Pretty much all my encoding experience is either from encoding from a raw/obscure format into another more common one or recording video in realtime from a capture device then encoding it into a more common format.
Point is, all my previous encodes were from static material with one video and one audio source.
I have never actually had to use any software to edit video beyond decomb/interlace filters or cropping, I never had to add/delete different video clips together into one movie or mess with the audio track.
I want to be able to record video and on top of the video's own audio, I want to add my own audio AS it is recording, possibly from more than one mic.
I am trying to record some videogame play footage, whether it is using a Dazzle to record it off a console or Fraps/Camtasia Studio (if Fraps dosen't recognize the game) for PC games, and record my commentary on it as I am playing.
I know I could record the audio with a separate program, or even an altogether separate computer/device, but I have no idea how I would get a separate audio file that would have a different length than the video itself to sync-up correctly (its not like I would be able to hit record and stop on the video recorder and the audio recorder at the exact same millisecond).
Also, how would this work, if it can work, if I wanted to use more than one mic so two people could leave commentary?
I understand it would be best if I recorded the audio to a separate file, that way I can adjust volume levels so the game's audio isn't drowning out the commentary or is so low you can't hear the game at all, but I just am not sure how to do it. My biggest concern is getting all the audio tracks to sync up correctly, not the actual act of muxing them together (Or possibly even just leaving them as separate tracks that can be turned on or off in a mp4/mkv container file... can you set these files to allow playing more than one audio track at once?) which is why I would prefer being able to do them all at once within the same program, since that way all the audio files will be the same length and I would not have to worry about syncing them.
Typically if I need to use the Dazzle capture device I use VirtualDub in CaptureAVI mode with huffyuv, and Fraps/Camtasia for recording on-screen, then encode it with megui or virtualdub if im going to mp4 or avi respectively.
Are there any better programs I can use in this instance? Is what I want to do even possible with VirtualDub, Fraps, or Camtasia?
What would you recommend I do to be able to actually pull this off?
Also, how can I stop the game's audio from getting into the mics? I only want the mics to record voices, but I would still need to be able to hear the gameplay audio while playing.
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You could get an analog mixer. Then you'd only have one stereo channel coming into the computer. For example:
http://www.amazon.com/Behringer-802-8-Input-Mixer/dp/B000J5XS3C/
But that wouldn't let you mix with software later. Otherwise I think you'll need an audio capture device with multiple inputs and that saves in multiple streams.
Keep the game audio from feeding into the mics by using headphones.Last edited by jagabo; 20th Feb 2010 at 06:43.
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Your options are
1. Analogue mixer and mix live. This would mean having someone at the mixing console throughout the recording doing the mixing in real time.
2. A sound card with multiple inputs and a multi-track recorder running grabbing both inputs. These can be mixed down at a later date. You may still have to have someone watching the levels as you record, but you might get away without this.
3. record the video first, then come back and record the commentary separately as you watch the video. This gives you the advantage of working in takes, and being able to redo sections of audio without having to replay the gameRead my blog here.
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You can record the sound live but with a seperate device (Mini Disc, Laptop, Digital Voice Recorder, etc.). Start the game recording and the audio recording but before you start playing, do something on the game that causes a flash or a quick movement and at the same time say "beep" into the audio recording. Start playing the game and doing the commentary. When done, do another movement or flash in the game and say "beep" again then stop recording. Bring the files into a video editor and add them to the timeline. You can now move the commentary audio file back and forth on the timeline to bring the first "beep" in line with the first movement or flash in the video. You should now be able the edit the video and audio however you want. If the ending "beep" doesn't line up with the last video cue you did, you may have to time stretch or shrink the audio file by that percentage difference.
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There are two reasons why I can't just use a mixer:
1. I want at the very least the commentary and game audio to be separate.
2. This won't work when recording gameplay off the computer itself.
Sorry, I forgot to mention, this is a laptop, so I won't be able to use any extra hardware unless it has USB or ExpressCard based.
Actually, we are trying to avoid takes because we want to record commentary and reactions as they happen.
As I said, I am very very bad at attempting to get audio and video to sync up correctly, even with cues, i've tried many times in the past. -
The only other options I can think of at this point would be some form of USB capture device like one of the many el cheapo USB video dongles, or to simply put the game audio down one channel of a stereo input cable, and the voice down the other. You get two mono channels, each recorded at the same time, but with different content. From there you can mix down how you see fit.
Basically, by using a laptop not custom spec'd for the job, you limit what you can do. I would give up now on the idea of doing this while playing games on the laptop unless they are very undemanding. Not sure what the demand out there is for solitaire with commentaries though.Read my blog here.
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With a laptop you could use a multichannel USB audio capture device:
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/486041-REG/Alesis_MULTIMIX_8_USB_2_0_MultiMix_8_USB_2_0.html
Or you can use the video capture device's audio to capture the game audio and the laptop's mic/line input to capture addition audio.
But with both of these you will probably be stuck having to sync the audio and video manually because you'll be using two programs to capture/record. There may be some pro level software that has multichannel audio ability while capturing video.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/producinghdvideo.aspxLast edited by jagabo; 23rd Feb 2010 at 06:32.
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Audio inputs aren't really a problem, there is audio input from the capture device and audio input from the mic-in port, I just don't know how to record from these at the same time to separate audio files.
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I'm having a simillar issue.
But in response to the original issue, I got around this by first recording the footage and then doing the commentary as I watched it back. As for synching up, the easiest way to do this is to start recording the video about 10 seconds before you want the actual start, then when playing it back go to your sound recorder and hit record. Go back to the video and start speaking at the point where you want it to start. Up to that point, stay very quiet!
Then trim the extra off the start of the video, and the silence off the start of the recording. Load them both into your favoured media editor to play side by side (mine's sony vegas) and voila! You should have them almost perfectly synched. Try this a couple of times- you will get it dead on after a few attempts. It'll save you lots of hastle mixing anyway!
As for volume issues, when recording the commentary mute the playback and use only visual cues. you can use a free audio editor such as audacity to amplify your commentary to acceptable levels, and almost any video editing suite will let you change the volume of your video to a point where it wont drown everything out.
Now, as I mentioned I have a simillar issue.
Simply put, I want to be able to record from two mics at the same time, both recordings seperate so they can be edited later (changing the volume of my loudmouthed excitable friends e.t.c). My onboard sound only has a mic in and a line in, so that's out of the question (line in so quiet it might as well be dead). I'm assuming I'm going to need some new hardware.
Can anyone give me an idea as to what sort of kit I should be looking for? How much will I need to spend? Is this possible using my existing audio editing suites (Soundforge and Audacity)?
All help would be very much appreciated. -
Problem is I want to record the commentary AS I play, not after. I am trying to record first-time reactions.
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You're just going to have to use two capture programs, one for video+audio from the game and another for just audio commentary. Then you'll have to learn how to sync multiple audio tracks.
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You don't necessarily need to capture to separate files, just to separate tracks. You could look at Reaper, which has multi-track capabilities and may allow you to record each input to separate tracks. However this will only work if both inputs can be active at the same time. If your specs are correct then you are putting a lot of strain on an old machine
Read my blog here.
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