Trimming presenter audio
Adjust where each block's audio starts and ends.
A recording rarely starts and stops exactly where a block does. Trimming sets which slice of a recording plays for each block it covers.
The controls appear under the block itself, inside the Writers Room, once the upload has finished processing.
What appears under a matched block
Two things sit below the block's text.
The first is a transcript card. Words highlight as the recording plays, so you can see where you are in the read.
The second is a timeline bar with play and pause, and a trim handle at each end drawn as an angle bracket.
Setting where a block's audio runs
- Choose play to hear the slice as it stands
- Drag the left handle to move the start
- Drag the right handle to move the end
- Play it back to check the read
A slice cannot be shorter than half a second, so the handles stop before they meet.
Trim generously at first. Clipping a breath from the front of a read is quicker than hunting a lost syllable later.
Your trims outrank the automatic match
Moving a handle marks the block's trim as yours. From then on the automatic match will not replace what you set.
Trims survive leaving the page, so you can come back to a block and adjust it again.
One recording across several blocks
A single read can cover a run of consecutive blocks, and each of them gets its own pair of handles.
Trim them in order, from the top of the run down, and let each block end where the next one begins.
Overlaps and gaps are yours to judge. Prism does not stop you leaving either.
While a recording is still processing
A block linked to an upload that has not finished shows a compact progress strip instead.
No trim controls appear until processing completes, because the transcript that drives them is not there yet.
If the transcript card reads Transcript not ready yet, the word timings are still arriving. Wait, then reopen the block.
Trimming by word after you commit
The Editing Suite offers a second, finer pass on the same audio.
Select a narration block, open its properties, and choose Transcript.
Click any word to play from that point. Select a range of words to set the in and out points for the clip.
This is the tool to reach for when a read needs tightening by a word rather than by a fraction of a second.
FAQ
Can I undo a trim?
Drag the handles back out to the edges of the recording. Clearing the block's link resets it entirely.
Why won't a handle drag any further?
You have hit either the end of the recording or the half-second minimum for a slice.
Do trims affect the block's length in the edit?
Yes. A narration block takes its timing from its audio, so the slice you set is the time that block occupies.