Adding Audio

The next step was to add all the audio to the video and remove any unwanted sounds that were already attached to the clips used.

To start with I removed the unwanted audio that I did not need. This was on the video clip of bowls and also the game footage I had taken from the Mass Effect 3 video clips.

So in order to do this I right clicked on each clip and selected unlink.

This then separated the video from the audio track underneath it. This then meant I was able to select the audio track independently of the video, and delete it.

I then repeated this until all the unwanted audio was removed so I could add in my introduction sounds and backing track for the rest of the video.

The first audio I wanted to add was to the game studio logo I had added, potato games. In keeping with the fictional ethos of the company I wanted it to be silly and funny so I thought a duck quacking sound effect would be good.

So I went to freesound.org to try and find a duck quack sound effect that was suitable, but could not find one as most were recorded in the wild and had too much background noise. So I went to youtube and found a video of a world champion duck call instructor. Once I downloaded the video I was able to edit it in premiere.

Once I found the sound I wanted I marked in and out on the video to create a clip, I then inserted it onto the timeline, unlinked the video from the audio, deleted the video and then moved the audio into place on the audio track underneath the image. The image was longer than the audio so I adjusted the length the image was displayed so they fit together.

This took me down under a minute of footage but I just extended the final image of the video by a few frames.

Next I added some audio for the first few introductory seconds of the video. I wanted some music or sound effects that were dramatic and set the scene, to make the viewer think this was going to be something serious.

So I went back to freesound.org to try and find something suitable. I performed searched for violins and strings, but it was my search for cinematic that returned the audio that I desired, and so I downloaded a cinematic sound effect.

Once loaded into premiere I cut this audio clip down using mark in and mark out and inserted it onto the timeline. The just tweak image length to get it to fit the video and to keep the video to a minute in length.

I had to put the introduction audio on a lower track as it overlapped with the explosion sound effect and I wanted both to be present.

Now that was the introduction to the video sorted I just needed to add the backing track to the rest of it.

I wanted some music that was in the metal sort of genre to add a gritty feel to the video and compliment the action footage in the video. I already had a piece of music in mind whilst I was creating this and that was the theme tune to the video game Doom 3.

I managed to find a video on youtube that had the song on it, so I downloaded the video in mp4 format and loaded the video, from the video clips bin, in premiere. The beauty of using this song is that there is a break in the music, just before the main instrumental, 43 seconds into the track, so this was a great point for me to mark in.

All I needed to do then was to insert this onto the timeline, without marking out as I would just adjust the length of the audio clip to fit to the end of the video.

First I had to unlink the video, from the Doom 3 theme, from the audio and then delete the video. The use ripple delete to remove any gaps it created.

Then like I say I just reduced the length of the audio clip, on the timeline, so that it fit the length of the video. This however meant that the music ended abruptly when the video finished, so to combat this and refine it I faded the music out.

To do this I selected the pen tool from the tool bar next to the timeline.

I then clicked 2 points on the audio track, one a few seconds short of the end and the one right at the end.

I then selected the selection tool from the tools.

I then hovered over the point I had created, with the pen tool, at the end of the audio track. I clicked and held the point and dragged it down in order to create a gradual fade in the volume.

Thus creating a more refined ending to the video.