Two audio files in SL - can't adjust volume
Nov 06, 2019
Help! I have a beginning slide and closing slide in SL360 where I have some background music (separate mp3 file) playing while voiceover (a second separate mp3 file) is playing on top. I have adjusted my music file in Adobe Audition to be very quiet so it doesn't overpower the voice. However, once I preview it in SL or publish and play, SL seems to force the music file to match the volume level of the voiceover file, so it ends up overpowering the voiceover. I have taken the music file down to an almost barely audible volume, but still I run into the same problem. When I reduce the volume to almost nothing in Audition, then you can really tell that SL is compensating because it plays in SL with a loud fuzzy background sound--the lower the volume in the external mp3 file, the louder the fuzz in SL, reinforcing the idea that it has been cranked back up once inserted into SL. I've tried using the SL Audio Tools, such as reducing the volume (significantly) in Audio Editor but even though I see the wave form shrinking, indicating a reduction in volume, once I preview it or play it in published format, it is still as loud as ever. I've also tried the Low setting in Audio Volume in SL, but I don't notice any difference with that either. I just installed all the latest two SL updates to make sure that wasn't the issue. But it didn't affect this situation. Any ideas?
10 Replies
Hi Katie,
Sorry to hear that, and thanks for sharing in detail what you're coming across! I've opened a case on your behalf with our support engineers, where you'll hear from someone on the team soon. They'll do everything they can to determine why the audio isn't importing correctly!
Thank you. I finally had to just do a workaround (combined the two audio files externally into one file so I could adjust volume that way). I had to finish the project today, so my post yesterday was a very last-minute attempt to get a solution quickly. 😊 If it happens again, I will hopefully have more time to share the file. Thank you for responding.
Katie Wood, Instructional Designer
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Hi there, fellow Katie. Glad to hear you found a fix, and you know where to find us should this oddity happen again!
Hello! This is happening to me. Has there ever been a fix? I am trying to adjust it in audacity. I took the same steps as the person in the original post. It sounds perfect until I get it into storyline. I have been able to combine my audio with the background sound and that has worked on a few slides but it's not working 100% of the time. It doesn't matter what background audio I try to use.
From Audacity, try exporting as a WAV file, to then import into Storyline.
This may not be as much a problem as it used to be, but importing a lossless WAV might have better final output quality than if you import an already compressed (lossy) MP3.
Hope that helps a bit.
Thank you, Scott! I did try that and it didn't work but I can see why that may.
I actually figured it out. When you go to publish, deselect "Optimize Audio," and then republish even if you aren't ready to publish yet. It will put the audio back to the state you had it in and keep that setting for each future time you publish your Review link. That was quite frustrating until I realized that. Now everything is right in the world again. :)
Thank you, Melissa! This was maddening! I had actually encountered the problem before when publishing, but today I'm just hitting "Play" on the timeline so I didn't think that the publish option was relevant.
OK, now I've unchecked the box, but the problem doesn't seem to have gone away.
Hi Alison,
Sorry to hear that you encountered a similar issue!
Audio issues are a bit tricky diagnose without testing the actual audio files. Would you be willing to share your project file with us here, or in private through a support case so we can take a look at what's happening?
Alternatively, you can also try editing the volume of your audio files using a free application called Audacity. Here's the download link. If you're more comfortable having us check your project file instead, please go ahead and open a support case to connect with our support engineers.
I was running into the same issue, and what finally worked for me was bringing in the volume adjusted audio, saving the project, closing down completely out of Storyline AND Articulate and then going back in to everything. Finally recognized the the quiet background music track was supposed to be quiet!