adding music to homevideo

[DonRenee]

i would like to know if i can add music to my homevideo,,for instance if i have some vacation movies and i would like to add the mission impossible song how would i go about it.

thanks

Donren

[bugster]

What format are your home movies in?
What tools do you have available? (software and hardware)

Help us to help you, your question is too vague to give a specific answer.

[daamon]

Hi DonRenee,

In general, it's a "Yes, it can be done".

Generally, it's easier if the video format you have is AVI - it'll be DV AVI if it's come from a DV camcorder (you say home movies, so I'm assuming that's the case).

Simple method (and free):
With DV AVI you can open that up with VirtualDub :
1. File -> Open video file...
2. Video -> Direct Stream Copy (this gives a direct copy - avoids any filters or compression that may or may not be set).
3. Audio -> WAV Audio... (Assumes you have the sound you want in WAV format. If not - there's loads of tools that will convert most formats to WAV).
4. File -> Save as AVI...

The above will purely overwrite any existing audio - giving you the same footage (unedited, no transitions or "fancy" stuff) but with new sound.

VirtualDub can also be used to capture from a DV cam, cut and splice AVI files etc.

More advanced method (tools likely to cost a fair bit):
1. Capture the raw footage from the DV cam - it's best to capture a whole load of individual clips rather than one long dump of video.
2. Get yourself something like Adobe Premiere (there are all sorts of Advanced Video Editors, look in the Tools section) and do some wonderful video editing with audiooverlaid original soundtrack, blended in at the right volume etc.

Hope that helps. Good luck...

[yoda313]

Hello,
If your using a pc just import the mp3 file into your authoring software. If your using a settop recorder you could try hooking a tape deck or cd player into the audio inputs while you dub. If you give more details others can give more suggestions.
Kevin
P.S. Do you want to keep the original audio and mix the two or just the new music?

[DonRenee]

i never did check my format i use the new sony d201 dvd-r camera i record straight to the disc the small one's. i use the software dvdshrink and nero i have a dvd player and dvd burner on my computer.

thanks

Donren

[daamon]

Hi DonRenee,

I'm not sure what the format is when recording to the small discs - I've never had any experience of it.

Stick the disc in your PC's DVD ROM drive (I believe it'll work OK) and use something like AVI Codec on it to get info on the file properties.

Post the info here and hopefully someone will be able to help. I suspect (from a deep and distant memor) that the format might be MPEG2 (but don't quote me). I'm not sure about adding a soundtrack to MPEG2.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. Good luck...

[maxxcorp]

My son-in-law has a sony video camera that burns to the small disks...
Not sure of the model number and he is in pakistan at the moment... The camera is a few years old so if yours is newer, this info might be moot..

Last time he was in town, he had burned some files to CD ROM as data files... I dug out the CD ROM and the file extensions are MPG... Calling them up in TMPGEnc DVD Author, they seem to be in MPEG-1 The following errors came up with the file... The "guru's" here should be able to shed a little more light...

*The video resolution AAAxBBB cannot be used for a standard DVD.

The video resolution AAAxBBB cannot be used for a standard DVD.
For a standard DVD you can only use the following resolutions:

352x240 352x480 704x480 720x480 pixels (NTSC format only)
352x288 352x576 704x576 720x576 pixels (PAL format only)

The resolution of a DVD standard is selected carefully and adopted from the resolution allowed by MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 files.

Video resolutions other than the above mentioned makes a nonstandard DVD and it might not be playable in a DVD player.
When you make a nonstandard DVD, whether it will be playable on your DVD player differs from the various brands of DVD players. You should check which resolutions your DVD player supports before making nonstandard DVD-Videos.


*The video framerate xxxxxx fps cannot be used with the resolution xxxxxx.

The video framerate xxxxxx fps cannot be used with the resolution xxxxxx.
This framerate can only be used with the following resolutions:

352x240 352x480 704x480 720x480 pixels (NTSC format only)


Other resolutions than the above mentioned are out-of-standard for DVD-Video.

We cannot guarantee that nonstandard DVDs will play in a DVD player.
Even if the DVD plays normally in the beginning, problems might arise later in the movie.

When you make nonstandard DVD, whether it will be playable on your DVD player differs from the various brands of DVD players.
You should check which specifications your DVD player supports before making nonstandard DVD-Videos.


*The video sequence header is incorrect.

The video sequence header is incorrect.
A video sequence header is necessary for every GOP in a standard DVD.

When the sequence header is not recognized when using TMPGEnc DVD Source Creator, please select DVD by "Select format".

If you are using TMPGEnc, please use the project wizard to create your MPEG files.
You can also set the "sequence header output interval" manually, in "MPEG Settings", "GOP structure".

You cannot play a DVD-Video containing MPEG files with no sequence header in a DVD player.

[daamon]

@ maxxcorp - Where you've quoted a resolution of "AAA x BBB" or "xxxxxxxxx" fps, can you put in the actual figures? It may help...

The video sequence header aspect can be fixed by using TMPGEnc - I believe it's something like:

1. File -> MPEG Tools
2. "Simple Mulitplex" tab
3. "Video Input" & "Audio Input" are you problematic file, e.g. original.mpg
4. "Output" is gonna be the fixed file, e.g. original_2.mpg
5. "Run"

I think this fixes the sequence header problem in MPEGs.

[Supreme2k]

You can actually stream it va firewire like any other DV cam. Then, open the AVI up in any editing software. Windows Movie Maker (free) will allow you to do all kinds of basic tricks, music overlay being just one.

[maxxcorp]

daamon - This was the output error exactly as it came up on the screen... sorry...

[daamon]

daamon - This was the output error exactly as it came up on the screen... sorry...

Ah. Well, in short, the first two are saying that it doesn't like the framerate and / or the resolution of what you're asking it to work with.

For valid framerates (NTSC or PAL) and associated / resolutions look under the "What is DVD" link at the top left of this page. Though the ones it quotes (I believe) are what you'll find.

fps (frames per second) are 25 for PAL and 29.97 (and also maybe 23.97, though not sure coz I live in PAL land) for NTSC.

As for the third part of the error message ("The video sequence header is incorrect"), the "sequence header interval" it refers to in TMPGEnc should be set to 1 (if using TMPGEnc). See my post of 4th July for (what I believe) is a fix using TMPGEnc if not encoding with TMPGEnc.

Also, this link may be of interest (rate it if you use it):

https://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?guideid=303#303

There is a section that refers to the GOP structure, but the whole guide is good for TMPGEnc users.

Hope that helps someone...