Normalize audio in Pinnacle Studio

[zalle]

Hi,

After spending hours and hours making a 1hr movie, I watch it and there are always peaks in the audio, some stuff is too low, some is too high. Is there a "NORMALIZE" red button I can just click?

Thanks

[Krane]

Hmm, a one hour movie? Anyway, your audio needs to be perfect. Don't stop until you get that fixed. An easy fix with the right software, but I don't know Pinnacle?

[HueyNRolf]

If by "peaks" you mean it's clipped, there's no magic fix, but try Audacity, it has a normalizer and it's free. If the sound is "too low" in places, you might need to apply some compression as well.

You should be able to improve it. Good luck!

[zalle]

Hi,

Maybe I didn't make myself very clear.

I don't have clipping, I just have some sounds louder than others. Can't I just do something in pinnacle studio to get it all the same? What would I do in audacity? Finish my movie and then normalize the audio in audacity? Is this how it works?

[HueyNRolf]

Does Pinnacle have a compressor ?

[MrMicah]

In Pinnacle 15 Ultimate, a quick search in the help function shows that the 'leveler' tool is probably what you want.

You pick a mid-point volume level and any sound below that level is expanded and anything above is compressed. Depending upon the version of Pinnacle you are using, the leveler tool may not be available or it may be a plug-in that you need to purchase etc.

[drapeama]

What would I do in audacity? Finish my movie and then normalize the audio in audacity? Is this how it works?

Export your audio and load it in Audacity, normalize/adjust and work the audio track, then export and replace in Pinnacle. That's what would be the best solution I think.
Audacity Download

You can:
select the segment you want to normalize:
audacity-linux.png
It has a nice noise removal plugin:
effect-noise-removal.png

And many more option. You should check it first, then decide.

[zalle]

I will check audacity as well, but wouldn't it be nice just to do it in pinnacle straight away?

The version I use is Pinnacle studio 14, and there is a leveler tool, but I don't see how it works with multiple clips... It looks like it works with one clip only.

Here's what I get leveler.JPG

[cgbier]

That makes absolute sense, as audio sweetening normally takes place at the time the colorist is sweetening the imagery - at the end of a project - and normally each clip would need its own treatment.

If you can, normalize your stuff before you cut it.

[HueyNRolf]

Is there no copy and paste attributes in Pinnacle?

[Bif]

Since he has that "Leveler" command available to him, I think he is better off working "clip by clip". It sounds slow but if he still has the movie project on the timeline each clip is easily marked and the "Leveling" parameters applied.

With video effects it is also fairly simple to mark more than one clip at a time although I would avoid trying to do a large quantity all at once. I would go "sequence by sequence" using the "Ctl" click to add marked clips one at a time, run the Leveler, and immediately check the results.

Then move on to the next "sequence".

This is how I do color corrections and video effects in Pinnacle Studio. There is a way to "break away" the audio track (I've done it once) so you can bring it into Audacity but to attempt to do it with a 1 hour feature isn't something I want to try.

I don't remember how that was done and I'm "operating" in a "one-eyed" mode right now. A "freak" accident yesterday resulted in an injured eye. I've got stitches at the edge of the conjunctiva and on the eyelid, can't see very well so I can't do any real research.

The built in audio Leveler would be a more manageable way done one clip or several clips at a time. And that's what I'd try first. And if that wasn't good enough I'd separate the audio one sequence at a time (I think it's something to do with "rendering" for audio only or something like that.

I have and use Avid Pinnacle Studio 15 Ultimate and on a 2nd gen Core i7 2600 based computer it works very well.

Bruce Foreman

P.S. Protect your eyes, the one pair you have are all you get for a lifetime.

[cgbier]

At least you can say you saw it coming. I hope you'll be two eyed again soon.

[Bif]

Well, that's the problem. I didn't see it coming.

I was asleep.

One of the meds I'm on has a side effect of wild dreams and nightmares, my wife says I sometimes "fight daemons" in my sleep. I never remember anything. But the med is necessary treatment for arrhythmia .

But yesterday I apparently "threw myself over the side of the bed". Impact on the head woke me. Seems like I had a serious disagreement with a night table on the way down. The ER doc sewed up places on my face and when she was done I was discharged...

...To the OR where they put me to sleep and an Opthamologist went to work on the eye. 4 stitches in the conjunctiva (done under a special microscope) and then he stitched together the torn eyelid. I had a "notch" in the upper eyelid that ran all the way to the top of the lid. I look like I've been in a bad "bar fight" and lost.

That night table is history, my daughter took it and gave it to someone. In it's place is sufficient firm padding for a "safe landing" if it happens again.

Getting old ain't fer sissies. But my wife reminds me it is a privelege denied to many.

[cgbier]

Wew, that's nasty! Get better man!

[MrMicah]

But my wife reminds me it is a privelege denied to many.

She sounds like a very wise woman.

I hope everything heals well for you.