A Tip on Sound

How often have you distributed copies or uploaded your video masterpiece and someone comes back saying that they cannot hear the narration, or can only hear it on one speaker. I know..It has happened to me.

Generally speaking, most editing packages will have sound tracks which are either mono, stereo or 5.1. Putting 5.1 aside, there is a trap that I have often fallen for. This is where mono audio (such as narration) is placed on a stereo track. In such cases it will usually record in only one of the two tracks available. If not corrected, those viewing your final video will hear the audio from only one speaker, or in the case of some older mono equipment they may not hear the track at all. Usually, but not always, it is the narration track, often recorded in mono, at fault.

In many editing packages the view of a track can be expanded to show audio waveforms. To check if a stereo clip has both tracks filled, simply expand the view to see both tracks. If only one track is filled, either convert to a mono track or use audio effects such as "fill left" or fill right".