Video Length Shrinks when Adjusting Audio

[SRH1268]

I'm editing a short video for a group project at work. The audio is incredibly soft, almost inaudible, but clear. When I adjust the audio, boosting it by 500%, the video loses about 1/3rd of a second. I have to adjust the audio three times to get it to a reasonable volume, which shortens the video by nearly a second. The upside is that it shortens it to where I would be making a cut anyway.

Has anyone else experienced this, and if so, is there a way to prevent the video from being shortened when adjusting the audio?

I'm using VideoStudio 2021 v24.0.1.260

The video in question was shot on either a mobile device or laptop and has the following properties:
Video Type: H.264
Attributes: 24 bits, 1920 x 1080x 16:9
Frame Rate: 30.000 fps

Audio type: MPEG AAC audio
Total samples: 770,892
Attributes: 48000 Hz, 16 bit, stereo
Bit rate: 192 Kbps

Project properties are:
MPEG-4
24 bits, 1920 x 1080, 29.97 fps
Frame-based
H.264 High Profile Video: 14767 Kbps, 16:9
MPEG AAC Audio: 101 Kbps

[lata]

SRH1268
And welcome to the forums
First there is a free program called Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/
which may be better at managing the audio levels especially if you are having to apply the 500% 3 times over.

I would have thought that would have impacted on the audio quality.

When you loose the 1/3rd sec ( 10 frames) is that immediately after applying the volume to 500% or is it after rendering.

As an observation, the length of the video relies on the total number of frames in that video, changing the volume level does not alter the number of frames?


by the way, how long is the video file?

Post updated
Viewing your post referring to the video being recorded using a mobile device, was that a phone? it is possible that the video frame rate is variable and that could impact on the number of frames after rendering.
When you render the project, choosing Same as First Clip will use the optimum settings, even so if the original recordings are variable then that could explain the difference in duration after rendering.

[cybernick]

Welcome to the forums. Also I would suggest to export the audio as wav and use wav file in the Video Studio.
VS sometimes handles the Mpeg audio in a strange way.

[tletter]

When I adjust the audio, boosting it by 500%, the video loses about 1/3rd of a second. I have to adjust the audio three times to get it to a reasonable volume, which shortens the video by nearly a second.

How do you "adjust the audio three times" as VS can only increase by 500%? Are you rendering your project three times? If so then that's not a good approach.

A better approach would be to use VS to render just the audio tracks as a WAV file, then use Audacity to manipulate the audio track as you wish and export the result as a WAV file. Once done, then replace the audio in VSP with the WAV file exported in Audacity.

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

[SRH1268]

SRH1268
And welcome to the forums
First there is a free program called Audacity https://www.audacityteam.org/
which may be better at managing the audio levels especially if you are having to apply the 500% 3 times over.

[facepalm]D'oh![/facepalm] Yup, I even extracted the audio to adjust it in VS2021, so it would have been a simple matter to save just the audio, adjust it in Audacity (which I do have btw) and slip it back in. I'm guessing your suggestion will work perfectly. I'll give it a go and report back. Thank you.

by the way, how long is the video file?

Only about 16 seconds.

[SRH1268]

When I adjust the audio, boosting it by 500%, the video loses about 1/3rd of a second. I have to adjust the audio three times to get it to a reasonable volume, which shortens the video by nearly a second.

How do you "adjust the audio three times" as VS can only increase by 500%? Are you rendering your project three times? If so then that's not a good approach.

A better approach would be to use VS to render just the audio tracks as a WAV file, then use Audacity to manipulate the audio track as you wish and export the result as a WAV file. Once done, then replace the audio in VSP with the WAV file exported in Audacity.

tletter
https://www.youtube.com/user/tletter

Yes, I was rendering it multiple times. Learning curve, you know.

[Davidk]

Using audacity to increase volume is best, but it can be done in video studio . .
- split the audio from the clip - which gives it a separate life as a standalone file in the audio track. Delete the primary clip, leaving just the audio file at a no9minal level of 100. Change (increase) the volume to 500, and then name it and render it as an audio clip.
- open VS at new project, and import the just rendered audio file: it will show now at a default level of 100: increase that to 500 and re-render as an audio file with a new name, eg vol2. At this point you have amplified the audio by 8 times (2x4).
- open vs at a new project, import your original video clip. Two choices now; a) split the audio out and discard the split audio file, OR b) simply mute the audio on that clip. Import the vol2 audio file and align it's timing to the main muted video. Play it - if the volume is still too low, either boost the level to somewhere between 100 and 500, or repeat step 2 yielding vol3, and do this step again.
Fiddly. Why using audacity is better. But also note that in either case, any background noises are being amplified along with the audio, and the result may not be terribly acceptable. If this is still 'not good' consider re-recording the material with a good external microphone on the camera.

[lata]

SRH1268, I ran a few tests using different video types and rendering some did reduce the overall length by about 3 frames
This varied but some types were spot on with no change in length.
A 16 seconds clip being reduced by 3 seconds is certainly very bad.

Can you right click your original clip and choose properties, these settings are how Video Studio reads the details.
Create an image of that panel to attach to your post, or provide the details here, the frame rate if not exactly 30 or 29.97fps would indicate a variable rate.
I did not realise you had extracted the audio to adjust in Video Studio, why not just change the video volume level?

Using Audacity should reduce the render to one attempt, even so as mentioned earlier choose Same as First Clip when rendering.
What do you select when doing Share -