expect much from a photo taking centred camera which has been slapped on with nice video capabilities unfortunately. Also, due to the a65's age, I don't think Sony's bringing out anymore updates. My advice is either get an a77ii for it's awesome AF, or if full frame is a desire, then the a99 or a mirrorless (up to you).The a99 has a controllable focus range which is something I like, that way, if you're using autofocus (yeah... what 'professional' videographer would use autofocus aye?), you won't lose focus on subjects if something goes in front/behind it.Also, the little wheel at the front really helps in allowing you to make adjustments without disrupting video or causing too much movement in the camera. Right now, I am planning on getting a RX10ii. Though I'd love to get something from the mirrorless range, it's just way out of my budget (even the RX10ii is, so there's a lot of saving to do right now also...). Anyways, good luck with your videos.

Audio levels dropped after strange keystroke

not sure wat I did, but yesterday all of the levels were fine and now a bunch of levels dropped. i believe i may have pressed a keystroke that turned on some feature or enabled something that changed all of my audio in my sequence. It says it's still at the same db, but I can barely hear it.
Any ideas? What other info do you need?

the speakers work fine. even if I go into another project all othe audio is fine. its just any of the sequences of this project. audio levels have dropped through the floor. and even more strange, there are a few clips that remain unaffected.
<
<div class="jive-quote">he issue was faulty monitoring speakers. not sure how, but they were not playing audio clips correctly. i pugged my headphones straight into the tower instead of to the monitoring speakers and it works now.
<
Wow. That is totally amazing.
Now you know how hard it is to be helpful around here.
bogiesan

Audio levels not sticking when I reopen FCPX

Some of my audio levels are dropping 3 or 4 dB when I launch FCPX after it has been closed for a while. Then, at some point after I have gone through and adjusted the bad levels, they adjust themselves again and are now 3 or 4 dB hot.
The audio isn’t all in the Storyline, some is narration without video and other is audio linked to video. The only “effects” I have added to the audio is to make it “Dual Mono” and set the pan to “Default.”
As I write this, I discovered that if I went to ONE of the clips in question and changed it to Stereo and then back to Dual mono and also changed the pan to None and then back to Default, ALL the bad audio levels in the project corrected themselves. (Not sure if just making one of those adjustments will do the same thing - I’ll try that the next time this problem crops up.)
VERY STRANGE.
I’m posting in hopes this will help others who may be having the same problem.

Not sure why such weird behavior occurs (Could it be caused by some corrupted preferences therefore trashing them could solve the problem?). however, as a work around have you tried to copy and paste attributes from the audio clip in sequence 1 to the audio clip in sequence 2? That should give you the same keyframes you had in the copied clip (Original sequence).

Best/fastest way to standardize different audio levels in long projects????

Hey all,
I regularly have long projects with lots of different audio and audio levels (eg weddings and events) and am trying to figure the fastest and best way to set all the different levels to output around a standard level (eg around -4dB) and not peak!
I want to be able to do this at the end of my project(workflow) rather than individually adjusting each audio clip as i go, which wastes a lot of time.
I'm sure there has to be a simple way to do this but i haven't learnt it yet, so has anyone got the best/fastest method?

Well IMO "best" and "fastest" don't go together in a sentence very often!
However I think the key is in establishing a rock-solid set monitoring level (ie volume) for the speakers you mix on which never changes (at least while you mix). In professional mixing it's done with equipment to analyze the mixing room and calibrate everything to a nominal 85dB spl at the mixing position (for the cinema... which is quite loud!).
While you might not want to emulate this you can get some content you are happy with (your projects, CD's, DVD's etc) and play them in you environment with your mixing software faders at zero gain and the meters reading -12dB or thereabouts (they will if the content was mixed correctly). Now adjust your listening volume (on your speakers or amp) until you get a comfortable listening/mixing level (you could get a Radio Shack sound pressure meter and try to set the volume to around 70-80dB spl or whatever so if you ever need to reset you can) and mark the amp/speaker levels with a grease pencil. Never Move this control again.
From now on whenever your audio tracks reach this 'ideal' listening level, your level meters will show the ideal -12dB. Your ears just have to "learn" how loud this is... and then you can mix by ear... keeping an eye on the meters to make sure you are on target. If you want the audio to sound 'normal' mix to a comfortable listening level, if you want it softer lower the track's fader until it sounds right ... louder? Well turn it up. Although you can only go louder until your meters overload... which is at 12dB. (that's why some people like to set their "ideal" level lower -15 or -18dB, so there's more room to get loud (especially in the cinema!). It's all easier said than done ... but once you learn your listening levels you'll just adjust tracks correctly as you go, then tune it all up on a mixing pass.
If you have a completed project you still have to do all the above... set your listening level. Then scan through your material. I like to find the worst clip (probably too low) and tweak it to sound the best you can (add gain, eq, etc) trying to get it up around -15 to -12 dB. Then run though the whole project bringing other clips down to match the worst. This will get everything basically even.
After all this you might try running the whole mix through a single Sub Mix and insert a compressor across it (with a basic 'Mix" preset) to even the whole thing out. Though a lot of the time, with Doco type sound, I find a pretty even mix can be done by ear alone!
It's a lot to think about ... but the key is learning what your ideal target level sounds like. Then use your ears.. and check your STP level meters to make sure all is OK.
Hope this helps
Lee
Hope this helps
Lee

Setting audio level points?

I am trying to change the level of an audio in a sequence. I double clicked the audio clip to open the waveform in the Viewer. I know there is a way to select various spots on the audio waveform and mark them. Then you can drag the audio level line to a new setting to adjust that part of the waveform. But I don't know how to create the spots on the waveform. I can't find the answer in the Help manual.
Thanks for any info.

You need to select the Pen Tool which is to the right of the timeline.
You can also do it by pressing p
Then click the pink "level" line of the audio and a keyframe will be created. Click further along and you can drag the sound up or down etc.
Ian.

Audio levels on my SONY PCM D50 portable recorder

Hello,
I am unable to get any audio levels on my SONY PCM D50 recorder. I use it very infrequently and i has never failed me otherwise, but suddenly this problem.
I am sure that i have set to MIC (as sooposed to line), I DO NOT have it on the -20db seeting either. The only thing unusual is that when i booted it yesterday, i was trying to connect it to my video camera as an on camera mic with an XLR to mini cable, and i may have inserted the mini into the wrong input first and messed something up.
But now It shows no signal with the internam stereo mics or an external mic, although i see some registration of a signal at -42db wheni have the recording levels cranked up all the way.
please help!

Hello, it sounds like the cables were connected to the PCM-D50’s external microphone input jack (rather than the recorders line output jack). Can you please confirm the setup?

Audio levels on the timeline & Audio Mixer

I'm confused why when you change the audio levels on a clip using the Audio Mixer it changes the levels for everything on the track?
I'm from an FCP & Avid background where you can adjust each clip using the Audio Mixer, is there a way I can do this? I find using the yellow sliders in each clip is very unaccurate and having to open each audio clip in the viewer is such a time waster.
Thanks, Andy

Audio in Premiere Pro is different--but quite a lot, in many circumstances. I'd recommend going through the help file's audio section to get a better idea of what some of the main controls are: Adobe Premiere Pro CS5 & CS5.5 * Editing Audio
But to answer your question more directly: the Audio Mixer controls track volume, not clip volume. By default, the Audio Mixer isn't set to drop keyframes, so it will affect the level of a track as a whole; check out Recording audio mixes to get more background on setting up the Audio Mixer for automation, so that you can record level changes.
The rubberbands (the yellow lines you're referring to) can be more finitely controlled by holding down the Ctrl/Cmd key as you drag; the values will move in smaller increments, then.
You don't have to load a clip into the Source Monitor to adjust the levels, if you want to adjust by the numbers. Just single click a clip in the sequence, and if the Effects Controls panel is forward, you'll be able to adjust the volume with the standard effects sliders/dials. Note that keyframing is enabled by default for the Level property, so if all you want to do is adjust the total level of a clip, it might be faster to do it in the sequence.
Audio mixing in Premiere Pro is pretty capable and the feature set is pretty deep, but I'll grant you it's a little overwhelming coming from a different NLE. I don't know if any of the previous helps you, but post back with any specific questions and we'll try to figure out a way to approach this in a fashion that makes sense to you.

Help correcting audio levels

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