Editing and mixing is often a mind-numbing experience. These pro tips in Premiere Pro will set you on the right path.
Need help editing your audio in Premiere Pro? This collection of video tutorials offers tons of tips and tricks to speed up the process and help get you where you need to be as an editor. There are also hundreds of free sound effects at the bottom of this article, so make sure to check those out.
Okay, let’s get started.
Sync the Audio with the Video
One of the first steps you must take with video editing is importing your video and audio files. However, if you’ve recorded video and audio using separate devices, the two files won’t be synced up.
So, what do you do? In the tutorial above from Think Media, you can see how simple this process is in Premiere. It didn’t always use to be this simple—thank goodness this process has been streamlined.
For more on syncing, check out the following guides, and this helpful video from Corey Machado.
- Three Ways to Sync Audio to Video
- Quick Tip: Multi-cam Syncing in Premiere Pro
- Quickly Sync Audio and Footage in Premiere Pro
Removing Noise
One of the most consistent roadblocks you’ll run into on your way to hitting export is noisy audio. Maybe you had no control over the production/recording. Nevertheless, you’re stuck with something that sounds less than ideal.
Once your clip is open and in your Premiere Pro timeline, right-click the Audio and select Edit Clip in Adobe Audition. Premiere will now render the audio and open Audition’s new linked audio clip.
In Audition, select a part of the audio that’s just the noise with no dialogue. Go to Effects > Noise Reduction (process), then click Capture Noise Print.
Now, deselect the previous selection and select the entire clip. Audition will use the noise you previously defined to remove the AC noise from your dialogue.
A 40%-60% setting usually eliminates a hum without making the speaker sound like a robot. Save the waveform by right-clicking it. And, when you move back over to Premiere, everything should be updated to reflect what you’ve just done in Audition.
Improving Voice Recordings
If you need to record audio for a voiceover or specifically for narration—I have the tutorial for you. Whether it’s for interviews or actual dialogue that’s taking place in a specific scene, you might find yourself having to re-record the audio in a sound booth or have your actors re-record it themselves.
When using Premiere, you can often record the ADR directly to Premiere.
Okay, so let’s say you know how to edit the audio, but what about using microphones regardless of their price or quality? You might need to record some effects from inside your house. So, what do you need? How do you go about doing this exactly?
Anthony, with PremiumBeat, is here to walk us through the process of using your phone and other cheap recording devices to get top-tier audio quality.
Using J and L Cuts
J-cuts and L-cuts are basic editing tricks to transition between shots. A J-cut plays audio from a clip before the video appears. This sonically transitions into the scene before the visual reveal and acts as a smooth segue into the next scene or shot.
L-cuts are the opposite. The next shot appears while audio from the previous clip continues to play.
This video tutorial from Zach Ramelan shows you two ways to use this transition. First, he goes over how to use recorded audio from your footage and fade it in another clip. Then, he shows you a few ways to use sound effects to create an effective transition.
After this video, I’ll talk a little more about using sound effects and songs to transition scenes.
Using Sound Effects as Transitions
Now that you understand J-cuts, L-cuts, and working with audio as transitions, you can add extra depth to your production by layering audio, music, and sound effects. This “layering” creates a scene in itself.
Think of this as a way to tell a story without any visuals. While this won’t be the only way you convey the story, it helps amplify all of the visual elements you’ve included in your film.
While I provided a few tidbits on how to record decent sound effects all from inside your home, let’s list out some free packs and assets for your next project.
Remember, these are FREE!
- Over 440 FREE Sound Effects for Videos, Films, Apps & Games
Properly Mixing Audio, Music, and Sound Effects
With all this added depth for your video, you may notice that your audio has become a bit muddy. Mixing will help separate the dialogue, music, and sound effects once you’ve brought everything down to your timeline.
In this video from Olufemii, you’ll take a look at the art of mixing in Premiere Pro. You’ll learn about decibel levels for dialogue, foley sounds, ambiance, and music or SFX.
Though this might sound challenging, you’re just playing with the levels, using Premiere’s basic effects to make the right sounds stick out, while the less important ones remain close to the surface.
Exporting Videos with Multichannel Audio
Now that you’ve edited and mixed your project, you’ll want to export your audio layers separately—correctly. This allows you to alter individual audio layers if a client comes back with changes. They may find the dialogue too quiet or the music too loud—you never know.
You can then easily re-edit that video clip by exporting individual audio channels. Each track remains isolated instead of merging into one master audio track.
Much like mastering videography, capturing and delivering professional-sounding audio can be quite the learning curve. I’m still learning new things on almost every production.
Stick with it and never give up! You got this.
Shutterstock Sound Effects Library
These are just a handful of free sound effects we’re offering. For thousands more, you can visit the Shutterstock Sound Effects library. This is the first Metaverse-ready SFX library, as the tracks are presented in stereo, 5.1, and ambisonic formats. These immersive tracks can be used in a variety of projects from VR, game streaming, game development, immersive films, ads, documentaries, and more.
VISIT THE SHUTTERSTOCK SFX LIBRARY HERE
Cover image via Syda Productions.