Auto-Editor: No Audio After Cuts? Let's Fix It!

Sep 20, 2025 by Square 48 views

Hey guys! Ever run into that frustrating situation where Auto-Editor seems to do its job, making all the cuts you want, but the final result is just… silent? Yeah, it's a pain. Based on the info provided, it looks like you've done a lot of the right things, like bypassing the UI and even rolling back Auto-Editor to avoid the XML problem. But still, no audio. Don't worry, we'll dive deep into troubleshooting this issue. Let's go through what's happening, figure out why Auto-Editor is giving you the silent treatment, and get your audio back!

Understanding the Problem: The Silent Treatment

So, here’s the gist: Auto-Editor is correctly identifying silence and making cuts, which is awesome! It's separating silent parts from high-volume sections. You've even confirmed that the cuts line up with the detected silence using the original video, which is a great troubleshooting step. The problem is that the final output has a single audio track, but it's completely silent. This is a classic symptom, and a few key culprits could be causing this problem. Understanding these potential problems is the first step toward a solution. It's also important to consider the video file format, encoding, and the settings used in Auto-Editor, all of which can affect the audio output. The goal here is to find a way to make sure the audio from your original tracks makes its way through the editing process.

Let's look into the details that may be causing the audio to disappear in your final cut. You're using NVidia Shadowplay to record gameplay footage in 2K resolution, 60 FPS with AV1 encoding and separated audio tracks. This is a common setup, but there might be some nuances that Auto-Editor isn't handling perfectly. We'll dig in and see what's up.

Diving into the Settings and Setup

Your settings look pretty standard at first glance. You're using USE_AUDIO_TRACK to specify which track to use for silence detection, which is good, and the rest of your settings are for things like trimming margins and the silence gate. There is a simple setting that could cause the problem in the output. Although it's unlikely, it's worth checking out. Let's go through the settings and how they might be affecting your audio output:

{
 "L_TRIM_MARGIN": 0.2,
 "R_TRIM_MARGIN": 0.2,
 "USE_AUDIO_TRACK": [
 1
 ],
 "GATE_DB": -30.0,
 "HIGHLIGHT_COLOR": "Orange",
 "HIGHLIGHT_COLOR_INDEX": 0,
 "DELETE_SILENCE": false,
 "SKIP_GUI": true
}

USE_AUDIO_TRACK: [1]: This tells Auto-Editor to use the second audio track (index 1, as the first track is index 0) for detecting silence. Since the microphone audio is on this track, this looks correct. The first track, index 0, is the system audio. The third track, index 2, is the video.
GATE_DB: -30.0: This sets the decibel level threshold for silence detection. As you said the cuts are correct, this is not the problem.
DELETE_SILENCE: false: This setting should keep the silence. This setting, if true, is the prime suspect if the original audio is gone. Your setting ensures that Auto-Editor only cuts, not deletes, the silence. This is a great setting to have for gameplay and tutorial footage since silence can be used as an emotional instrument.
SKIP_GUI: true: You’ve skipped the GUI. This eliminates potential UI-related issues but doesn’t directly affect audio output. This is also not the problem.

Given these settings, the problem isn't immediately obvious from the configuration. However, let's consider other aspects of your setup that could be involved. The video format, encoding, and how Auto-Editor handles them are significant. Let's see what the recording details say.

Investigating the Recording Details

Now let's consider the actual video recording setup. You are recording with NVidia Shadowplay at 2K, 60 FPS, 85 Mbps with AV1 encoding, and saving in MP4 format. The use of separated audio tracks for system audio and microphone audio is crucial for your workflow. Here are some things to consider:

AV1 Encoding: AV1 is a modern video codec that offers excellent compression. While it's generally well-supported, it's possible that Auto-Editor or the underlying libraries it uses might have issues with the audio streams encoded in AV1, especially when combined with separate audio tracks. This could lead to the loss of audio during the processing.
MP4 Container: MP4 is a commonly used container format. Make sure the specific MP4 implementation used by Shadowplay is compatible with Auto-Editor's processing. Compatibility issues can sometimes cause problems with audio handling. You will need to confirm if Auto-Editor is compatible with this MP4 implementation.
Separated Audio Tracks: Your use of separate audio tracks is great for editing, but this may cause a problem. Auto-Editor needs to correctly identify and handle each track during the cut. Issues with recognizing or merging these tracks could result in a silent output.
File Corruption: Although less likely, it is worth considering whether the original video file itself might be corrupt. It would be a very uncommon case, but if there are problems in the original file, this will be very noticeable.

Troubleshooting Steps and Potential Solutions

Alright, guys, let's get our hands dirty and go through some troubleshooting steps to try and resolve this silent audio issue. Since you've already done some good initial checks, we'll focus on some of the most likely culprits and ways to address them:

1. Check Audio Track Handling

Verify Audio Track Selection: Double-check that USE_AUDIO_TRACK is correctly configured to point to the microphone audio track (index 1). Sometimes a simple typo can mess things up. It's correctly set up. This is for your information. If you have the system audio in track 0, the microphone in track 1 and video in track 2, then the value must be 1.
Inspect Output in Resolve: Open the edited project in DaVinci Resolve (or whatever software you're using) and verify the audio tracks are present and not muted or soloed. Sometimes the issue might be in the importing process.

2. Test with Different Settings

Experiment with DELETE_SILENCE: Try setting DELETE_SILENCE to true. This will delete the silence. If it works and you get the desired result, then it may not be the problem, but at least the audio is there. Then, we know the audio is being recognized. This helps isolate whether the silence detection is the problem, or the audio merging.
Adjust the GATE_DB: Slightly adjust the GATE_DB value. If you're still not getting the cuts you want, it might mean Auto-Editor isn't correctly identifying the silence. This isn't the case.

3. Examine File Compatibility

Convert to a Different Format: As a test, try converting your original MP4 file to another format (like MOV or a different MP4 variant) before processing it with Auto-Editor. This can help determine if the encoding or container is the problem.
Test with Different Codecs: If possible, experiment with different video codecs within Shadowplay. Although AV1 is good, it could be a problem. Try using other encoders such as H.264 (AVC). If that works, we know AV1 is the problem.

4. Update or Downgrade (Again)

Update Auto-Editor: Although you've downgraded, it's worth checking if there's a newer version available. There might be a fix for your specific issue. Try the most recent version. Also, make sure you have all the dependencies installed correctly.
Check Dependency Versions: Auto-Editor relies on several underlying libraries (like FFmpeg). Ensure that these dependencies are up-to-date and compatible with the Auto-Editor version you're using.

5. Review Auto-Editor's Output and Logs

Detailed Logging: Enable more detailed logging in Auto-Editor to see what it's doing with the audio tracks. This might provide clues about where the process is failing.
Examine the FCPXML File: Open the generated FCPXML file (if you can read XML) to see how the audio tracks are represented. This could reveal if the tracks are being handled correctly during the XML generation process.