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

"DavidM" wrote in message
...

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?


Ulead VideoStudio 9 (and 8, freely available now as a demo) has a form of
instantaneous PPM (sort of VU) with level adjustment. It also has a form of
rubber banding level control which could be ueful to you. (Edit mode, audio
page)

--
M Stewart
Milton Keynes, UK
http://www.megalith.freeserve.co.uk/oddimage.htm

In message , Malcolm
Stewart writes
"DavidM" wrote in message
...

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?


Ulead VideoStudio 9 (and 8, freely available now as a demo) has a form of
instantaneous PPM (sort of VU) with level adjustment. It also has a form of
rubber banding level control which could be ueful to you. (Edit mode, audio
page)

Magix Audio Lab might help. It allows you to "normalise" the audio to
(say) 95% of peak clipping level (you can preset the percentage). You
will, however, have to pull out your audio, process it with Audio Lab,
then replace the old audio on the timeline's audio layer.

Apart from levelling, I've found it very useful in correcting poor room
acoustics (e.g. some churches).
--
Tony Morgan

On Tue, 18 Jul 2006 11:23:20 GMT, "DavidM"
allegedly wrote:

Has anyone come across something simple like this?

Audacity is a sourceforge freeware program that has a normalise option.

Or if you're using Premiere Pro, there's an audio mixer tool which will
allow you to view the level of the audio in each audio track as it's
played, and will red flag anything that clips.

"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


Thanks for your ideas guys, but I seem not have put my
question very clearly.
I do not want another audio or video editing program, I'm
reasonably happy with Studio and don't particularly want
the risk/complexity/cost/time of changing, or exporting and
importing it to another program.
All I really want is an audio level monitor that displays
whatever is being pumped out of my sound card (or
into it), so that I can more objectively assess the sound
levels and then modify them in Studio while I am
"composing" my video.
Perhaps this is too simple and no one has ever bothered
to do it.
An example is Netmeter http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
which can sit in the corner of the screen and provides a
display of traffic on the network port, or indeed the
Performance display in Windows Task Manager (XP).
Thanks, David.

"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

"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.

"DavidM" schreef in bericht
...

"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.

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/
AntiSpam: Vervang INVALID in e-mail adres door NL
AntiSpam: Replace INVALID in e-mail address by NL

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?

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/
AntiSpam: Vervang INVALID in e-mail adres door NL
AntiSpam: Replace INVALID in e-mail address by NL


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.