Editing Premiere Audio in Audition

When to Edit in Audition?

Audition can be helpful in editing audio for a Premiere Pro project. The Waveform Editor can be used to process files before they are imported to Premiere Pro. For example converting stereo files to mono. The Multitrack Editor can be used to mix the audio from a Premiere Pro project. Adobe has been adding more of the audio effects from Audition into Premiere Pro. Audition can open a Premiere Pro project file and it will import the audio tracks and have a reference video track.

Waveform Editor:

The Waveform Editor can be used to process files before they are imported to Premiere Pro or an Audition multitrack session.

• The Waveform Editor in Audition is destructive.
  • This means that if you make an edit to your sound file and save it as the same name in the same location it was pulled from, the original file will permanently reflect the changes you made.
  • Always keep backups of your original audio files
• The Waveform Editor is used for individual audio file manipulation/repair/prep, not for sequences.
• Typically, you would edit files in the Waveform Editor before importing them into your Premiere Pro project.
  • Examples of work you might do include:
    • Converting stereo files to mono with Extract Channels to Mono Files
    • Trimming audio recordings. Taking a 30m minute recording of nature sounds and splitting up to short clips.
• Since the Waveform Editor is destructive (changes are permanent), you should avoid making any extreme changes to your audio here.
  • If you are trying to create unusual sounds or sound effects then the Waveform editor can be a good place to process audio.
  • For many effects like equalization it's best to apply them in the Multitrack Editor or Premiere Pro
    • It is better to apply the effects when you are listening to the audio in the mix with other sounds.

Multitrack Editor:

The Multitrack Editor can be used to mix the audio from a Premiere Pro project. You should be done with editing the video before opening the mix in Audition.

• The Multitrack Editor in Audition is non-destructive. This means that any effects or changes you make to your audio can be undone or modified at any time in the future.
• The Multitrack Editor is where you can edit your Premiere Pro sequence audio.
  • You should have your Premiere project mostly completed (at least have the cuts where you want them) before editing the audio in the Multitrack Editor. For reasons briefly explained below, this workflow can save you some time and headaches.

Opening Premiere Project in Audition

There are a few ways of opening a Premiere Pro sequence in Audition:

1. Open Audtion
2. Go to File > Open and select your Premiere Pro project file
3. Click Open
4. The Import a Premiere Pro Sequence window will open
5. Select the sequence and click OK
6. A new multitrack session will be created
8. Notes

• If your Premiere sequence contains "nested sequences," you will need to render those before bringing them into Audition.

Getting Your Audition Audio Back to Premiere

Again, there are a couple ways of doing this:

Export Audio as Multitrack Mixdown

• Once finished using the Multitrack Editor, assuming you want your entire Multitrack project to be exported for use in Premiere, you may select File > Export > Multitrack Mixdown > Entire Session
  • Make sure to select the proper destination for your file to be saved to. It may be wise to save this Multitrack Mixdown into the folder that contains your Premiere project and assets.
• By exporting in this way, all of your separate audio tracks have been mixed together into a single, stereo audio file.
• Now, you can simply import your Multitrack Mixdown audio file into Premiere. If you have done everything correctly, you should be able to place the beginning of your mixdown at 0min 0sec in your sequence and it should line up perfectly.
  • You will want to make sure to MUTE all other audio in your sequence because the old audio in your sequence will not reflect the changes you made in Audition.

THE DOWNSIDE TO THIS METHOD is that moving video clips around within Premiere will be much more complicated, assuming that you want the video and audio to remain in sync; although your video clips are still easy to move around, you are now only working with one stereo audio file.

Export Audio Directly to Premiere

• File > Export > Export to Adobe Premiere Pro
• A dialog box will pop up wherein you can name the file(s) you wish to export, choose the location of the file(s) on your computer, and more.
• In the "Options" section of this dialog box, you will see the options: "Export each track as a stem" or "Mixdown session to: Mono File, Stereo File, 5.1 File"
  • "Export each track as a stem" will export each track of your Multitrack Session as its own audio file (a "stem"), and each stem has the same time duration (the total length of your audition project). This gives you more flexibility should you need to do more audio editing later or if you need to relocate audio/video clips in your Premiere sequence.
  • "Mixdown session to...." is the same as the "Export Audio as Multitrack Mixdown" method provided in the above section of this wiki, with the only difference being that you have an option here to open your mixdown directly in Premiere...
• Checking the checkbox at the bottom of this dialog box which reads "Open in Adobe Premiere Pro" will export your newly edited audio directly into your Premiere Project. You still need to MUTE all of the old audio tracks in your sequence because this is not done automatically for you.

THE DOWNSIDE TO THIS METHOD is that it can be a bit confusing/complicated for those who are new to using Adobe software.

Common Audition Mistakes / Issues

There are many ways to end up with terrible audio or confusing Multitrack Sessions! What joy! Here is a brief look at some common mistakes and issues you may encounter:

• Clipping Audio
  • Make sure to keep an eye on the audio meter at the bottom of the screen, and/or the meter on the Master channel (at the bottom of the Multitrack sequence window.
  • If your audio hits or exceeds 0dB (indicated by red lights on your meter), you need to find a way to reduce the volume (ex: Reduce clip/channel/master volume, manipulate "volume envelopes"; apply a Limiter/Compressor, etc.).
  • If you allow your audio to hit or exceed 0dB it can have a variety of negative effects when played back including: Distorted audio, digital artifacts, audio drop-out (little bits of silence where sound should be), damage to speakers, and more.
    
    
• My Multitrack Session seems incredibly long! Why is that?
  • Usually caused by an audio clip accidentally being placed deep into the project, making it look incredibly long (much longer than intended). → Zoom in at the end of your sequence and delete/move audio.
    
    
• Clip Effects vs. Channel Effects
  • Clip Effects are applied to an individual audio clip. You may have several clips in a single audio channel/track (such as Track 1) that can each have different Clip Effects applied to them.
  • Channel Effects apply to all clips on that channel/track.
  • If you use Envelopes to automate a Clip Effect, the envelopes will remain locked into position even if you relocate the clip in the timeline.
  • If you use Envelopes to automate a Channel Effect, the envelopes will not move along with a clip; the envelope will stay in one place even if you change the location of the clips on that channel.
    • For more information about Envelopes you may visit this Adobe Help page: Automating mixes with envelopes

• Some effects are ONLY in either Audition or Premiere, but not in both. This can cause a lot of confusion. For a list of these effects, please click THIS LINK.