Is there a way to remove background noise from a video

Background noise is annoying

While it’s always best to capture clean audio in your video recordings, it’s not always possible. In noisy environments, you can end up with unwanted background noise that you’ll need to remove from your video.

Good news! There is a free way to make the audio in your video sound much better using Camtasia.

Camtasia is video editing software and comes with a free trial. It has an automatic noise removal feature built-in and it’s super simple to use.

Removing Background Noise Step-by-step

Step 1

Open Camtasia, click “File” and “Open” and locate the file you want to fix

Step 2

Select the track that has the background noise

Step 3

Click “Audio Effects” from the left menu

Step 4

Click on the “Noise Removal” box and drag & drop it onto the timeline. That's it!

Why you should remove background noise from your video files

Better experience for you & your audience

By reducing the background noise from your audio files, you'll be better able to hear the dialogue that you care about rather than white noise or a loud air conditioning unit in the background. White noise or a humming sound can be really distracting especially if your audience is listening to your audio file with headphones.

More accurate transcription

Sonix does have some light background noise reduction algorithms that we apply to your audio file before we transcribe it. However, if you directly apply the “Noise Removal” audio effect in Camtasia, you'll most likely get a more accurate transcript from our automated transcription platform. With dialogue separated from background noise, automated algorithms are better able to parse what was said. Please double check and re-listen to the audio file after applying the “Noise Removal” audio effect to ensure that all dialogue that you care about is crisp and clear.

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Tutorial of audio noise removal in Camtasia

Fine-tune how Camtasia removes background noise

After applying the “Noise Removal” audio effect to the specific audio track in your timeline, you can fine-tune how the filter will work. There are times when it isn't strong enough or it is too strong that removes spoken words that you care about.

Sensitivity slider

By changing the sensitivity slider, you can control what the “Noise Removal” audio effect considers as noise. Slide it to the left to identify fewer sounds as noise; to the right to identify more sounds as noise.

Amount slider

The amount slider changes how aggressively the “Noise Removal” audio effect reduces the noise. Slide it to the left to lighten the reduction; and to the right to increase the amount of noise suppression.

Positioning the “Noise Removal” audio effect

For more granular control, you can stack “Noise Removal” audio effects. Simply reposition each “Noise Removal” audio effect block in your timeline to properly identify problematic sections of your audio file that might need more noise reduction. Think of it like a spot cleaner for your carpet—some areas need more cleaning than others in your audio file.

It's that simple

Camtasia is a fast and free way to simply reduce background noise. It's a screen recording software, but you can use it for one-off projects for audio noise reduction.

The quick and easy way to reduce the noise in your video files is to apply “Noise Removal” audio effect to your entire video file. However, by adjusting the location by clicking the three lines on either side of the “Noise Removal” bar and then dragging it to your desired location, you can be more specific on which sections of the audio file receive the noise reduction.

Other options

If you have a bit more budget and time, there are many other great video editing software programs that are much more powerful and have even more noise reduction filters and effects  Adobe Premiere and Final Cut Pro.

Fast, accurate automated transcription

Sonix automatically transcribes and translates your audio and video files in over 38 languages. Easily search, edit, and share your media files. Sonix is the best automated transcription software in 2022. Fast, accurate, and affordable. Millions of users from all over the world.

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