Improve Audio with Effects

Your audio recording setup or environment can impact the audio quality. Common audio issues include:

• A loud computer exhaust fan
• The microphone volume is too high
• Hum or buzz from microphone and power cords
• Speaking too close to the microphone
• Echoes or reverberations from the environment in a home studio
• Too loud or too quiet sections in the voice recording

Audiate Effects

Camtasia Audiate includes the following built-in effects.

Audio Effect	Description
	Remove background noise in the recording such as a fan or street ambiance to produce a cleaner, clearer voice recording. See Remove Noise Audio Effect. Tip: Remove Noise first The Remove Noise effect helps improve the audio quality for most recordings. For the best result, apply Remove Noise to most recordings before applying other effects.
	Adjust the volume level of individual words to create a consistent level across the recording. See Volume Leveler Effect.
	Quickly apply a preset or manually adjust the equalizer properties to improve the clarity and tone. See Equalizer Effect.
	Remove hard consonant pronunciations such as “Ess” or “S.” See De-esser Effect.
	Remove pops and breath sounds from powerful “P” pronunciations. See Remove Plosives Effect.
	Remove audio tails and echoes which commonly occur in large open spaces. See Remove Reverb Effect.
	Remove distortion and clipping that occur from improper microphone levels. See De-clipper Effect.

VST Effects (Beta)

Virtual Studio Technology (VST) effects are third-party plugins that simulate traditional recording studio hardware. If you use VSTs, you can add them to Camtasia Audiate to apply additional effects, such as reverbs and phasers.

1. Install a VST using one of the following:
   • (Recommended) If the plugin has an installer, use the installer and its default install location.
   • If the plugin does not have an installer, download and move the files to one of the following locations:
     • Windows: C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3
     • Mac: /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/VST3
2. In Camtasia Audiate, click the Properties button.
   
3. Click the + icon to view audio effects.
   
4. In the Custom Effects section, click Add New VST.
   
5. Browse to select a VST and click Open.
   The VST plugin opens, and the effect is automatically applied to the project.

Apply an Audio Effect

1. Open an an audio recording in Camtasia Audiate.
2. Click the Properties button.
   
3. Click the + icon to view the available audio effects.
   
4. In the Effects section, click to apply the desired effect. To review the applied effect, click the Play button.
   

   Tip: Apply the Remove Noise effect first.

   The Remove Noise effect helps improve the audio quality for most recordings. For the best result, apply Remove Noise to most recordings before applying other effects.

5. To customize the effect, edit the properties. The changes are immediately applied to the audio. To learn more about each audio effect, see Audio Effects Overview.
   
6. To save a preset of the effect with customized properties, click the Presets dropdown and select Save Preset.
7. To apply another effect, click the + icon.
   

   Note: To disable an applied effect and keep its properties settings, click the on/off toggle in the effect’s properties panel.
   

The audio playback changes when each effect is applied, disabled, deleted, or the properties of the effect are adjusted.

Remove an Audio Effect

1. Click the Properties button.
   
2. In the FX section, select the effect to remove.
   
3. Click Remove Effect.

Save an Effect Chain Preset

Save frequently used effect combinations as Effect Chain Presets.

1. Apply and customize multiple audio effects.
2. In the properties panel, click the FX dropdown and select Save Effect Chain Preset.
3. Enter a descriptive name in the Effect Chain Preset Name field and click OK.

To apply an Effect Chain Preset, select it from the FX dropdown.

Up Next

Edit Audio & Mistakes