Audio in Premiere Elements 7

[Johnny]

I'm using Premiere Elements 7 and use Windows Vista. I'm trying to have the audio from the soundtrack play and still be able to hear the audio recorded in the video portion of the recording. Can anyone help me with this?

Thank you,
Johnny

[Bobby]

Johnny, all audio and video tracks that are on the same place on the timeline play simultaneously, subject to the volume of the audio or the opacity of the video.

That sounds complicated, but in essence it should work OK. If you have, for example, the video in track 1, and put a background music clip on one of the audio tracks, you should hear both.

Please describe what you have on your various tracks when this happens.

[Chuck Engels]

I think you just need to adjust the volume levels of the tracks.

[Johnny]

I've raised the volume on the soundtrack (where I set up the song to play during part of the clip), but there is nothing for me to adjust in the audio of the video clip; it just gets silenced once the song track begins on the soundtrack. Video 1 had audio right until the song began; lowering the audio level on the soundtrack lowers the volume of the song, but I still can't hear anything from what is being said in the video.

Johnny

[Steve Grisetti]

Johnny, are you working in Timeline or Sceneline mode. If you're in Sceneline, go to Timeline mode.

If you go to the Window menu and open the Audio Mixer, you'll be able to monitor the audio levels of all of your audio tracks. You'll want them all peaking at "zero" with nothing peaking in the red.

You may need to raise or lower the volume of the clips on your individual tracks to get the balance you're looking for.

You can also use audio keyframing (as described step-by-step in our books and tutorials) to control volume levels at precise points.

[Barb O]

Johnny,

1 -- Have you tried the PE 7 Audio Mixer ?
I think this is the simple method that I used to adjust the volume of a soundtrack and the audio of a video when I had a mixture of video and photos used in my project.

If you have Steve Grisetti's "Muvipix Guide to Adobe Premiere Elements 7", there is a topic in Chapter 11 (page 108) on "Mix Audio" which includes a screen shot of the Audio Mixer showing both the Audio of Track 1 and the soundtrack (as well as other audio tracks). If you don't have the book then I suggest that you look for "Audio Mixer" in the PE 7 Help

2 - I do think that you can adjust the audio on the Track containing your video with audio and that you have even better control than if you use the Audio Mixer.
Others on the forum with more experience in Premiere Elements can provide more details than I.
If you have the book, there is a topic on "Adjusting Audio Levels on the Timeline" on page 103.

EDIT - Hi Steve,
you typed faster than I did but since our posts do not conflict, I think I will leave mine as is.

[Dave McElderry]

I'd like to add a third possibility to the mix. If you're working in timeline mode, can you confirm visually that both of the audio tracks in question are above/below each other in the timeline? I'm wondering if in the process of adding the soundtrack you've accidently split the other audio track, pushing it to the end. This could happen if the audio and video were unlinked. This would cause the symptoms you're describing - at the point where the soundtrack begins the other audio would disappear.

[Johnny]

Thank you for your responses, Steve, Barb, and Dave.
I had the audio levels peaking at zero in the audio mixer, so that wasn't the issue. I think it might be what Dave mentioned because there is no bar all of a sudden for Audio 1 (corresponding with the scene from Video 1) once the audio from the soundtrack starts. That's why there's nothing for me to adjust in Audio 1. Is there a way for me to get back to having audio in the entire clip (before I added a song to the soundtrack)?
Thanks.

[Johnny]

I had meant to add that I'm using Steve's Guide to Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 7 and that I referred to the section on "Adjusting Audio Levels on the Timeline."

[Dave McElderry]

Thank you for your responses, Steve, Barb, and Dave.
I had the audio levels peaking at zero in the audio mixer, so that wasn't the issue. I think it might be what Dave mentioned because there is no bar all of a sudden for Audio 1 (corresponding with the scene from Video 1) once the audio from the soundtrack starts. That's why there's nothing for me to adjust in Audio 1. Is there a way for me to get back to having audio in the entire clip (before I added a song to the soundtrack)?
Thanks.

If you accidently split the audio then it just got moved. Look further down the timeline to see if it's there. If so you can drag it back to where it belongs. If you accidently deleted the audio then it's only gone in the timeline...the original clip still has it. You can delete the clip from the timeline and reinsert it from the Media panel.

[Johnny]

I must have accidentally deleted a portion of the original clip. I don't see it anywhere even a ways done on the timeline, but I'm just going to bring it in the original clip from the organizer, cut the soundtrack piece, and try it again.
From Steve's Guide to Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 7 it points out that approximately 70 minutes of video would be safe for a high quality DVD. It looks like I have just over 100 minutes. What do you think is the likelihood of getting that much to make it to DVD? I have a feeling that I have some more cutting to do.
Thank you.

[Dave McElderry]

There's no problem getting 100 minutes on a DVD, but the quality will be reduced somewhat as the number of minutes increases above about 70. Whether the lower quality is acceptable or not is a matter of personal preference. You'll just need to try it to get an idea of what a 100 minute burn looks like, quality-wise. All you're out is the time and the cost of a DVD. If it's not acceptable then you may need to do some editing.

[Johnny]

Near the very, very end of the burning process it ejected the DVD and the message stated that there was an unknown error. I then tried with another DVD and a little bit later Premiere Elements closed. I'd hate to have to spend a lot of time cutting and changing things around if I don't need to shorten the length of the video. Any idea how I can get around this?

[Dave McElderry]

Often this kind of problem is caused by a blank space (no video or audio) somewhere in the timeline. It can be as little as one frame that can be the issue. Sometimes in the process of editing and moving things around you can accidently leave a few frames (or less) hanging out beyond the end of the video, all by themselves. This can also cause what you encountered. Zooming in on the timeline and examining it carefully is one way to find these. Another is to zoom out so that the whole video is visible and then double-click on the Work Area Bar. If the WAB then extends out beyond the end of your video it means that there are orphaned frames out there somewhere.

[Chuck Engels]

Also,
1. Make sure you have the most current firmware for your DVD burner.
2. You are using good blank DVD media like Verbatim or other quality discs.

Those along with what Dave said above are the most common causes of DVD burning issues.