I am a new member here on the Forum and am also new to video NLE. I am looking forward to learning all about this new capability.

I recently returned from a trip to Sicily, where I shot a lot of video. I would now like to edit this down to a manageable size. That’s the relatively easy part. I would also like to add music and commentary to the audio track; as near as I can tell, that is also possible.

But let me now say that an amateur travel video will have great portions of audio which are completely useless, such as standing on a high windy spot with nothing but a deafening wind roar on the audio track--or those scenes where there are chattering people around you while shooting. I would say that perhaps only 10% of all my scenes have audio I want to keep. Obviously, this unwanted audio has to be subdued or eliminated.

Now the problem: I own Cyberlink PowerDirector Pro 2. I was horrified to read in the chapter on Audio Mode: “Note: You are not allowed to trim the audio portion of the original video files.” For heaven’s sake, that’s exactly what I need to do, if I want to get anything worth presenting. It sure sounds to me like I am at a dead end with this software.

My question: Is it even possible edit the original DV audio track at all? I would be satisfied with the ability to mute and un-mute at selected points in the final edit, although altering the volume between these two extremes would be more desireable. I would still want to add music and commentary in the final version, of course.

Assuming that I have wasted my money on this software, and am willing to try again, is there something else out there which will do what I want? Or does the technology simply not permit it? In the analog world, I know it can be done with a simple mixer. Surely there is a way in the digital realm.

Thank you for any light you can shed on this matter.