MEETING 2

Mastering
Audio
Raw Audio, Sound Effects, and Background
Music
 The three common types of audio files
present in the video project
Raw audio
To uncompressed or
unaltered audio. As you may
recall, dragging your recorded
clip onto the project timeline
while on the Edit page
automatically creates two
tracks. The first track is for the
video itself, while the second
track is for the audio that was
captured along with that same
video. That second track is the
raw audio.
 Sound effect
a short sound clip used
to enhance production
quality of a project. While not
completely necessary for
every project, it can definitely
improve a projects’ overall
presentation. If used
correctly, it can help your
project become a more
entertaining experience for
your viewers.
 Background music
a musical track used as an accompaniment to a production. By now, you
should be familiar with the use of musical tracks in a project. When using a musical
track, it is a good practice to mention the source of your music and credit the artist
in your project description or in the project itself. In a later module, you will learn
more about where to find assets for your projects.
 Modifying Audio
How to modify the volume of an audio
clip?
Similar to editing video clips, we can also edit audio
clips. First, we will adjust the volume. There are two
ways to modify or adjust the volume of a track:
through the Inspector or by hovering over the white
line on the audio clip in the timeline.
•Go to the Edit page and select an audio clip.
You may listen to it first before we make
modifications.
•To modify or adjust the volume through the
Inspector, first select the track in the timeline to
see its audio properties in the Inspector. Then,
adjust the slider or manually type the value of the
Volume property.

 Editing the volume

in the Inspector
•To modify or adjust the volume through the
Inspector, first select the track in the timeline to
see its audio properties in the Inspector. Then,
adjust the slider or manually type the value of the
Volume property.

 Editing the volume

in the Inspector
• To adjust the volume using the timeline, hover
over the white line on the audio track, then
drag up or down to increase or decrease the
volume.

 Editing the
volume in the
timeline
• If you can’t see the audio waves or the white
zigzags properly, hover your mouse at the
bottom line of the audio track and drag it down
to make the audio waves appear bigger.

BEFORE
AFTER
• How to apply a fade-in/fade-out effect to
an audio clip.
Another modification that can be made to
an audio clip is the fade-in/fade-out effect. It
can be done using a process similar to that of
applying fade ins/fade outs to a video clip—by
adjusting the slider found on the top-left and
top-right of the track.
BEFORE
BEFORE
 The types of effects that can be
added to audio files

To utilize the Toolbox to add effects to

your video clip. Similarly, you can also add
effects to an audio track using the same
option. These effects are found under the
Audio FX category.
 Similar to video
effects, you can also
add effects to the
audio by simply
dragging it to your
chosen audio clip.
You can also make
more modifications
to audio effects
through the
Inspector.
 Audio Ducking
You now know that adding sounds or
music to your project can be done by
dragging and dropping a file from the media
library. However, what if the audio clips are
on top of each other? How do we make sure
that we will hear the sounds we want to
hear?
 Audio ducking is when the volume
of a specific audio signal is
temporarily lowered to make way
for a different audio signal in a
project.
 A good practice when working on a
project is to make sure that whatever you are
working on is front and center. This means
that it is ideal to expand and zoom in on
what you are editing. In this case, they are
the audio tracks.
 To do this, we will use the
Fairlight page. This is where we
will be spending most of our time
when fixing the audio for our
project.
 If we open the Mixer found at
the top-right corner of the
window, this too will bring up a
few other options.
 Under the Mixer, double-click on the
Dynamics section to show the Dynamics
interface for an audio track.
If you do not see the Dynamics
section, click on the meatballs menu or
the three dots icon on the upper-right of
the Mixer, then select Dynamics.
Dynamics
can appear as
this
 Dynamics
can also
appear as this
 Show the
Dynamics
section using
the meatballs
menu in the
Mixer
 Audio ducking is an advanced
video editing technique, so it might
take some time for the learners to
master. Make it a point to match
their learning pace as this may be
challenging for some learners.
 The Dynamics dialog box should
then appear. Ensure that you are
accessing the Dynamics menu of the
speaking or voice-over audio track.
You can confirm this by looking at
the top of the Dynamics dialog box.
 If not, close the dialog box and
make sure to double-click on the
Dynamics option under the correct
audio track.
 For our first audio track, we have to figure
out how we can tell our tool to automatically
adjust the volume of our musical track as it is
playing simultaneously with our vlog clip.
To do this, we need to tell our tool to know
which among the audio tracks it needs to look
for. This can be done by clicking on Send.
• Next, access the Dynamics options menu
for the audio track with the music. Clicking
on Listen and turning on the Compressor
will prepare our tool so that it knows
which audio track should adjust and when.
At this point, it’s a matter of adjusting the
Threshold knob and Ratio knob to achieve
your desired audio ducking result.
 Edit the audio in the Dynamics
interface as you are listening to it using
the timeline.
Edit the
audio in the
Dynamics
interface
Use the timeline to play the audio while
you are modifying the audio
 Several terms mentioned in this topic might be
new to the learners. While they are not the focus of
the lesson, discussing these points will help them
understand the video editing technique of audio
ducking. Simplify the discussion by going over these
items:
• Compressor – helps manage the volume of
an audio track so that the final audio output
is smooth.
• Threshold – sets the limit at which the
compressor adjusts or manages the volume of an
audio track. Think of this as the basis of when the
volume of another track is lowered.
• Ratio – tells you how much the volume of a
track should be lowered during
compression.
• Attack - refers to the beginning build-up of a
note. It can also be described as the intensity
of a sound once it is played.
• Hold - refers to how long a note is
played.
• Release - determines how long
before a note played ends or fades.
•You don’t need to memorize what
each of these knobs means. Instead,
try to remember what they do and
how they affect the sound you are
modifying or producing. You will only
need to access these knobs when
audio ducking.
 Experiment with the
Compressor and see what
each knob will do to your
audio. You may use your
earphones/headphones for
this activity.
 Audio Syncing
This video editing technique is essential for when
the learners record both audio and video using
different devices. For example, a producer records a
project using two devices, wherein the first device
focuses on recording the video footage for the project
and the second device focuses on recording just the
audio coming from the scene.
 The concept of audio syncing. In
essence, audio syncing is all about
timing things right in your project.
Normally, this technique is used by
producers that record the video and
audio of a particular scene separately.
 Audio files that you add onto DaVinci Resolve, as
you know, are represented as waveforms. In the
image, we can see two similar waveforms. When
syncing audio, this is what we want to achieve.
In most cases, in order to record clearer and
better quality audio for your projects, you will need
to use two devices. But how can you be sure that
the separate audio clip you recorded will be in sync
with the main video clip?
How to apply audio syncing?
Dragging and cutting the files in the
timeline is one way of doing it. However, this
takes way too long and is more prone to
errors. A faster way to sync two separate
recordings of the same scene can be done
through the Media Pool.
• To do this, you first need to make sure that the media
files to be synced are in the same folder under the
Media Pool.
 Right-click on any open space
within the Media Pool and select
Auto Sync Audio. This will then
show you the audio sync options.
Select Based on Waveform.
REMINDERS:
If the learners are attempting to sync media files
with different waveforms, there’s a chance that
DaVinci Resolve may not be able to automatically
sync the audio. In this case, they would need to
manually cut, trim, and drag the audio files onto the
timeline to match the waveform of the video clip
they have recorded.
 The best practices for better audio
management.
Here are some tips about audio management.
• Consistency is key when making modifications. Any
changes you make should be applied to others.
• Playback, playback, and playback! Reviewing your clip
can help identify errors in your project that you might
have overlooked. This is especially true when working
with the sounds in your project.
•Listen and review a sample exported clip
of your project. A good way of making
sure that your project will come out as
expected is by reviewing export
segments of your project.
•Do not rush your work.