Bacground audio levels

Dec 14, 2023

It's a great feature that you can set the volume level when audio VO is playing, but if I have just a looping MP4 playing without any audio on the slide nor in the video, the background audio volume is treated like a VO mp3 is on the screen. Is this a known issue? 

My work around is manually setting the volume back to 100% with the variable while the MP4 is playing.

Should I import the MP4 as another format? What other format will work? GIF is not an option, the output of a gif is hugh.

6 Replies
Jose Tansengco

Hello Jean-Guy,

Happy to help!

I'd like to ask a few questions to help clarify your experience: 

  • Would you mind sharing more details regarding how the audio-less MP4 on your slide affects the background audio volume? Is its presence causing the volume levels to change erratically in any way?
  • Is adding a video on the slide causing the background audio volume to decrease or vice versa?
  • Does removing or replacing the video with a different video allow the background audio to play correctly?

Additionally, would you be willing to share a copy of your project file here or in private by opening a support case so we can take a closer look at what's happening? We'll delete it when we're done testing!

Jean-Guy  Boulay

The volume isn't changing, it's just reducing down to the 20% level I have it set to if VO is playing. Essentially it's treating the MP4 as if it's a mp3. Additionally if I navigate to another browser tab or window, the volume level goes back to 100% until I return to the course.  It happens with any Mp4 I insert. 

I'll be happy to share a sample.

Luciana Piazza

Hi Jean-Guy, 

Thanks so much for reaching out and sharing your project file with us! It was helpful to see this in action! I was able to replicate the same behavior you experienced on my end. 

I've opened a Support Case on your behalf so we can have our talented Support Engineers weigh in on this MP4 functionality when viewing a slide with an MP4 file and the expected behavior for audio treatment. 

We'll continue the conversation over in your case. Thanks for your patience! 

Have a great start to your week! 🎉 

Steven Benassi

Hi Jean-Guy!

Glad to see Luciana and Joe have been helping you out!

I noticed you've also connected with my colleague Matthew through your support case. Matthew shared that the behavior you encountered is related to a known bug:

  • Background audio volume decreases when video content plays

Our development team is closely tracking this issue, and I've linked this discussion to the bug report so you can be notified as soon as a fix is in place.

Thank you for your patience. Sorry if this has been slowing you down!

Jean-Guy  Boulay

Not really slowing me down, I programmed a workaround using the varibles and cue points. But I am looking forward to a solution. In general I can understand why it decreases since some MP4s have audio in them. But it would be nice to have an option for the background volume to ignore specific videos especially those that have no audio.