Volume levels question

Lili wrote on 8/30/2006, 7:44 AM

I have three audio tracks in my Vegas project - 2 music and one with voices. I wanted to raise the audio level on the voices and since i don't have an audio editor, I selected the voice track on the timeline and used the built-in mixer to raise the level. That part worked OK, but when I added the music tracks they were also affected by the voice level change and are way too loud.

How do I affect each track separately? I think it has to do with assigning busses and tried playing around with that, but I'm lost and a bit frustrated at this stage. Can anyone help please?- much appreciated.

Comments

jetdv wrote on 8/30/2006, 7:50 AM

Every audio track has a volume slider on the header that affects only that track.

Plus you can add a volume envelope on any audio track and adjust the volumes as needed throughout the track.

AlanC wrote on 8/30/2006, 7:51 AM

2 ways.
Quick way just drag down from the top of the audio track on the timeline.

Or Insert\Audio envelopes\Volume. This will put a coloured line down the middle of the audio track. You can right click on this to add points which allow you to adjust the gain across different parts of the track.

Alan

Edit. Or as Edward just pointed out, the 3rd and easiest. Use the track level slider.

Lili wrote on 8/30/2006, 11:31 AM

Thanks for the replies. I thought the volume slider was only used to turn the sound up and down for listening purposes while editing. I didn't know that it actually set the audio levels that would be heard after rendering - geesh, it's about time I found that out!!

I knew about dragging down the line from the top - it's how I usually adjust the levels, but this time the music was distorted and sounding weird. Who knows why, but everything is working OK now. thanks again.

grh wrote on 8/30/2006, 5:40 PM

Audio processing is a bit different than video. The levels _add_, so that it's very easy to combine 2 or 3 tracks and hit digital max. When this happens, you get digital clipping which is perceived as very unpleasant distortion.

Set the master level to 0 db. Open up your mixer window to see this (alt-3)

Start with your primary track (voice) and set the level so that you're peaking at around -3dB (for starters). You can add per-track effects, and you may need to use a compressor to bring the average volume level up.

Bring up the level of your first music track, and set it relative to the voice so that you're happy. You want an overall assessment; don't worry about specific details.

Add the 2nd music bed now. Same deal. Get the general mix, using the per-track volume sliders, where you're happy.

Now go mess with the volume envelopes. Right click on the track label and choose Insert/Remove Envelope.. and select volume. You can add nodes, add fine tune the volume, to your hearts' content.

Once happy with the mix start to end, listen to the entire mix and watch your master level. Adjust your master level slider up or down so that your max peak is around -1 or -2 dB.

If you find that you have too many peaks and valleys (loud and quiet spots) bring up the per-track effects and change your compressor settings. The soft limiter setting may be generally helpful. You can also add a compressor to the master out, and use a soft (or hard) limiter there to tame wild peaks.

Hope this helps.

Lili wrote on 8/31/2006, 8:47 AM

Hi grh - thanks for your informative, detailed reply! I've never had it explained so well. I printed this page and will keep it in front of me to play around with the audio following your suggestions:-)
Lili