Adjusting audio levels in the Timeline

The red volume rubberband allows precise adjustment of the volume level at any point during the clip. Specify the adjustment point by creating a handle on the rubberband. A handle marks the beginning and ending of a rubberband segment, and you can drag the handle up or down to change the audio level. All audio clips include two handles that you can't remove--one at the beginning of the clip, and another at the end. You can also cross-fade two audio clips automatically so that one fades out as another fades in. The rubberband in the Timeline corresponds to the volume fader in the Audio Mixer window, and serves the same purpose. The way you create fades in these two windows differs, however. In the Timeline, you visually adjust levels. In the Audio Mixer window, you adjust levels in real time as you listen to the track. Also, for each track in the Timeline, there is one volume rubberband per clip, while in the Audio Mixer window, there is one volume fader per track. For more information, see Adjusting audio levels in the Audio Mixer window using automation.

To adjust volume at a specific point:

1 If necessary, click the triangle to the left of the track name to expand the audio track you want to adjust.

2 If the red volume rubberband is not displayed in the clip, click the red Volume Rubberband icon () in the track header.

3 With the selection tool selected, position the pointer over a part of the red volume rubberband where you want to create a new handle. The pointer changes to a pointing finger with red plus and minus signs.

4 Click to create a new rubberband segment.

5 Drag the volume handle up or down to adjust the slope of adjacent rubberband segments. An upward slope indicates an increase in volume; a downward slope indicates a decrease in volume.

If you activate the Info palette before you drag, you can watch the volume level update in the Info palette as you drag.

To remove a volume handle:

Drag a volume handle above or below the audio track and release the mouse.

To adjust volume in 1% increments:

1 If necessary, click the triangle to the left of the track name to expand the audio track you want to adjust, and then click the red Volume Rubberband icon ().

2 Click the volume rubberband to create a new volume handle if necessary.

3 Position the pointer over the volume handle you want to adjust so that the pointer changes into a pointing finger with red arrows. Press and hold Shift as you drag the volume handle up or down. A numeric display appears over the audio track to indicate the current volume level as you drag. As long as you hold the Shift key, you can drag beyond the top and bottom of the audio track, if necessary. The larger drag area lets you adjust volume in 1% increments, as indicated in the numeric display.

To adjust two handles simultaneously:

1 If necessary, click the triangle to the left of the track name to expand the audio track you want to adjust, and then click the red Volume Rubberband icon ().

2 Select the fade adjustment tool ().

3 Position the fade adjustment tool between the two handles you want to adjust, and then drag that segment up or down.

In some situations you may want to leave the volume level of the previous rubberband segment intact and fade sharply from there. This requires two handles: one to hold the previous gain level, and another to set the starting level for the following segment. Use the fade scissors tool () to automatically create two new adjacent handles on the fade control.

To create two adjacent fade handles:

1 If necessary, click the triangle to the left of the track name to expand the audio track you want to adjust, and then click the red Volume Rubberband icon ().

2 Select the fade scissors tool ().

3 Click the Volume rubberband where no handles exist. This creates two adjacent handles, although they may be too close together to see separately.

4 Select the selection tool, and drag the new handles as needed.

If you want more room to drag the volume handle within an audio track, choose Timeline Window Options from the Timeline window menu, select a larger Icon Size, and click OK. However, pressing the Shift key as you drag the volume handle still provides the most precision.

To cross-fade between two audio clips:

1 If necessary, click the triangle to the left of each track name to expand the audio tracks that you want to cross-fade.

2 Make sure that the two audio clips overlap in time. Two clips cannot overlap on the same track, so you must place each audio clip on a different audio track.

3 Select the cross-fade tool ().

4 Click the clip you want to fade out.

5 Click the clip you want to fade in. Premiere automatically creates and adjusts volume handles on both clips.

Note: When creating a cross-fade, the order in which you select the clips is not important.

Mixing Audio > Adjusting audio levels in the Timeline