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erynb45991075
erynb45991075
Participating Frequently
December 2, 2016
Question

Equalize volumes across slides in Captivate 9

  • December 2, 2016
  • 6 replies
  • 821 views

I recorded audio individually for each slide. I tried to equalize the volume across slide which didn't work, so I imported all of the audio to Audition, where I followed the instructions for equalizing all of the audio at once. This did not work either. Any ideas or suggestions?

I am teaching myself Captivate and Audio through an online course which is great but is not interactive so thank you in advance for any help!!

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    6 replies

    S
    StevePixel
    Inspiring
    December 2, 2016

    Glad you worked it out eryn!

    Russell-13003995
    Russell-13003995
    Inspiring
    December 3, 2016

    The problem of varying audio levels was an issue that I faced for many years before I found a solution. We often use 2 narrators for our elearning courses (female and male). So the challenge was to have a relatively same volume between the speakers and across the slides. I often spent hours manually changing volume levels on each slide.

    I tried the various solutions already mentioned. However, I generally found them unsatisfactory. Finally, I discovered that there was volume leveling software that was created for the broadcast industry. I found an relatively inexpensive program called Auphonic Leveler. I simply drag and drop my audio files and it "levels" the volume. It works great! Now the volume is the same across the narrators, slides and courses.

    I have no association with this company. However, if you use audio, this type of tool you must simply have!

    Russ

    bobelmore
    bobelmore
    Inspiring
    December 3, 2016

    Thanks for the tip. Even with one narrator (usually me) the volume can vary during the same session. If I happen to move a few inches back from the mic or speak a lityle louder or softer.

    erynb45991075
    erynb45991075Author
    Participating Frequently
    December 2, 2016

    And thank you Bobelmore!! As an audio editing novice, your tip was spot on!!

    bobelmore
    bobelmore
    Inspiring
    December 2, 2016

    eryn,

    I also work with webinars, and the problem is we usually want to edit the audio, but since they are videos (presentations, but I get  mp4 files) we ending up using video editors, which makes the files much bigger.

    Is this what you are doing?

    erynb45991075
    erynb45991075Author
    Participating Frequently
    December 2, 2016

    Steve,

    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! I did the Dynamics processing and it worked!! And thank you for the tips. I mainly do live webinars or in person professional development so recordings are fairly foreign to me but I am working on it.

    Again, THANK YOU!!

    Eryn

    S
    StevePixel
    Inspiring
    December 2, 2016

    Hi Eryn,

    No worries, audio is a voodoo art at the best of times. Factors that can impact final output include: How close the headset mic is to your mouth on different takes, whether you record on different days, whether you maintain similar sound levels when you narrate? Whether you sit or stand when you record?

    There is always variance from one take to another but some good rules of thumb are: watch the levels indicator when you record that will help you keep it in a similar range and be conscious about mic placement and consistent volume in your narration. If you can't fix it to your satisfaction, I would just re-record the offending slides to match the majority in terms of volume.   

    Best of luck.

    Steve

    bobelmore
    bobelmore
    Inspiring
    December 2, 2016

    I have done a lot of audio, and I also record in Audition, though I have not tried to equalize volume in Audition.

    Have you tried the Dynamics effect in Audition?

    How are you doing it?

      erynb45991075
      erynb45991075Author
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2016

      I haven't tried Dynamics effect! I will try that now. Previously, I used Match Loudness, which did not work.

      I should say that I am a complete Audition virgin and I am learning as I go!


      I will try Dynamics and see if that works.

      S
      StevePixel
      Inspiring
      December 2, 2016

      Hi eryn,

      Audio is tricky. It really depends on how you recorded it and what you mean by "equalize it"  For example if you recorded it exactly the same way, every time. (Same room, same distance from the mic, same voice volume,same everything for each slide) then they should be relatively equal and its just a matter of using Audition to level everything. But it sounds like you did  that and it didn't work. So I'm wondering if you are hearing something different than just audio levels. If so, and its really annoying you may have to re record or individually tweak the slide audio files in Audition or Captivate to approximate the levels. 

      Is it the volume levels that off, or is it the bass, intensity, etc?

      Cheers

      Steve

      erynb45991075
      erynb45991075Author
      Participating Frequently
      December 2, 2016

      Steve,

      I am no audio expert so I am going to say it's mainly volume. Which is weird- I recorded using a headset and similar volume level every time.

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