You can do most of the same things to an audio clip that you can do to a video clip:
Copy/Paste
Arrange
Trim
Split
Delete
Add effects
You can have multiple audio tracks (background music, voice over, system audio, sound effects, etc.)
You can separate audio from a video/audio track by right-clicking on the track and selecting Separate Video and Audio from the menu.
TIP: Use a USB microphone (e.g., The Blue Yet, Plantronics Advanced DSP USB Headset) instead of the built-in mic unless you absolutely have to because you are on a shoestring budget because you will pick up noise (e.g., fan, keyboard tapping, computer fan, etc. mouse movement, etc.) from your computer.
PC (Yeti):
Set the Pattern knob on the Yeti microphone to Cardioid
Plug Yeti mic into computer USB connector
Go to the Control Panel
Select Hardware and Sound
Select Manage Audio Devices
Select Playback and Recording tab and set to Yeti Stereo Microphone as default for both.
Mac (Yeti):
Set the Pattern knob on the Yeti microphone to Cardioid
Plug Yeti mic into computer USB connector
From the Apple menu, select System Preferences
Select the Sound icon
Select the Input tab and then select Yeti Stereo Microphone
As a starting point, set the Input Volume to 80%. If you want to record a loud sound (e.g., drums), turn it down. If you want to record a quieter sound (e.g., an interview), turn it up.
Select the output tab and set it to Yeti Stereo Microphone.
Set the Output to 100%. You can control the headphone volume with the front knob on the Yeti mic.
Always calibrate your microphone from your computer and from the Camtasia Recorder after the first time or in a new location.
Connect the mic to your laptop directly (Avoid using a USB hub as it may cause recording issues).
VERIFY 4 BULLETS BELOW
On Mac, select Apple > System Preferences… and then click on the Sound tab. In the Input tab, select the mic (Blue USB Audio 2.0) that you intend to use and begin talking to see if the sound level animates. Close the System Preferences dialog box.
On the PC, select the Control Panel and then click on the Sound link…
On Mac, open Camtasia Recorder and turn off the screen slide and turn on the mic option.
On the Mac, while talking normally, adjust the gain level slider between -6 and -12
Select your mic from the drop-down menu (e.g., Blue USB Audio 2.0)
Press the Start Recorder button and then after the countdown, talk in your normal voice for 3-6 secs to create an audio test.
Press F10 or CMD + SHIFT + 2 to stop the recorder and return to Camtasia.
On the Mac, give the audio a name and then click the Complete button.
Drag the sound media to the timeline and check the level:
If the level is consistently low, then the sound will be too quiet.
If the level is consistently high, then the sound will be too high and will be clipped.
If the level is consistently mid-way in the track, then the sound will be just right.
If you zoom in on the timeline, you can see “pauses” in the audio waveform better.
While more expensive, desktop microphones (e.g., Blue Yeta) have better quality and control that headphone microphones but requires that you use a separate headphone. The drawback is that it always has to stay fix and you will have to be conscience to talk directly and within a fix span (e.g., typically a hand span—6-10 inches) into the microphone the entire time you are narrating. The advantage of the headset is that since the microphone is attached to the headset, you get consistent microphone distance and you don’t have to worry about distance and placement.
Unlike the headphone microphone, a desktop microphone will have a gain control that you can adjust.
It is important to always double-check your record settings to ensure that you are using the correct microphone (typically an external mic). You don’t want to find out after-the-fact that you used the wrong mic (e.g., laptop mic).
If you have some background noise (e.g., laptop fan), it is best to “give” Camtasia a few second of this noise by itself at the start of the audio so that it can distinguish what is background noise from what is narration.
Always captures the system audio. You can always delete it later but it is hard to add after-the-fact. Camtasia will automatically record system audio by default. This is great is you are demoing a YouTube video or if you want the end user to hear the system notification sounds.
Always check recording level to ensure sound will not be clipped. It helpful that the sound level in in the yellow-orange area and not in the red area where sound will be clipped. If you don’t’ see the sound level moving, change it at the source (e.g., mixer).
You can record your webcam at the SAME TIME as your video; however, you must save it as a different file format (e.g., trec)
You can split the audio from a clip that is on a single tract.
Avoid using background music to training videos. It may compete with the narrator. It is OK however to have an intro or outro music if you like.
Audio level in the timeline after a project has been saved should be between half and third-fourth of the timeline audio height.