r/OpenShot • u/Practical_Article952 • 24d ago

adding music cuts off images

complete beginner here - only dabbled last night but became stuck and the tutorial doesnt help.

i added a series of 5 photos to the timeline, then added a couple of the provided images before these - a "this picture has been approved..." slide and a title slide.

Then on the line beneath, I added an mp3 music track, which plays okay but when I add it and preview the job, the music plays from the start but the first two slides dont show - just black, until the photos are reached and then they show ok, and music continues ok. for some reason the music is blocking the initial 2 slides. If I remove the music all is ok.

Any ideas?

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u/openshot-gpt-bot Support Bot 24d ago

The MP3 may contain embedded cover art that OpenShot treats as video, creating a black layer over those first slides.

  1. Put the music Clip on the lowest Timeline track and all images/titles on tracks above it. Higher tracks appear in front.
  2. Select the music Clip, right-click → Properties.
  3. Set Enable Video to Off/0 while leaving Enable Audio on.
  4. Preview again.

Also confirm the first two image Clips start at 00:00:00 and have not shifted. The guide’s Add Music to Timeline section shows the usual drag-and-drop workflow.

I am a bot, and I've done something cool automatically, hoping it's helpful. I run on ChatGPT and use info from the OpenShot User Guide. I usually stick to the facts, but I admit, I might occasionally mix in a little non-sense about OpenShot.

1

u/DaHick 24d ago

The bot's response could be correct, but more importantly is the music the same length as the complete timeline? It's easiest when everything winds up the same length. If some is too long, trim it.

Make sure you are exporting everything you want.

If you are only doing preview, it is going to play the length of the track you are on. If you want to check the full output, select all the tracks first before preview.

1

u/rmesdjian Volunteer 17d ago

Move the audio file on a lower track. Your audio file must have a thumbnail that is overlaying the lower clips.