"DavidM" wrote in message
...

"John Russell" wrote in message
...

"DavidM" wrote in message
...
When editing and producing home videos I'm having problems
in getting a consistent audio volume across multiple clips and/or
videos. The result is complaints from SWMBO about having
to keep adjusting the volume on the DVD player.

What would be useful is a program that monitors the sound
level being output to the PCs audio output and displays this
either as a graph over time, or just VU meter type display
of the average over a short period, as the video is being
played during the editing process. I can then leave this
running in the background and then adjust the audio
levels in my video editing program (Pinnacle Studio).

Has anyone come across something simple like this?

I've looked at audio mixer/ editing programs and they are
far too complex, or not suitable for video files (eg .avi).

Thanks for any advice.
David


Are these of any use?
http://www.darkwood.demon.co.uk/PC/meter.html


Thanks John, the idea's close, but I want to be able to
monitor the output, i.e. play an avi file in Media Player
or even my video editing program and see the output
levels - since I'm often using other video files as an
input to my final video.
The meters from Darkwood seem only to monitor
inputs, unless there's something I need to configure
to make them work differently.
David.



The Output Mix is considered an input for recording purposes by my sound
card.

"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom schreef in bericht ...
On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:33:13 GMT, "DavidM"
wrote:

Thanks John, the idea's close, but I want to be able to
monitor the output, i.e. play an avi file in Media Player
or even my video editing program and see the output
levels - since I'm often using other video files as an
input to my final video.

Get a better video editing program. Vegas and Premiere offer full
control over audio, including metering (though meters are not as
useful as you might imagine for measuring perceived volume.) I know
these are expensive programs. Can someone recommend one slightly
further down the price list that has useful audio features?

EditStudio 5 by Pure Motion (http://www.puremotion.com/) costs $119.99 at their summer sale (normal price $149.99) and has the following audio facilities (copied from the manual):

Balance Mono

Turns stereo to mono audio.

Source; choose whether you want to take audio from both channels, or just the left or right.

Balance Mute channel

Sets the left or right channel to silence.

Mute channel; choose the left or right channel to mute.

Balance Swap channel

Swaps the left and right audio channels.

Bass and Treble Bass

Boosts or cuts the bass (low) frequencies.

Level; set the amount of bass boost / cut.

Bass and Treble Treble

Boosts or cuts the treble (high) frequencies.

Level; set the amount of treble boost / cut.

Echo Echo

Adds echo to the audio.

Delay; sets the time between echos, in milliseconds.

Decay; set the level of the echo. The higher the decay value, the quicker the echo will disappear.

Equaliser Equaliser

A 5 band equaliser with main level gain control. Provides boost and cut for a range or low to high

frequencies.

Main gain; Sets the overall gain for the equaliser. If you boost a particular frequency by a large amount (eg.

lots of bass) then you can find that the audio clips and sounds harsh. Reduce the main gain to stop this

happening.

50Hz gain; very low frequency (deep bass)

200 Hz; mid-bass

2 kHz; voice

5 kHz; mid-treble

10 kHz; very high frequency

Equaliser Low frequency equaliser

A 5 band equaliser designed for removing unwanted low frequency components like wind noise or record

rumble.

Filter Band pass

A band pass filter providing filtering of frequencies outside the band region.

Low; the low frequency cut-off

189

High; the high frequency cut-off

Filter High / Low pass

A high / low frequency cut-off filter for removing unwanted low / high frequencies

Frequency; select the cut-off frequency


--
Lou van Wijhe
Website: http://home.hccnet.nl/jl.van.wijhe/
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"DavidM" schreef in bericht
...
snip

David,

What you really want is a function that normally isn't integrated in an
entry level program. If you need more functionality, you need to upgrade.
I
have been using Pinnacle Studio for a long time (up to version 7) and
switched to another program (EditStudio 5 Pro by Pure Motion) just for
this
reason, among other things. I don't know what version of Studio you are
using. Did you check if the newer Studio versions have this VU meter?
(ES5
Pro does...)

By the way, good software doesn't have to cost the earth. Check
http://www.puremotion.com/index.htm for details about EditStudio 5.
--
Lou van Wijhe
Website: http://home.hccnet.nl/jl.van.wijhe/
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Thanks for the suggestions Lou. I'm currently using Studio 9.4,
and know how to avoid mosts of it's problem areas. Studio 10
has had some bad reports re stability so I'm staying clear of
that for the moment. I did look at EditStudio 5 as it has a
route mapping feature which I wanted, but I then read quite
a few VERY bad reports about its speed and reliabilty when
rendering, so have steered clear of it (solved the route
mapping requirement another way).
I'll keep looking
David.

My experience (and that of others) is exactly the opposite. EditStudio 5 is
very stable and the support from its makers is exemplary. I found ALL
versions of Pinnacle Studio I used (starting from Studio 400...) to be very
buggy and the support from Pinnacle as non-existent. If you describe your
experience with Studio in terms like QUOTE I know how to avoid most of its
problem areas UNQUOTE it really is time for a change.
--
Lou van Wijhe
Website: http://home.hccnet.nl/jl.van.wijhe/
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"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Thu, 20 Jul 2006 11:33:13 GMT, "DavidM"
wrote:

Thanks John, the idea's close, but I want to be able to
monitor the output, i.e. play an avi file in Media Player
or even my video editing program and see the output
levels - since I'm often using other video files as an
input to my final video.

Get a better video editing program. Vegas and Premiere offer full
control over audio, including metering (though meters are not as
useful as you might imagine for measuring perceived volume.) I know
these are expensive programs. Can someone recommend one slightly
further down the price list that has useful audio features?

Has anyone suggested 'normalising' or compressing the dynamic range across
the whole final edit? Simplistic I know speaking as an audio engineer but it
might satisfy the requirements of SWMBO!!? Programs like Womble have a
'normalise' mode. Vegas would be best together with CoolEditPro (or Adobe)
to pre-process some of the audio to attempt to balance out the perceived
loudness.

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:50:13 GMT, "Netmask"
wrote:

Has anyone suggested 'normalising' or compressing the dynamic range across
the whole final edit? Simplistic I know speaking as an audio engineer but it
might satisfy the requirements of SWMBO!!? Programs like Womble have a
'normalise' mode. Vegas would be best together with CoolEditPro (or Adobe)
to pre-process some of the audio to attempt to balance out the perceived
loudness.

Normalising the whole file won't affect the relative volumes of
different sections. Compression can, though it can also add problems
of its own.

"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
...
On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 07:50:13 GMT, "Netmask"
wrote:

Has anyone suggested 'normalising' or compressing the dynamic range across
the whole final edit? Simplistic I know speaking as an audio engineer but
it
might satisfy the requirements of SWMBO!!? Programs like Womble have a
'normalise' mode. Vegas would be best together with CoolEditPro (or Adobe)
to pre-process some of the audio to attempt to balance out the perceived
loudness.

Normalising the whole file won't affect the relative volumes of
different sections. Compression can, though it can also add problems
of its own.

I "Envelope" the whole audio track and vary the volume as required, even
within clips. It takes time, but the result is a lot better. Same with the
music tack.

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:02:56 +0100, "John Russell"
wrote:

Normalising the whole file won't affect the relative volumes of
different sections. Compression can, though it can also add problems
of its own.

I "Envelope" the whole audio track and vary the volume as required, even
within clips. It takes time, but the result is a lot better. Same with the
music tack.

That's how to do it. So we're back to "get a better video editor
program."

"Laurence Payne" lpayne1NOSPAM@dslDOTpipexDOTcom wrote in message
news
On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 11:02:56 +0100, "John Russell"
wrote:

Normalising the whole file won't affect the relative volumes of
different sections. Compression can, though it can also add problems
of its own.

I "Envelope" the whole audio track and vary the volume as required, even
within clips. It takes time, but the result is a lot better. Same with
the
music tack.

That's how to do it. So we're back to "get a better video editor
program."

So everyone keeps saying BUT why should I shell out £70 - £100+
when I can achieve the same thing (albeit a bit more agriculturally)
with my existing editing program provided I can find some way of
measuring the sound levels being output when I play the video file
(and preferably when I play it from within the editing program,
rather than have to export/rip it into another program).

The suggestion of http://www.darkwood.demon.co.uk/PC/meter.html
earlier in this thread is closest to the mark, I just can't make it work
on my PC for some reason. Opens ok, just doesn't seem to find
anything to monitor. Maybe not compatible with my soundcard.

Notwithstanding the above thanks to everyone for all the responses.
David.

On Mon, 24 Jul 2006 16:28:41 GMT, "DavidM"
wrote:

So everyone keeps saying BUT why should I shell out £70 - £100+
when I can achieve the same thing (albeit a bit more agriculturally)
with my existing editing program provided I can find some way of
measuring the sound levels being output when I play the video file
(and preferably when I play it from within the editing program,
rather than have to export/rip it into another program).

What do you listen to your computer audio on? Feed it into your
hi-fi. Have you got a cassette recorder, or something else with
meters? Route the signal to it.

But, as I warned you before, meters are not always terribly good at
indicating perceived volume. Some sorts are good at the vital
function of stopping you hitting digital overload.

I often edit audio tracks on CoolEdit Pro. There have seen an excellent
DirectX plugin that can intelligently normalise an audio track. It samples
levels over several seconds (adjustable) and adjusts normalising to
compensate for longer term level changes. I'm not sure if any NLE packages
can use DirectX plug-ins though.
Richard

"DavidM" wrote in message
...
When editing and producing home videos I'm having problems
in getting a consistent audio volume across multiple clips and/or
videos. The result is complaints from SWMBO about having
to keep adjusting the volume on the DVD player.

What would be useful is a program that monitors the sound
level being output to the PCs audio output and displays this
either as a graph over time, or just VU meter type display
of the average over a short period, as the video is being
played during the editing process. I can then leave this
running in the background and then adjust the audio
levels in my video editing program (Pinnacle Studio).

Has anyone come across something simple like this?

I've looked at audio mixer/ editing programs and they are
far too complex, or not suitable for video files (eg .avi).

Thanks for any advice.
David