What you do not know, is the fact that a Smart Sound file is not actually a "sound file".

Smart Sound is a Program that adjusts the length of the music to fit the video. It does not adjust the volume level except for a 'normal' level.

A work around is to put the smart sound in the timeline then Produce the video.

After you have the production, you remove the previous video and smart sound track.
Place your new produced video on the timeline, now you can use Audio Mixing Room to adjust the sound level of that sound track.

The sound track is now a real audio track. Carl312: Windows 10 64-bit 8 GB RAM,AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz,ATI Radeon HD 5770 1GB,240GB SSD,two 1TB HDs.

If you put the SmartSound on the Voice-over track, you can control the volume in the Audio Mixing Room, where you can hear the adjustments being made. When you're done with that, you can drag the SmartSound down to the Music track, where your volume adjustments can still be heard. You can even continue keyframming the SmartSound in the Music track. The volume changes are heard in produced files.

Be aware! I have a very special computer. This may not work for you. Gateway DX4380, AMD A8-5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz with ATI Radeon HD 7560D; 16GB RAM; 1 TB SATA 7200 RPM; Windows 8 Pro 64-bit; PDR11, PDVD12.

I thought I saw in a youtube video them adjusting the sound volume of a SS track and using it as a selling point. I'll have to see if my assumption is right by searching for that tutorial again.

You should be able to treat SS tracks just like any other music track/audio file.
Each track can be dragged into either the mic or music tracks at the bottom of the screen.
You can adjust the volume by cllicking points directly in the edit UI, or by opening the sound mixer UI.
What song are you using?
What version of Quicktracks are you using? Should be 5.1.8.
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Hi David, Dave, Xerox, Carl & Barry da Crab -



The SS track in the image above had its levels adjusted (a) in the audio room with the volume slider & (b) directly in the timeline, at different points during editing.

Cheers - Tony
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Thank you for all of the prompt replies! I'll address each one.

Xerox: I tried putting the Smartsound track in the voiceover track (instead of the music track), and adjusting the volume still had no effect on what I was hearing.

Dave: It definitely seems like adjusting the volume should be straightforward.I definitely had no problems with it in PowerDirector 8.

Barry: like I mentioned, I also thought that I should be able to treat the Smartsound like any other music or audio file. That's what makes this so frustrating! I'm trying to use the Sly version of "It's Cool", but I have also tried this with other files that came with PowerDirector 9. I'm not able to adjust the volume of any of the Smartsound options. I am indeed using Quicktracks version 5.8.1.0.

Tony: This was exactly the method I was trying to use. My preferred method was adjusting the levels in the audio room, but I also attempted adjusting the levels directly in the timeline.

Carl: I like your creative work around to be able to adjust the volume. It's definitely a few extra steps, but it sounds like it should work. A downside is certainly the fact that the length of the Smartsound track could no longer be adjusted once producing and reinserting into the timeline.

I would still like to hear if anyone else has any more ideas as to why adjusting the volume levels is not having an effect. Based on some of your input, it sounds like there could be a glitch in my copy. It sounds like other people are able to change the volume, but for some reason mine is not working.

The only other things I can think of before asking SS tech support (very good by-the-way),
1) update Quicktime
2) Install ffdshow codec pack
3) punt HP Envy Phoenix/4thGen i7-4770(4@3.4GHz~turbo>3.9)
Nvidia GTX 960(4GB)/16GB DDR3/
Canon Vixia HV30/HF-M40/HF-M41/HF-G20/Olympus E-PL5.
Tape capture using 6 VCR, TBC-1000, Elite BVP4+, Sony D8 camcorder with TBC.
https://www.facebook.com/BarryAFTT

Curious.... I can adjust volume in a SS clip like any other audio clip.... __________________________________________
Windows 8 Pro 64 bit

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Yes Bubba, it is curious.
I can’t adjust the volume of SS tracks either. Used to be able to in PD8, but not in PD9.

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I cannot adjust the volume with SS in the music track. I can set the markers, but they have no effect on the volume level.

If however, I simply move the track to the voice track and back then the volume settings take effect. Or if I move it one frame to the right then back the volume settings are recognized.

This is a strange one for sure.

Hal


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if I move it one frame to the right then back the volume settings are recognized.

Thanks for the tip Halcon!
Yep, that works for me as well.
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Quote: If however, I simply move the track to the voice track and back then the volume settings take effect. Or if I move it one frame to the right then back the volume settings are recognized.

This is a strange one for sure.

I tried the earlier suggestion of moving to the voiceover track and then back, but that didn't work. At least I thought it didn't… This trick works perfectly! Very strange. Thanks so much.

Your welcome. Gateway DX4380, AMD A8-5500 Quad Core 3.2GHz with ATI Radeon HD 7560D; 16GB RAM; 1 TB SATA 7200 RPM; Windows 8 Pro 64-bit; PDR11, PDVD12.