Splitting audio without breaking things? Cleaning sound from

[n00b]

I have done some interviews using a Nikon D90 (only thing at hand; build in microphone and bad audio). Now I need to clean the sound and focus on human voice – and hope the Audio Filter in VS will do the job.
If I split audio to apply filters, can I then continue to edit my project just as before – or will I break things when adding new clips, photos, titles etc.?

[BrianCee]

Splitting the audio is easy - what's not so easy is keeping everything in sync as you continue editing.

The audio side of Videostudio is pretty basic and you will almost certainly find it will not do a complete job of cleaning up your audio - many people take the sound track right out of Videostudio and use a standalone audio editor - I am told that the FREE Audacity editor is very good, I do not use it as I have used Magix audio cleaning lab for many years - that is not free though.

As I said though the big problem is with re-syncing the sound especially to get lip sync correct - any editing you make to audio or video after the split will change their duration and you may find it beneficial in the audio editor to split the audio into smaller bits and sync each one individually - its time consuming - but can be done.

[n00b]

Splitting the audio is easy - what's not so easy is keeping everything in sync as you continue editing.

Yes, my concern exactly
Do I understand it correctly, that I have to split audio (yes, easy) in order to apply a build in audio filter? And what is the logic of that?
If I split audio and apply (build in) audio filters can I then simply enable ripple editing in the sound track to make audio and video stick to each other when I reorganize the order, apply new thing etc? Or Is there an easy way to merge audio and video back again after applying a audio filter?
My video is a "talking head" type of documentary - and the individual clips are 5 - 20 seconds each.

[BrianCee]

Yes you have to split the audio - you can only apply audio filters to the audio track - the logic of that you would have to discuss with the software developers at Corel - if you can get to one.

yes you could apply ripple editing after that as long as each video clip has it's own sound track so that when you cut a video you can cut the sound track in exactly the same place - needs two operations - select video use scissors then select audio use scissors. but if the sound clip and the video clip are not the same length then you will have sync problems.

why not just give it a go on a few clips - remember VideoStudio does not actually cut or damage your original clips - so if things do not work for you dump the project and try again with a slightly different procedure.

[pvreditor]

I have done quite of bit of editing where I have a separate audio track that's synchronized to the video, and ripple editing works well to keep everything synchronized as you continue editing. It helps to have a REALLY good understanding of how ripple editing works, since you can get dire-sounding alert boxes if you try to do things that ripple editing doesn't like. It's a complex topic that's not easily explained in a couple of sentences.

However, what Brian explains is the way it works, from my experience. The good news is that it is easy to keep things synchronized if you use ripple editing and make cuts-only edits. If you do transitions, you will almost certainly need to re-synchronize portions of your project. This isn't the end of the world... I find it usually takes only a minute or two to synchronize audio to video.

When people ask me about shooting and editing video, I tell them that getting good video is easy -- getting good audio is hard.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[pvreditor]

Do I understand it correctly, that I have to split audio (yes, easy) in order to apply a build in audio filter? And what is the logic of that?
If I split audio and apply (build in) audio filters can I then simply enable ripple editing in the sound track to make audio and video stick to each other when I reorganize the order, apply new thing etc? Or Is there an easy way to merge audio and video back again after applying a audio filter?
My video is a "talking head" type of documentary - and the individual clips are 5 - 20 seconds each.

Yes, as far as I know, there is no command within VideoStudio to "re-join" video and audio that have been split. However, you can render that clip, which will obviously combine the two again. That can get time consuming, but it might take less time in the long run than having to re-synchronize dozens of clips.

I recommend using a lavalier (clip-on) microphone, which will probably plug into a jack on your D90 camera.. I have a couple of Audio-Technica AT3350 mics, which I got from Amazon for less than US$25 each. They work very well and I've used them on many projects. That won't help you on this project, of course.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[n00b]

Yes, as far as I know, there is no command within VideoStudio to "re-join" video and audio that have been split. However, you can render that clip, which will obviously combine the two again. That can get time consuming, but it might take less time in the long run than having to re-synchronize dozens of clips.

Thanks, haven't thought about that. Simple. Might be relevant if I end up in some sync nightmare before deadline. Right now I keep audio and video combined, focusing on story line, slicing clips, titles etc., and only touch the sound volume.

I recommend using a lavalier (clip-on) microphone, which will probably plug into a jack on your D90 camera.. I have a couple of Audio-Technica AT3350 mics, which I got from Amazon for less than US$25 each. They work very well and I've used them on many projects. That won't help you on this project, of course.

I would love to have an external mic, but D90 don't have audio in (camera at work bought for taking photos of new employees, so I can't even blame anybody ). Really miss it. To the point I am considering buying a camcorder before the next few interviews if I can find something at a reasonable prize. Separate sound recorder could also be a solution, but then again: I might get a sync issue.

[pvreditor]

I would love to have an external mic, but D90 don't have audio in (camera at work bought for taking photos of new employees, so I can't even blame anybody ). Really miss it. To the point I am considering buying a camcorder before the next few interviews if I can find something at a reasonable prize. Separate sound recorder could also be a solution, but then again: I might get a sync issue.

I use a separate audio recorder all the time, and syncing is easy. The recorder I use lately is a Tascam DR-05, and I really like it. It was about US$75 on Amazon, and it has a 3.5mm mic jack that works perfectly with the Audio-Technica lav mic I mentioned. I got a very well-paying job last week to record public service announcements at a conference of state legislators, and I used the DR-05 to record everything -- worked beautifully. Here's a video of me using this Tascam recorder for audio, which I then sync'd to the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAY52OUraMI

That's me at the beginning, looking into the camera, recording onto the Tascam recorder. That way, I could be a good distance from the camera, have the camera zoomed in to get some telephoto effect, and still have clear audio. (The rest of the video is me talking into the camera mic.) It takes about 30 seconds to sync something like that up, once you get experience with the process.

Most times, I keep the camera as close as possible to the talent -- right in their face, if I can. That's the best way to ensure good audio from the camera mic.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[n00b]

Great audio. Thanks.
Turns out we are going to do more video at work and need a "real" camcorder.
Just our of curiosity: How "automagic" is syncing in VS? On the D90 the max length of recording is 5 min, which means a lot of chunks to sync.

[pvreditor]

Great audio. Thanks.
Turns out we are going to do more video at work and need a "real" camcorder.
Just our of curiosity: How "automagic" is syncing in VS? On the D90 the max length of recording is 5 min, which means a lot of chunks to sync.

There's nothing automatic about syncing two tracks in VS. You can get a taste of the process by looking at a tutorial I prepared on multi-camera editing. It's at:

http://phpbb.ulead.com.tw/EN/viewtopic. ... f759f8b0e1

Basically, you turn on the audio waveforms and use them to guide you for lining up the tracks. Then listen to the tracks for reverberation, adjusting the overlay or audio track to minimize reverberation. Once you have the audio aligned as best it can be done, mute the audio on the main video track. It's not hard, but it does take a little time. The good news is that once you synchronize tracks, they stay synchronized. If time is valuable, you might want to think about getting an inexpensive HD camcorder for $300 or so -- it's video won't be as nice as a well-adjusted shot with the D90, but you can record much longer tracks and not worry about synchronizing.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[n00b]

There's nothing automatic about syncing two tracks in VS. You can get a taste of the process by looking at a tutorial I prepared on multi-camera editing.

Great tutorial, thanks. You should do more.

The good news is that once you synchronize tracks, they stay synchronized.

But what happens if (when) I multi-trim the video(s), change the order, and add transitions, add graphics etc - which is the case with my interviews?

If time is valuable, you might want to think about getting an inexpensive HD camcorder for $300 or so -- it's video won't be as nice as a well-adjusted shot with the D90, but you can record much longer tracks and not worry about synchronizing.

Good point about about time and value (regular job is full+ time; learning while delivering video is extra...). Got myself a camcorder today, a nice one actually. Just imported first test shots in VS5 and excited to see how they turn out on YouTube.

[pvreditor]

But what happens if (when) I multi-trim the video(s), change the order, and add transitions, add graphics etc - which is the case with my interviews?

I'm not saying it's easy, but you should use ripple editing and understand how it works. It will lock in all the relationships between video tracks, audio tracks, overlays, titles, etc., even when you trim things and add transitions. Again, ripple editing can be tricky and often puzzling, until you figure out what exactly you're trying to do and what it's trying to tell you.

Depending on what exactly you need to do, you may need to assemble a clip, render it, then use the rendered version to build the final video. That way, you can slice the clip in half, turn it upside-down and shake it with bread crumbs, and it will maintain sync.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com

[n00b]

Depending on what exactly you need to do, you may need to assemble a clip, render it, then use the rendered version to build the final video. That way, you can slice the clip in half, turn it upside-down and shake it with bread crumbs, and it will maintain sync.

Good point. Well put. Again!
You really need to do more tutorials.

[pvreditor]

You really need to do more tutorials.

Yeah... I have one in the works, on doing crossfades and other effects between the primary video track and the overlay tracks. I have this tutorial partially shot, and hope to finish it in the next couple of days.

Bob Kovacs
http://www.bobkovacs.com