So far I was used to preparing the separate audio recording in Audacity before I add it to the video, replacing (muting) the video’s audio after sync.
Looking closer into Shotcut’s audio editing capabilities I am tempted to prefer these over Audacity, mainly because of the automization capabilities (keyframes) and non-destructive effects - at least for simple 2-chan (stereo) recordings where I don’t need to dig deep down to the sample level, eg. for removing crackles.
Does any one have an opinion about the quality of audio-signal processing in Shotcut?
If someone has used SC in more depth for audio-processing, I’d be interested in learning your views/recommendations.
TIA
I haven’t used it for much in the way of editing - just making adjustments like gain or compression. But as far as quality, I believe I’ve read that audio processing happens in 32-bit floating point (same as the default in Audacity), so there should be no quality problems.
Exactly because of the non-destructive effects, I moved to Ardour as my DAW and it’s great. Definitely more complicated than Audacity, but for my context (recording songs), it’s perfect because it gives more control and I can do non-destructive edits/rerecording/etc quite easily.
I own an Ableton license, which I enjoy using for audio editing. For voice-overs, I rely on Ableton’s stock EQs and compressors, and I’m very satisfied with them.
As for the audio track accompanying my video footage, I usually only modify it using Shotcut filters—mostly out of laziness. Otherwise, I would have to extract the audio from every single video file and run it through my DAW, which is something I only do in specific, justified cases (for instance, to precisely filter out distracting background noise). Speaking from experience, I strongly advise against exporting your final video edit as a single audio file, running *that* through a DAW, and then laying that “master audio” track underneath your final video edit (because once you’ve done that, making *any* subsequent changes to your “supposedly final” video edit becomes an absolute nightmare).
In Shotcut, I primarily use the Gain module to boost the recording levels—which are usually too low—as well as the Limiter. I apply the Limiter both to individual clips (or tracks) and to the master Output track (yes, two tracks that have each been individually limited can still combine to exceed the overall limit). Incidentally, using a “Filter Set” is a handy way to quickly apply the same set of filters to multiple clips at once.
One thing I do miss in Shotcut is a really good EQ. With an 8-band parametric equalizer (like Ableton’s EQ8), you could elegantly filter out unwanted background noise; I haven’t found anything comparable within Shotcut yet. The Normalizer (one pass) makes the audio sound pretty terrible; after giving myself a brief scare with it, I banished it from my workflow entirely.
I’m not sure if any of this helps you, but those are just my thoughts on the subject!
