You Can Now Reduce Background Noise in Videos on Pixel 8

Smartphones and their excellent video cameras make it second nature to hit the record button every time we want to share a moment with others. But it’s frustrating when you play back your recording and hear nothing but the sounds of traffic instead of a street performer, or find that a windy day completely obscures your monologue to the camera.

That’s exactly the problem Google is trying to solve with “Audio Magic Eraser,” a new product exclusive to the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro that takes the best of Magic Eraser and applies it to the audio in your videos.

Audio Magic Eraser uses artificial intelligence to sort the different sounds in a video into separate layers, which you can then reduce to your liking. You can quickly reduce the wind noise that’s drowning out your excellent scores, or reduce the intensity of traffic to better focus on the street performer you originally filmed.

How to use Audio Magic Eraser

To get started, open Google Photos on your Pixel 8 or Pixel 8 Pro, then find the video you want to edit. Click the Edit button, select the new Audio option, then click Audio Eraser. Once the pop-up screen appears, Google Photos will process your video and separate the different sounds into specific filters.

For example, you can shoot a video with clear sounds of traffic, people talking, and music playing. When Audio Eraser boots up, it can combine these sounds into filters such as Noise, Speech, and Music. You can click on any filter to control the volume level of all sounds in that filter. For example, Noise can reduce traffic noise, while Music can minimize background song playback. Each filter also shows you where on the video timeline the selected sounds are actually playing, so you can quickly find audio sources and listen to them by adjusting the filters.

You don’t have to adjust any of these settings yourself either: tap Auto and Google Photos will try to balance the different filters for the best overall audio quality. If you’re not completely happy with the automatic editing options, you can click on each filter to customize.

When you’re satisfied with the results, click “Save Copy” to export your new video. The old video still exists, so you can always go back to it if you don’t like the Eraser version.