Need to overlay an MP3 in one of my videos

[Kingnautilus]

Hi, here's what I want to do:

Lower the current sound of the video (so it is present but not that loud)

Then

Overlay an mp3 that corresponds to the video, and line it with the video.

Any ideas? I have virtualdub if that helps.

[redwudz]

You could use the freeware audio editor Audacity. Extract the audio from the file with VD, drop it into Audacity, along with the music, blend or mix as wanted, then output as MP3 and add back with the original video, disabling the old audio, then save the audio and video out as direct stream copies.

Audacity accepts MP3, WAV, AIFF and Ogg audio streams. If the video has MP3 VBR audio, I would save it out as a WAV with full processing in VD, or you may have sync problems. I use VD Mod for all that most times, as I prefer it's audio handling. But the regular VD will work also.

And welcome to our forums.

[DarrellS]

Not sure about Virtualdub 1.7.7 but the experimental version which is now 1.8.0-test8...

http://www.virtualdub.org/beta/VirtualDub-1.8.0-test8.zip

...will handle VBR MP3 audio.

[Kingnautilus]

I can use Audacity to do it, but I need help.

The song I want to insert, and the current audio track both start at the same time when I import the mp3. I want the song to start playing after xxx in the current audio. How do I move it around in audacity? Every time I cut and paste it, it just goes back to the beginning.

[redwudz]

Use the 'Silence Generator' in 'Generate' to create a length of audio silence, then paste it into your track to offset the track.

[AlanHK]

I can use Audacity to do it, but I need help.
The song I want to insert, and the current audio track both start at the same time when I import the mp3. I want the song to start playing after xxx in the current audio. How do I move it around in audacity? Every time I cut and paste it, it just goes back to the beginning.

Audacity docs, tutorials:
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/documentation
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php?title=Audacity_Wiki_Home_Page

I recommend the "Beta 1.3.4", it has several improved features over the "Stable 1.2.6" version.

Anyway, specifically you want to use the "time shift tool", the double-headed arrow button.
You can grab a track and slide it along the timeline

Also, when I'm mixing commentary tracks I use the "Compressor" effect to knock down the peak volume of the original soundtrack.
I use a ratio of 10:1, Threshold about -28, and turn OFF normalize; experiment to find your optimal setting.