Recently, in an Adobe Premiere Elements Forum thread, a Premiere Elements 13 question asked "How to disable the sound for a whole audio track in contrast to adjusting individually the volume for any audio clip placed in that track?" The originator of the thread claimed that whole audio track muting could be done in other versions of Premiere Elements or in Premiere Pro, but not Premiere Elements 13 (current version).
In Premiere Pro 2.0 (only pro version available to us), it was found that each of the numbered audio tracks has a Toggle Track Output icon that a user can use to mute the sound for a whole audio track. See Figure 1.
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| Figure 1. Premiere Pro 2.0 And Its Toggle Track Output Icon To Mute The Sound From A Whole Audio Track. |
In reviewing the Premiere Elements side of things for this question, Premiere Pro's Toggle Track Output function is found in Premiere Elements 10 and earlier in their Sceneline workspace ONLY. It can been found there in the form of a Change Track Volume icon which exists to the left of the Soundtrack, Narration Track, or Video. The Change Track Volume icon is represented by a Speaker for Soundtrack, a Microphone for Narration, and a Filmstrip for Video (Audio Track 1).
See Figure 2.
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| Figure 2. Premiere Elements 10/Quick Workspace And Its Change Track Volume Icon To Mute The Sound From A Whole Audio Track. |
There is no Change Track Volume icon with associated volume slider in Premiere Elements 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1. However version 11, 12/12.1, 13/13.1 Quick workspace (a Sceneline workspace counterpart) does have the Filmstrip icon, Microphone icon, and Speaker icon for its audio tracks. But the icons here refer to adding audio clips to audio tracks and not shutting down whole audio tracks.
- Speaker icon pop up description is Add audio sound clips to this track
- Microphone icon pop up description is Add narration to this track
- Filmstrip icon pop up description is Add video clips/photos to this track.
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| Figure 3. Premiere Elements 13/13.1 Quick Workspace Speaker, Microphone, And Filmstrip Icons Without Change Track Volume Function. |
If Premiere Elements 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1 no longer have the Change Track Volume icon to mute the sound for a whole audio track in its workspaces, how can the whole audio track sound be muted in these later versions? Can the Audio Mixer (Expert workspace tool only) be used for this purpose?
SOLUTION
No way has been found to shut off the sound to a whole audio track in the Expert or Quick workspaces of Premiere Elements 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1. And, the Audio Mixer "Mute" button in these versions is not a replacement function for Premiere Pro Toggle Track Output or Premiere Elements 10 and earlier Change Track Volume.
See DISCUSSION for more comments on Audio Mixer and its Mute Button.
DISCUSSION
The Audio Mixer "Mute" button in the opened Audio Mixer is for Audio Mixer internal use only, muting the sound of one or more audio tracks when trying to adjust the volume settings of other audio tracks. According to Adobe document "Adobe Premiere Elements Help/Mixing and Adjusting Volume"
To mute a track while mixing, click Mute. This option does not mute the track permanently—only while mixing.
The Audio Mixer shines when it is automatically keyframing the volume of audio clips on the project's numbered audio tracks, Narration Track, and Soundtrack as the Timeline plays back and the user adjusts the volume slider in each of the project's audio tracks represented in the opened Audio Mixer.
This blog exploration was triggered by what appeared in a recent Adobe Premiere Elements thread "Re: Premiere Elements 13 mute track" in which a replier wrote
If you set the slider (say, all the down to zero) for a track when your video is not playing, the level of the track will be set overall.That was not found to be true, and our results in evaluating this statement were very interesting. Some examples
SETUP 1
If 3 music clips were side by side in the Soundtrack, the Timeline Indicator positioned on music clip 2, Timeline Soundtrack not playing, Audio Mixer opened, Audio mixer Soundtrack Volume slider set at infinity (no sound), and Timeline Soundtrack not playing,
It was only the volume of music clip 2 that was muted - not also music clip 1, music clip 3 or the whole Soundtrack in the Audio Mixer. When the Audio Mixer was closed, music clips 1 and 3 had sound in the Expert workspace Timeline Soundtrack, and music clip 2 was muted. And, any subsequent additions to this Timeline Soundtrack in the Expert workspace presented with sound. It did not matter whether or not the clips were selected at the onset. The clip muted appeared to depend on which of the clips the Timeline Indicator was placed.
SETUP 2
When the playback stopped and the Audio Mixer was closed, Expert workspace Timeline Soundtrack music clip 1 had no sound, music clips 2 and 3 had sound, and all subsequent music files added to the Timeline Soundtrack had sound.
Our suggested workaround for getting all 3 Soundtrack music clips muted in the same Audio Mixer session was
- Open Audio Mixer and drag Soundtrack Volume slider to no sound
- With the mouse cursor, hold down the volume slider at no sound throughout the whole Soundtrack playback
- When the Soundtrack playback is stopped and the Audio Mixer is closed, all 3 Soundtrack clips will be muted in the workspace. But any subsequent additions to the Soundtrack will present with sound.
COMMENTARY
The DISCUSSION details are presented not to demonstrate what the Audio Mixer can do (that for another time), but rather to point out what it cannot do with respect to "mute" of a whole audio track in the Expert and Quick workspaces of Premiere Elements 11, 12/12.1, and 13/13.1.
This work was done of Windows 7 Professional SP1 64 bit computer and confirmed on Windows 8.1 64 bit computer.
Work in Progress
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ATR
