How Long Does it Take to Learn Adobe Audition?

Like many aspiring Video Editors and Sound Engineers, you might want to learn Adobe Audition but worry that it will take too much time. New users can pick up the basics of Audition in only a few days of dedicated instruction. Students looking to learn the more advanced tools offered by Audition will need more advanced training, including specialized training for students looking to integrate Premiere Pro and After Effects editing skills into their repertoire. Of course, this depends on several factors. Keep reading to learn how you can learn Adobe Audition and some resources to help speed the process along.

What is Adobe Audition?

Adobe Audition is a sound-mixing and editing tool that is available as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. The program can be used to alter and edit the sound of a purely aural medium, such as a music track or a podcast, or alongside programs like Adobe Premiere Pro and After Effects to edit the sound of a video or animation file. The tools offered by Audition will let users repair audio files, enhance sound quality, and edit out background noise. This makes Audition an ideal tool to learn for anyone who wants to work in either sound editing or video editing.

Audition is a stand-alone program that sound engineers can use to edit recordings. Still, it is most commonly used alongside programs like Premiere Pro or After Effects to combine audio and video files. Audition lets users add voice-over, redub dialogue, insert background music, or draw out specific elements of diegetic sound. As sound is one of the essential elements of film, learning how to manipulate and edit sound is an important skill for creatives to learn.

Read more about what Adobe Audition is and why you should learn it. 

What Can You Do with Adobe Audition?

Adobe Audition provides users with many tools for editing and remixing sound files. This means that the program is incredibly versatile. Aspiring musicians can use the program to clean up demo tracks or prepare a song to be published on a platform like SoundCloud. Podcasters can record, edit, and clean up an episode's audio using a single program. Voice Actors can record their work for job material or do important sound-mixing for freelance VO work. Anyone working in the medium of sound will want to learn how to mix and edit their creative work.

Beyond its use as a sound-mixing tool, learning how to use Adobe Audition is incredibly helpful for aspiring video editors. Learning to use Audition to add voice-over, manipulate audio levels, edit sound effects, or alter diegetic and non-diegetic sound can greatly enhance any video project, large or small. This training will let creatives working in the medium of film add another layer to how they can express themselves and their ideas, as sound is such an essential part of filmmaking.

Average Time it Takes to Learn Adobe Audition

Students can pick up the basic skills involved in using Adobe Audition in only a few days of dedicated instruction. Students will be able to begin experimenting immediately, and it won’t take long before they can proficiently begin editing sound files. More advanced techniques will take longer to learn, and it can take students months or years of dedicated training to fully master Audition.

Other Factors

A few factors will impact the time it takes to learn Audition. This includes a student's familiarity with design tools and their experience working on complicated artistic projects.

Design Tool Experience

Students with a knowledge of other design tools, particularly those released by Adobe, will have an easier time learning how to navigate Audition. Students with experience with other editing tools, in particular, will be able to learn how to use Audition significantly more quickly.

Artistic Experience

Since Audition is a creative design tool, students with experience working on artistic projects will be more familiar with the basic principles behind building creative projects. This will let them bypass many of the early troubleshooting involved in learning to use a creative design tool.

Level of Difficulty, Prerequisites, & Cost 

Adobe Audition is an accessible, intuitive sound-mixing application that is relatively beginner-friendly. New users can begin experimenting with Audition relatively easily, and because it is coupled with sound recording software, it is easy to produce files to edit. That said, even accessible sound-mixing programs are still somewhat complex tools that will require significant training to master. New users can easily alter and splice together sound files, but learning exactly how to perfect a sound mix will take more time and effort.

There are no formal prerequisites to learning how to use Audition. New users should be familiar with how to use a computer, and prior knowledge of computer-aided editing tools is a plus but not a requirement. Students should also consider researching the kind of sound-mixing that they hope to learn how to do to gauge what other programs (if any) they will want to acquire.

Adobe Audition is a part of the Adobe Creative Cloud suite of software and, therefore, requires a Creative Cloud subscription to access. Users can either license Audition as a stand-alone product or license the entire suite of Creative Cloud applications together. Licensing Audition alone will cost users about $20 to $30 a month (depending on the subscription model and payment plan), and the complete collection of programs (which includes Premiere Pro and After Effects, making it desirable for aspiring video editors) will cost about $55 a month.

Read about how difficult it is to learn Adobe Audition.

Watch a Free Adobe Audition Online Course

Some students might be interested in learning how to use Audition but aren’t ready to enroll in an entire course. For these students, free introductory courses may be a helpful alternative. These classes allow students to get a feel for the functions and tools available through Audition without committing them to an advanced training course. However, these courses are also good preparation for enrolling in a professional training seminar, meaning that students who enroll in an advanced Audition course won’t find their time wasted.

Students looking for free online training in Audition can take advantage of the free videos offered through Noble Desktop. These videos replicate the look and feel of an online training seminar, making them ideal for students considering enrolling in more immersive courses. Noble’s Intro to Video Editing course will introduce students to the critical features of Audition and help guide them through learning how to integrate sound and video editing skills. This course is perfect for students who want to learn the complex art of video editing and are preparing to work on advanced sound mixing projects.

Free tutorials are also available through service providers such as Udemy and Pluralsight. These courses will introduce students to basic Audition concepts such as adding voice-over to a file or manipulating sound effects. Adobe also offers free tutorials and guides for students looking to experiment with Audition. Since these resources are free, students can take advantage of them without worrying about committing to a single program.

Read about more free Adobe Audition videos and online tutorials.

Learn Adobe Audition with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Students looking to learn Adobe Audition need look no further than the in-person and live online Audition courses available through Noble Desktop. Noble’s expert instructors teach these courses, so even online, students will be able to interact directly with experts in their field to receive Audition training. Regardless of how students enroll in Noble’s classes, they will benefit from small class sizes, so they won’t have to fight with other students for their instructors’ attention. Plus, all Noble classes have a free retake option to allow students to get additional training in Audition skills.

For students who are looking to build a career in the world of sound editing, Noble’s Video Editing Certificate program and its Video Editing and Motion Graphics Certificate program will provide students with an in-depth understanding of how to mix sound into video and animation files. This career-focused training course will give students the tools they need to become professional Sound Engineers and Video Editors, whether working on their own creative projects or as part of a team. In addition to training in Audition, students will learn how to use Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Cinema 4D to create evocative film and animation projects. Plus, students will receive one-on-one career mentorship and an industry-recognized certificate of completion. As part of their final project, they will build a demo reel of sample videos to take with them onto the job market.

Students who just want to learn the ins and outs of Adobe Audition should consider Noble’s Audition Bootcamp. This short course will teach students how to utilize Audition's basic sound editing tools, such as noise removal and tools to add voiceover and sound effects. This is an ideal course for creatives who hope to work in strictly audio mediums, aspiring Sound Engineers looking to slowly build their resumes, and students with film editing backgrounds who want to learn more advanced sound-editing techniques. This course also confers an industry-recognized certificate of completion, meaning it is an ideal way for students to become Audition certified.

Key Insights

• Audition is Adobe’s sound mixing and audio editing application. It is a relatively accessible program for new users.
• Students can learn the basics of Audition with only a few days of dedicated training, while more advanced skills will take students longer to learn.
• Students with prior experience working with design software or working on artistic projects will be able to learn Audition more quickly.
• Another way to speed up your Audition learning is through live instruction. Noble offers comprehensive live Audition training both in person and online.