Editing parts of the audio on VirtualDub

[ione]

Is it possible to change audio at some parts of a movie? I have an asian film where the actors are talking in their native language with a mixture of english. However, their english cannot be understood, so I'd like to replace the "engrish lines" with an improved english dubbing (which is a WAV file taken from another version). How do I do that on virtualdub/mod without quality loss? The thing is, I'd like to keep the original dubbing, then just replace the parts where they're talking english. I'm just not sure how to do it, since the english lines are scattered everywhere (in several scenes).

The original file, by the way, is AVI.

[guns1inger]

You need to use an audio editor like audacity or reaper to do the mixing, save a new audio track, then replace the original using virtualdub

[lacywest]

Oh man ... your going to have fun doing that ... very time consuming and frustating.

... Cool Edit 96 allows you to open more than one at same time and you can copy the wav file and paste it in the other Cool Edit 96 ... use mix paste. Cool Edit Pro 1.2 is what I normally use or Cool Edit Pro 2.1 ... all three can be installed. Cool Edit 96 worked the best for copy a wav file and paste it or mix/paste into the other CE96.

These audio processing programs were made a few years ago ... not sure if they can be found that easy anymore.

[guns1inger]

Personally I would do something like this in Vegas, with both audio tracks on the timeline, and use envelopes to mix the audio between the tracks. Once done I would then just create a new audio track, and replace the original. No need to cut and paste at all.

The same thing can be done in Reaper, however I haven't tried to work with video loaded as well. I guess it depends on how important it is to see the images while you work.

[ione]

Thank you both for your replies. Yes I think it is important to load the video while I work on the new audio. Just to make sure that the audio and video are synchronized. I know it's going to be a lot of work, but I know it can be done and am determined to do it I was thinking more along the lines of what guns1inger pointed out, loading both audios then silencing the other when it is not needed (and the other way around). I just don't know how to do it, especially in Audacity. Have tried editing the wav using MPEG Video Wizard but the problem is if I silenced one portion of a scene, it mutes the rest of the clip (or something similar). ???

I am open to using other cool programs like CoolEdit or Reaper (but can't seem to figure out how to edit Audio using Audacity. The copy and paste thing just don't work for me, plus the timecode is very difficult to follow. I guess it's just me.

[AlanHK]

I was thinking more along the lines of what guns1inger pointed out, loading both audios then silencing the other when it is not needed (and the other way around). I just don't know how to do it, especially in Audacity.

First export your original to a wave file.

Open that in Audacity.
Now use "File/Import/Audio" and select the new soundtrack. It should open in a new track below the original.

First try to sync the tracks -- use the "Time shift tool" (double-headed arrow) -- ONLY move the new track so that the original track remains in sync with the video.

If you select and delete parts of the soundtrack it will close up and you'll lose sync. So don't cut, but use the "Silence" tool.
"Silence" the parts of each track you don't want.
If you want a less abrupt break, use the "fade in/fade out" effects.

You can select passages and press "space" to play and check.
Undo works for most things, several operations can be undone.

When done, "File/Export" and save the mixed result to a wave file. Or you can export directly to MP3 if that's what you want.

If you need to move some parts independently, do "Tracks/Add new/Stereo track", copy a section from the original track, paste it in the new one; then silence the original.

You can have as many tracks as you like, but if you want to simplify you can do "Tracks/Mix and render" to blend selected tracks.

Several ways to adjust volume, Envelope tool or "Effect/Amplify".