Smooth Audio Trim

[AKav]

Is there a trick to ensuring a smooth fade out when you trim audio?

I'm working on a slideshow using a song that's a bit too long for my purposes. I tried to trim it to fit the number of photos I want to use and I used the fade out feature. The song does fade out but it does so rather abruptly so it's obvious I've cut off the end of the song. I've looked for a good spot to trim it and just can't find one.

Is there a better way to fade out more smoothly so it doesn't sound quite so abrupt?

Thanks in advance to any and all who comment. I love this product! :D

[Ron P.]

As I don't have or use this program, I downloaded the trial version, which is limited to only 10 photos in a slideshow.

• There is no adjustment to the duration of the Fade-in/Fade-out, which would help in your situation.
• You can not "key-frame" a change in audio levels. This would allow you to reduce the volume at specific times in the slideshow. In essence create your own fade-in/out.
• Since it apparently does not use SmartSound®, any audio added will sound 'cut-off".

With that being said, you could use a third-party audio editing program like AUDACITY, a free open source utility for recording and editing sounds. You can trim, and adjust the fade-out to fit the duration of your slideshow, then insert it into your project. Many of us utilize several different programs for different steps when creating videos, or slideshows. For example I use a program SonicFire Pro 4.5. It is specially designed for this purpose. It also uses special music tracks, designed for use with the program, so that your music always sounds as if it were produced just for your production. However it is on the pricey side.

In order to get a professional sounding audio track you need to determine the duration of your slideshow. Then knowing that you can adjust the duration of your music track, and then the fade-out, using a program like Audacity. The fade-out will not sound like you just cut-off the end.

Hope that helps..

[AKav]

Ron - that was actually quite helpful, thanks. I'll check out Audacity since it's free. I'm graduating to doing slideshows for some non-profits and since I'm going through music publishers for license authority, I want to make sure any music I trim (even if only slightly) doesn't sound chopped.

Thanks again -

Aubrie