HELP! Joining video and audio files???

Shaunym · #1 11-08-2007, 04:51 PM

Hey everyone,

I have a nice collection of old school video clips, however the audio in them is really bad. I was wondering how and what software is needed to combine audio (eg: Mp3) and video (eg: WMV) into one video file. Of course I would prefer the software to be free. I have looked everywhere but can't find anything.

Just want to combine the good quality Mp3 with the good quality video but get rid of the poor quality sound in the viseo. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Shaunym

PS: It's for the girls 21st bday party in a few weeks, just plan on having the video clips playing instead of just music. If you could help me I would get a heap of brownie points

fritzi93 · #2 11-08-2007, 05:41 PM

Sure, what you want to do can be done with free software. You need to clarify a couple points:

1) What is the audio, voice or background music?
2) Is the MP3 audio identical to the bad audio, particularly in total runtime?

This bears on how difficult it will be. If identical, an audio editor will not be necessary, and syncing audio to video will be fairly easy.

Does it matter particularly what the end format is? Do you want something playable on a set-top DVD player?

Shaunym · #3 11-08-2007, 05:49 PM

thanks for your quick reply.

I am not sure about whether they are "in time" or not but i can make video in time with teh audio using Windows Movie Maker. So that shouldnt be a problem. The timing doesnt have to be perfect as teh video quality isn't that great either (they are mainly 60's music videos).

As far as the output is concerned I would like them to be playable on Windows Media Player. I don't really know the difference between all the video types (ie: WMV, MPG, AVI etc) and what is best. I will use the videos on a prejector connected to a computer but would also be good if i could make DVDs and use them on my TV. But computer use is the most important.

fritzi93 · #4 11-08-2007, 06:26 PM

It would be simplest then to just replace the audio in the WMV file, if I understand correctly. This tool can do that:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/WMVMuxer

Not sure if it accepts MP3, you may have to decompress the audio first.

I confess it's been ages since I even looked at Windows Movie Maker or Windows Media Encoder.

Nor do I work with WMVs very often. I can walk you through other methods but it wouldn't be as simple, so try the above.

Once you have a file with good video and good audio, you can convert to DVD with DivXtoDVD. Look partway down this page for the old freeware version:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/ConvertXtoDVD

I'm fairly certain it will accept WMVs.

Let us know how you're getting on, and don't hesitate to ask more questions. Good luck.

Shaunym · #5 11-08-2007, 07:02 PM

thanks Fritzi, will let you know how it goes. I appreciate your help

Shaunym · #6 11-08-2007, 07:11 PM

Would you know what to put in the format/profile section for audio and video? I am not familiar with the options that it gives you?

Shaunym · #7 11-08-2007, 07:24 PM

I had a quick go of it and it looks like the video and Mp3 is out of time. is there anything I can do to fix that up. What i mean is that although they start at the same time as the song goes on the become out of sync. Is there a way i can play the video and somehow edit the Mp3 so it is in time? How do you suggest i can fix this?

fritzi93 · #8 11-08-2007, 08:12 PM

I was afraid that would happen. Normally, I would use the "time warp" function in GoldWave (an audio editor) to change the runtime of the audio so as to match up with the video. That is, speed up or slow down the audio while maintaining the same pitch. But GoldWave is payware. Let me see if I can find something that will work for you.

On the off chance it's something easy, you aren't by chance in Europe? Maybe a simple PAL <-> NTSC conversion would do it. In other words, change the video frame rate. Is the music longer than the video?

Shaunym · #9 11-08-2007, 08:17 PM

I am in Australia unfortunately. Video is longer than the audio. I think it may be because the videos are live performances (rather than video clips) and sometimes they change the song a bit when they perform live. Is there a way to match the audio to the video or is it getting to difficult and tedious?

fritzi93 · #10 11-08-2007, 08:38 PM

Never mind. Okay, you can change the speed of the audio with this freeware audio editor:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Audacity

I used to use this and forgot it has that capability. Not the easiest app to learn, but there is a manual included. You would need to specify that pitch be maintained as well, so double-check that. You'll need some spare time to get the hang of it.

What you want to do is match total runtimes as closely as you can. Save the corrected audio as WAV (uncompressed). Then feed that to the WMV muxer.

Have you thought about trying to obtain "live performance" versions of the songs in question?

Shaunym · #11 11-08-2007, 08:45 PM

alright thanks i will see how that goes, yeah i did think of that but i don't think live performances sound as good as the recorded ones. thanks for your help, will let you know how it goes

fritzi93 · #12 11-08-2007, 08:56 PM

Okay, good luck.

No doubt you realize the results will not be perfect, that is, if there are closeups it will be almost impossible to sync voice to the singer, etc. [shrugs] You'd need the original audio for that. Only you can decide if it's worth the effort.

Soon be past my bedtime. Goodnight, I'll check in tomorrow morning.

[EDIT] It just dawned on me that perhaps the video is not the band playing the music? In which case sync doesn't matter particularly. You could in that case just edit out parts of the video to get it down to the right length for the audio.

Shaunym · #13 11-11-2007, 04:36 AM

This sounds like it is getting way too difficult as I am not really a computer person. Think I might just leave them. I do have one last question and that is about one of your previous quotes. You told me to convert the files to DVD once i have the ones i want. I was just wondering if Windows MEdia Player will still be able to use the file. If not do you know what sort of file i can change them to so they play on both Windows Media Player AND a DVD player connected to a TV??

Thanks, Shaun

fritzi93 · #14 11-11-2007, 08:28 AM

To play DVDs on XP, you need an MPEG2 codec. Two ways: Use a better software player that doesn't need an external MPEG2 codec, e.g. Media Player Classic or VideoLan:

http://www.videohelp.com/tools/sections/video-players

Or install a codec so WMP can do it. Installing the trial of PowerDVD (see above) will install the codec. You'll have a good, stable codec even if you subsequently uninstall PowerDVD. Last resort, use this hacked codec:

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...EG_2_Codec.htm

Good luck.

P.S. Just how bad is the audio? You might improve it *slightly* by filtering and adjusting gain, but GIGO applies (garbage in-garbage out). Then remux.