Dunno if the same happens but I've added audio to the timeline and all's good.

Maybe it's the version or ur equipment, as the software should record at the normal volume without need for adjustments

I did some 'voice-over' on a project last Summer - voice over music in the background. I found that I had to tweak the audio levels to get them just right - at least to the way that I wanted.

I am not aware of any automatic settings or features that will do this as your personal choice, as far as how much louder than the background music you want your narration to be, is just that - your personal preference. Could and most likely is different for almost everyone.

It's not hard to adjust though. Does take a little more work but... I didn't think it was that big a deal. Large project... well then it becomes more work.


CS PD13 Ultimate - Build 3516, WIN 8.1, 64 Bit, 16G RAM, Intel Core i5 4460, CPU @ 3.2GHz, NVIDIA GeForce GT720, Graphics Memory(total avail.)-4093MB
LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray Drive

There is a free audio editing program called Audacity which includes the following effect, which may be what you are looking for:

Auto Duck...

Reduces (ducks) the volume of one or more tracks whenever the volume of a specified "control" track reaches a particular level. Typically used to make a music track softer whenever speech in a commentary track is heard.



I have Cyberlink Audio Director 6 and was unable to find this effect by searching for "duck". Others may know for sure whether AD6 includes such an effect with a different name. Regards,
Dan
Power Director 21-Ultimate
v 21.0.3111.0
XPS-8940, Win-10 64-bit,
Intel Core i9-10900 processor
(10 core, 20M Cache),
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NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER 8GB GDDR6

Hi, bcarl!

Just to add my 2cents-worth, Have you tried using the horizontal "master volume" control for the tracks you wish to adjust? This control on each track raises or lowers the overall volume of the track along its entire duration, whether there are splits and transitions added or not. So you can lower the volume of the background music, and raise the audio level on your narration track, also you can attenuate the level of the "native audio"(sound picked up by the camera's microphone) in your video so it doesn't overpower your narration.

Oh, and Dan, aren't "ducks" normally found swimming around in ponds?(LOL). Made a goose of myself there, didn't I? I'll just go over to this corner here and quietly "quack(crack) up. Ha-ha!

Cheers!

Neil.

You can add this function in PDR15 suggestions

I thank all that responded. I understand that volume levels is a personal preferrance but it seems to me that it wouldn't be all that difficult to reduce sound tracks (other than recordings) to, say, volume 5 with fade in and out during ther narration recording. Recording many times during a slide/video show takes considerable time. AND, should you change to position of the music track, you have to adjust all over again.

I would pass this on for future consideration but I'm not sure how one does so and gets it to the correct personnel.

Hi, bcarl!

Narrating a video can be a fiddly and time-consuming job, especially if you're dropping comments in as you go along, watching and recording narration in PD14(you end up also with a bunch of audio "captures" at the end of the process). I have my own workaround for this, I'll edit the video to completion stage as far as the video content is concerned and render it, then I'll come back to it and watch it through via Windows Media Player(I'm using Windows 7), with Microsoft Office "Word" opened. As I view the material, when I get to a point that will have commentary, I pause the video and type my commentary script. At the end of that process, I print out my script and read it into an audio recording programme(Sony Sound Forge), clean up the recording(taking out breathing noises, mute or cut), save as MP3 and import to PD14(or earlier PD version, depending on mood) and begin to paste narration track into potition. Put the entire narration track in at first point, listen for the end of first comment, split narration track at that point, cut the remaining of track, view to next commentary point and paste that remaining narration, keep doing this until all commentary parts are where you want them. Elevate the audio level if necessary by adjusting the horizontal slider for the track where your narration is(so that it will adjust the entire track), then, if your doing so, add your music.

Hope that tip helps.

Cheers!

Neil.

Quote: Hi, bcarl!

Oh, and Dan, aren't "ducks" normally found swimming around in ponds?(LOL). Made a goose of myself there, didn't I? I'll just go over to this corner here and quietly "quack(crack) up. Ha-ha!

Cheers!

Neil.

The Duck function spoken about is in relation to "Duck" a rock is falling on your head" Duck to lower your head or body, in the case of audio is lower the volume of the music while the Voice Over track is speaking.

Quote from a Dictionary:

Duck

To get or keep away from. v.shun, keep clear, avoid, dodge, duck, elude, skip out, skip town (informal), escape, slip away, eschew, fight shy of, steal away, give a wide berth to, sidestep, steer clear of, absent.

True, one bird is called a Duck. 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.

Quote:

Quote: Hi, bcarl!

Oh, and Dan, aren't "ducks" normally found swimming around in ponds?(LOL). Made a goose of myself there, didn't I? I'll just go over to this corner here and quietly "quack(crack) up. Ha-ha!

Cheers!

Neil.

The Duck function spoken about is in relation to "Duck" a rock is falling on your head" Duck to lower your head or body, in the case of audio is lower the volume of the music while the Voice Over track is speaking.

Quote from a Dictionary:

Duck

To get or keep away from. v.shun, keep clear, avoid, dodge, duck, elude, skip out, skip town (informal), escape, slip away, eschew, fight shy of, steal away, give a wide berth to, sidestep, steer clear of, absent.

True, one bird is called a Duck.

Carl, please!

I was attemptimg to inject a bit of humour into the thread!(maybe a lame attempt, but what the heck, an attempt anyway) I did not expect a discourse on the dictionary definitions of the word "Duck"(at least I hope you were using the Oxford English Dictionary).

Richmond Dan was referring to a method in the audio recording software, "Audacity" which provided for attenuation of audio levels for music or other background sound when a narration track is inserted. Personally, I tried Audacity and found it wanting in some aspects of its use. I much prefer to use Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio for recording my narrations. My method of inserting such narration into a video via PD14 or earlier versions was detailed in an earlier reply.

Neil.

Quote: Carl, please! I was attemptimg to inject a bit of humour into the thread!(maybe a lame attempt, but what the heck, an attempt anyway) I did not expect a discourse on the dictionary definitions of the word "Duck"(at least I hope you were using the Oxford English Dictionary).

Richmond Dan was referring to a method in the audio recording software, "Audacity" which provided for attenuation of audio levels for music or other background sound when a narration track is inserted. Personally, I tried Audacity and found it wanting in some aspects of its use. I much prefer to use Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio for recording my narrations. My method of inserting such narration into a video via PD14 or earlier versions was detailed in an earlier reply.

Neil.

The dictionary I used is the American Heritage Dictionary. So the definition is American not English (UK English).

I am familiar with Audacity, I have been using it for years. The "Duck" function works very well.

I have a USB Headset with Microphone that I use for Voice Over, it is about the best device for making Voice Over, in that the sound from the video is directed to the Headphones so that there is no other audio for the microphone to pick up.

I use Powerdirector's Voice Over Room for recording the voice over. It is completely integrated into the video editing function.

When editing Video and Audio, you use whatever method that works for you. Cyberlink has the AudioDirector, which I have never used. I am much more familiar with Audacity than any other audio editor. Although AudioDirector has some functions that work better that Audacity.

Carl 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.