Adding audio as background music whilst listening to the main sound

[Mrwoo1234]

Hello,
I am very new to video editing and only know the basics (adding transitions etc) I am wondering how i would use background music to my video whilst still using the origional recorded voices with the video, I use
Ulead video studio 9 if thats any help,
Please help me!!!!
Thanks[/s]

[guns1inger]

I don't use Ulead video studio, so you may have to consult your manual to confirm it's capabilities.

Generally you have two methods open to you.

1. Multiple audio tracks in your video editor. This is the simplest approach if your audio processing needs are simple. Here you should be able to add sound effects and change volume levels on the tracks to get a balanced mix. Some editors have very strong abilities in this area (Vegas' audio mixing is very powerful), others may limit you to a small number of tracks with limited control.

or

2. Finish your edit, export your main audio track, then use a separate audio editor to mix the rest of the audio in. Audacity or Reaper are free editors that can be used to do this. You can run the video in VLC or MPC using the Always on Top option. It's not a easy as working in the editor, but it may give you a much stronger tools set.

[Sparehead01]

This is a simple proces.

You should import/capture your main movie into ULEAD and edit it to a finished state. I assume your movie has the audio interleaved as either an AVI or MPEG2. If its AVi then I believe ULEAD will place audio and video onto separate timelines. After editing is complete, select AUDIO on the top menu and import your background music into your project. Then just grab the audio file that you have imported and drag it into the timeline but onto a separate audio channel and not the one occupied by your main movie audio (thats if ULEAD has separated audio from video and put them onto separate timelines). Once you have your background music on the timeline either you can select it and adjust its volume. I would imagine that you will want to decrease the audio so that your main movie audio is more prominant. Alternatively you could use one of the many audio editors to alter the properties of your background music before you import it.

Hope that helps.

[Sparehead01]

By the way.

I don't know if ULEAD has this facility but ADOBE Premiere has the ability to decrease and increase audio properites anywhere in the timeline by adding "keyframes". For example lets say that somewhere in your video is a really funny line that someone has spoken but unfortunately it cannot be heard clearly because the background music is too high. However lets say that you don't want to lower the volume of the background for the whole footage because that would affect the entire project. What you do is add keyframes to decrease/increase the audio at that specific point or any other point in your project. The adjustment can also be gradual or instant. Now that is a good facility to have!!!!