Windows Movie Maker is screwing up the mp3 audio track

[garybeck]

Hi,

I'm using Windows Movie Maker to create a 15 minute movie. I'm making both a DVD version and a WMV version for online viewing.

I have an mp3 file I'm importing into WMM. When I play the movie inside WMM it looks/sounds fine. When I create/export the AVI file, which I then use to make the DVD, there are problems on the audio. basically there are tiny little "cutouts" I can hear in the music, where it "skips a beat." It's not a glaring thing but for someone with a sensitive ear, it is annoying. There are not any pops or clicks, just some short gaps, somewhat randomly placed, where a tiny amount of music is clipped out. I'm not sure if the video is being cut out as well, I can't tell by watching closely.

I went back and checked, the MP3 source file sounds fine. It's after WMM creates the AVI that the problem begins. it is carried over to the DVD produced from the AVI.

I am pretty sure when I create a WMV (lower resolution than the AVI) from the same WMM project, the audio is not currupted.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Any ideas on what I can do to fix it?

I have an Athlon 64, less than a year old with 512 Ram, so I don't think hardware is the issue.

any ideas are appreciated.

you can see the WMV version of the movie here:
http://www.solarbus.org/photos/movies/solarbusmovie.shtml

gary in vermont

[zoobie]

mp3 is already compressed so when you drag it into wmm, it compresses it more...try converting your mp3 into a wav first

[redwudz]

What type of 'AVI' file are you outputting from WMM? If it's DV, which I thought was the only AVI type file it could output, I could see where MP3 audio might be a problem. If you must use WMM, try outputting DV with a WAV file for audio. But it sounds like you may be using the MP3 for input audio, if so, go with what zoobie said and also use a WAV for input.

Then, if you want to convert the DV to a DVD, convert the WAV to AC3 with ffmpeggui or similar after editing and use that for your audio when you author and just encode the edited video separately. I don't see where MP3 fits in there anywhere, unless you are making a Xvid or similar.

JMO, but I would look for a better editor than WMM.

[garybeck]

JMO, but I would look for a better editor than WMM.

I know there are a lot out there. What do you suggest? I use WMM because it's free and I just got laid off so I don't have a budget for this.

[redwudz]

Which editor depends on your format. I use the freeware VirtualDub Mod for most AVI type edits. For MPEG the freeware Cuttermaran works well enough. For payware MPEG-VCR or VideoReDo are popular. VDM can also convert MP3 or similar to a WAV audio file.

WMM will do alright, as long as you know it's limitations. Feed it a good AVI file and WAV audio, then output to DV AVI. Take that and encode to MPEG. There are freeware encoders like HC and Quenc, and freeware authoring programs like GUI for DVD Author. ImgBurn is also a good freeware burning program that will accept a VIDEO_TS folder.

[theewizard]

avidemux will weave ( interleave ) your audio and video

forget about mp3, use wav, mp2, ac3, or PCM anything but mp3 with the file you are going to convet 2 DVD

since you are using wmm is suggest you use a WAV file with AVI you want to convert to DVD