Batch replace a few seconds of audio clip in .avi or .mkv-files?

[nbarzgar]

Hello everyone,

I have a number of video files containing DVD-Backups of a favourite TV-Show. Unfortunately the release was made with a different song for start and end credits. Wouldn't be a big problem - but the new jingle/song is really nasty...

So here is what I'd like to do:
Take the original song-clip I have (did a few TV-captures at one time) and batch replace the x seconds at start and end of each video-file, leaving the remaining audio unchanged. I could mux the video-files into .avi or .mkv of course (or something, you name it), depending on sw to solve my problem.
Would that be possible, and if so, how?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and help!

[nbarzgar]

Anyone? Please..?

[smrpix]

How many episodes are you talking about?

Let's assume the music at the beginning is always the same, does the closing music always start at the same point, say 22:00 into the show?

What if it turns out in 10% of the episodes the opening music has a 1/4 second pause before the program begins?

In the time it takes to write and debug a script you can probably just do the job by hand in audacity.

[nbarzgar]

Well, actually, the first season contains 39 episodes and all in all it's a bit over 80 eps.

No, the closing music doesn't always start at the same place. Would it be possible to use parameter(s) like: "replace clip, counting x seconds from last frame/sample of video/audio"?

I don't think, there is such a pause but I would be willing to test a few - and of course the original DVD would be there, so in case anything should go wrong, I still would have that.

Is it necceassry to write a script then? No software doing it off it's own bat - or would it be possible to use a 'job' from Audacity as starting point for scripting - or smething like that? I also own Goldwave so it would be possible to use that as well.
And I don't expect to have it all done for me - if you (or someone) points me in the right direction, I could perhaps do it myself.

Thanks for your time so far!

EDIT: Also to do it by hand, I would have to demux the audio first, edit it and mux it again. I am still hoping to avoid that. EDIT

[smrpix]

Let me try to get to all of your points, not necessarily in order.

Presumably you don't want to touch the video while changing the audio -- that requires demuxing and remuxing. (If you use an NLE that smart renders this stage is hidden.)

'Would it be possible to use parameter(s) like: "replace clip, counting x seconds from last frame/sample of video/audio"?'
Yes. But that IS a script. And how do you know the timing is always the same? A show might have an extra 1/2 sec of black at the end.

Goldwave should work as well as Audacity.

So your script would have to:

Demux audio and video
Determine Length of Audio "A" (Program)
Use audio "B" (Intro)
Use Audio "A" starting at :XX and ending at Length -:YY
Use Audio "C" (Outro)
Create combined Audio Track ABC
Mux "BAC" with video

Then you would have to check every episode to be sure there are no sync errors or glitches at the cuts.

[nbarzgar]

[...]

So your script would have to:

Demux audio and video
Determine Length of Audio "A" (Program)
Use audio "B" (Intro)
Use Audio "A" starting at :XX and ending at Length -:YY
Use Audio "C" (Outro)
Create combined Audio Track ABC
Mux "BAC" with video

Then you would have to check every episode to be sure there are no sync errors or glitches at the cuts.

Perhaps it would be better to do it this way?:

Demux audio and video
Determine length of audio "B" (Intro)
Remove/delete a clip of that length from audio "A", counting from start position
Determine length of audio "C" (Outro)
Remove/delete a clip of that length from audio "A", counting from end position
Use new Audio "A"
Use audio "B" (Intro)
Use Audio "C" (Outro)
Create combined Audio Track BAC
Mux "BAC" with video

Then check, if all went well..

What do you think?

[smrpix]

Yes, it's the same thing really, I presumed you knew the length of B and C at the outset.

I still think it would take less time to do it by hand than to write, debug, run and error check a script. (Even if it took five minutes an episode that's just over 3 hours.) It's been 20 hours since you first posted.

[jman98]

This is just the latest variation on what I call the "I want to do something that nobody else in the world wants to do, so why doesn't software exist that allows me to do it?" post.

The OP will respond will complete amazement that I would dare to suggest that nobody else in the world wants to do this because his thinking goes like this - "There's nothing particularly different or amazing about me. Therefore any video problem I have will be common and many others, if not millions then a very large number of people, will have had the exact same problem and someone will have written software to deal with it." Then when nobody can name even 1 program to do this pointless and unnecessary task, he will just go away and sulk, baffled that no program really did exist for the task.

[nbarzgar]

This is just the latest variation on what I call the "I want to do something that nobody else in the world wants to do, so why doesn't software exist that allows me to do it?" post.

The OP will respond will complete amazement that I would dare to suggest that nobody else in the world wants to do this because his thinking goes like this - "There's nothing particularly different or amazing about me. Therefore any video problem I have will be common and many others, if not millions then a very large number of people, will have had the exact same problem and someone will have written software to deal with it." Then when nobody can name even 1 program to do this pointless and unnecessary task, he will just go away and sulk, baffled that no program really did exist for the task.

Yor reasoning is truly amazing - assuming quite a lot, aren't you? How do you come to these conclusions, at all?
To begin with: This is a "she".
Why do you think that no one else in the world wants to do someting lik that? I do and find it necessary for me. It's been the point of this forum. I might find other people's problems here equally unnecessary - but that's not my concern, is it? There are billions of people on this planet - so I on my side assume differently; and I would never even think of skulking just because maybe no one (here?) is interested in this problem or has written software for it. (And I got already an answer and a discussion ensued with smrpix - so why are you bothering yourself by even taking notice?)
To boot: I for my part rather assumed, I might have been thinking on the wrong lines - and therefore a solution might already exist in known sw that I just wasn't aware of.

Concerning the time used so far: I haven't spent the past 48 hours on this problem. That's what I would like to avoid doing. So I posted here.
But if people here (you at least, so it seems) feel almost insulted that I dare put the question...
I have been a member of this forum for many years. But the above comment is to my mind one of the - sorry, but that's what I think - to put it plainly: dumbest I have encountered yet.
If you are disgruntled at others (perhaps aorund you in your personal life?) don't take it out on me by making useless assumptions. It's really just a waste of time. And the time this answer took me - is rather too much, really. Perhaps I shouldn't have bothered with it at all.

[nbarzgar]

Yes, it's the same thing really, I presumed you knew the length of B and C at the outset.

I still think it would take less time to do it by hand than to write, debug, run and error check a script. (Even if it took five minutes an episode that's just over 3 hours.) It's been 20 hours since you first posted.

Thank you, smrpix for taking time and trouble! I will think it over and find a way. So long!