Insert "beep" audio to black out words in a mp4 file

[IngvarEkstrom]

I need to edit out some foul language from a mp4 that my son wants to show in school and figured that I could add some of those beeps that are popular on US TV, but I can't get it right. I figured I could extract the audio and edit it in Audacity. I tried YAMB, but I can't seem to extract the audio, that option is grey. Is there another program where I can just mix in another sound on top of the original mp4 file? I used the Acoustica MP3 Audio Mixer before, but it seems to be only available if you buy it. Is there any free program that can edit in audio on top of the MP4 file or a way to extract the audio and edit it separately? It doesn't matter if I have to convert the file to avi, mkv or similar as long as the edited video will run in a standard viewer like VLC. Thanks

[transporterfan]

You could try demuxing with tsMuxeR and loading sound file into Audacity.
Edit and then use tsMuxer to remux and save off as a .ts file.

There is also this old stalwart:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COncNnm6A3U

And this:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools/mp4UI

[IngvarEkstrom]

I used Goldwave to beep out the words that had to go, but after that I am stuck. How do I get the new .wav back on top of the mp4 video? Can that be done in the Windows Movie Maker? I am not familiar with the term remux since I am new on this. Can tsMuxer overdub the original MP4 with the new .wav file? I can't see that from the description on the program page.

[transporterfan]

No. Movie maker wont do MP4. Use https://www.videohelp.com/tools/My-MP4Box-GUI

[IngvarEkstrom]

First thanks for all your help. I am still stuck thoough. The MP4-Box-GUI does not recongize the .wav file that I edited from the original MP4 file in Goldwave. Nor does it accept the .acc file that came out when I tried to demux the MP4 file via tsMuxer. Audacity did not accept the .acc file either. Audacity and Goldwave can convert the files I see. Is there another format that I can convert the .wav file to so MP4-Box-GUI will accept it and join them? When I write join I mean of course replacing the audio on the MP4 file with the edited soundfile. Thanks again for your time.

[transporterfan]

Export to MP3. You will have to have the Lame encoder from the Audacity website installed, or use Goldwave.

[IngvarEkstrom]

Okay, finally solved, downloaded the Audio Transcoder that could convert the .wav to .acc and then the tsMuxer could replace the audiotrack and convert it to a .ts file, but the video quality is somewhat less thanthe original PM4, but still okay. Thanks for poitning me in the right direction and taking your time, cheers!

[Gavino]

the video quality is somewhat less thanthe original PM4

If that's so, you must be doing something wrong.
If followed correctly, the process should not change the video in any way - only the audio is re-encoded.

[bleepmeio]

I need to edit out some foul language from a mp4 that my son wants to show in school and figured that I could add some of those beeps that are popular on US TV, but I can't get it right.

Pretty old thread, but still interesting for people who find this via search.

Let me explain:
There are actually many ways nowadays to create these beep audio effects. Not only US TV but also Youtube creators are using bleep sound effects to censor profanity.

How to use beep censor effects:
A) Manually:
Here is a video tutorial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCqeOneGgIU
1. Download a beep censor effect from any library online like: Censor beep sound effects.
2. Go to any video editor like adobe premiere pro, iMovies, or whatever Video editor that has layer based editing options.
3. find the part you want to beep out and only cut out the audio part.
4. add the downloaded beep audio file over the empty audio gap.
-> done

B) Automatically:
(sham-less plug, I am the creator of this):
1. go to https://www.bleepme.io
2. Upload your video
3. Download your video with beeped curse words.

[netmask56]

About 40% can lip read so maybe both the sound and vision need to be edited

[Clockwork]

I'd rather bleep out spam posts.

[abolibibelot]

About 40% can lip read so maybe both the sound and vision need to be edited

Unless every foul mouth is wearing a mask.


You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You look better that way
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You look better that way
Are you my friend?
Are you my plumber?
Are you my God?
What do you do?
Wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
Which mask are you?
Which mask are you?
Complicated, crushed up, disappointed, squirming, angry, thrusting, stabbing, regretting, starving, greedy human alien being, struggling down the street, up the alley, in the elevator, through the party, to the office, in the bedroom, on your way to the morgue... Bullshitting, lying, doing a good deed or feeling loved barely possible... Aware of insatiable demands of not a society all around you... Chunky frat boys in their shorts, pimps with old semite eyes, sex hoochies of the jungle, sensitive smart alec college graduates, critics fronting franticly in New York city, everybody in L.A. just plain licking ass or having it licked, irony in place of balls, balls in place of brains, brains in place of soul...
Where is the soul? Where is the love? Where am I?
Which mask are you?
Which mask are you?
Which mask are you?
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
You're wearing a mask
Which mask are you?


(They made Iggy Pop masks, I just found out, but apparently noone got the idea of making one based on that song, so eerily relevant 19 years later. I blasted it from my balcony about a month ago, followed by the much calmer and just as relevant "We are the people" from his 2019 Free album, and then the Howard Beale rant from the movie Network, hoping that a few living souls would get it and get on with it and scream at the top of their lungs that they were mad as hell and were not going to take it anymore — noone batted an eye, except for that one woman from a building about 100 meters away who said "you have good sound". People are just fBEEPing boring.)

(Who cares, it's a 3205 days old thread anyway. I want a broccoli collar like Iggy, I would look better that way.)

[netmask56]

BTW Children are particularly good at lip reading so if the purpose is to "protect" them from nasty words, they hear them in the school play yard everyday, it's wasted effort. Better to confront the problem by explaining explicitly why you don't like the words rather than shielding that has no effect.

[Alwyn]

Better to confront the problem by explaining explicitly why you don't like the words rather than shielding that has no effect.

I don't agree. If you beep it out, at least you've made an attempt to send a clear message that that word is not acceptable. I'm having a constant battle in my place with normalised bad language from my older teenagers. Sure they may be able to lipread but not actually hearing it coming from the TV via beeping-out reinforces the message that even though the person said it, it is not acceptable.

Beep away, I say!

[johnmeyer]

I know this is an old thread, but for those who are reading it, using a beep is the WORST thing you can do, and with modern technology it is completely unnecessary. A beep totally destroys the music and therefore the mood of the production, and it actually calls attention to the filthy language.

I have done dozens of productions for our local high school where the students gave me their photos and videos and then chose the music they wanted to play behind the photos. I then produced a DVD consisting of over a dozen music videos that was given to every senior on graduation night.

Here's an example of one video from one of those DVDs: 2009 Carmel Senior Class.

One such production was a football highlights reel I put together from the athletic department's game films. The players chose the music, and it was all rap, and was full of foul language. Instead of beeps I simply found portions of the "music" that contained the same rhythm and key signature and copied that and then blended it in over the foul words. If that didn't work or I couldn't quickly find something, I just took the word and reversed that small section. Here is an example queued up to the chorus which repeats "When will you n*** learn," and yes, it was the "n" word (yucch).

There are plenty of other words besides that one which I also removed. You can look at the lyrics and follow along, if you want.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txUY6B1BE6Q&t=24s

If you have the time, many filthy songs also have a "clean" version and you can copy/paste from that. However, that takes a lot of time, and I don't like spending more than a few seconds fixing these things.

As you can hear, there is no trace of filth, and while there is obviously a word missing, there is NOT total silence (which is what they do with live rap "music" broadcasts), nor is there a beep.

[abolibibelot]

Reminds me of :
“See what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps?”
and :
“I've had it with these monkey-fighting snakes on a monday-to-friday plane!”

[bleepmeio]

About 40% can lip read so maybe both the sound and vision need to be edited

Good point! Not sure about the legal requirements in the US.
The reason I made this software was to satisfy YouTubes algorithm by beeping swear words in videos. They are checking videos for profanity and other indicators to classify content as "family-friendly".

[bleepmeio]

Beep away, I say!

Great slogan for bleepme.io

[Lord Rakim]

Avidemux should do most of u need without messing with video quality....

Load the file in avidemux, go to Audio and click save audio...

Take that audio and load it in audacity... if it doesn't load u may need to convert it to a format Audacity can handle.... do your edits and save the new audio toa new file

Go back to avidemux, and click Audio again, pick Select Track , go to track 1 and click the dropdown box located there and select Add audio track and pick the new audio file u made

on the main avidemux window, pick Copy under both Video & Audio Output and then Save the file.....