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Replacing audio in video file
I’m considering purchasing a Rode Video mic which currently comes with a deal to get Plural Eyes for free – this sounds like a no-brainer. I plan to use this combo to create interview footage with dual system sound and probably just to get better nat sound for scenic shots as well. I can’t seem to find any information on the files that can be exported once sync’d in that software, but this is also a Vegas question…
I’d like to be able to swap out the original audio from my DSLR video files without losing the compression and file size of the original .mov files (MPEG-4 AVC / H.264) other than the difference different audio would create, and save them as new stand-alone files. Does Plural Eyes swap out the audio portion of the .mov container leaving the video stream untouched, or is there degradation and re-compressing involved? Same with Vegas itself – is there a way to just alter the audio without having to decompress and re-compress the whole thing?
I’ve been using the Sony mxf render option to create new (slightly altered) masters, but there is noticeable degradation in the picture as well as increased file size. Is there no way to simply replace the audio in the original files from the DSLR? Any help?
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5 Replies
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[John Sieber] “Does Plural Eyes swap out the audio portion of the .mov container leaving the video stream untouched, or is there degradation and re-compressing involved? “
It doesn’t touch the footage. All it does it align the video events with the audio events so that they match on the Vegas timeline.
[John Sieber] “Same with Vegas itself – is there a way to just alter the audio without having to decompress and re-compress the whole thing?”
No. You just need to deal with the fact that you have multiple tracks of audio and video or you need to re-render the events as new video files once they are synced.
You could also sync up the video and audio and save them as a project and then nest them into your master project. This way they will behave as one piece of media but not need rendering.
[John Sieber] “Is there no way to simply replace the audio in the original files from the DSLR?”
There may be some programs around that will demux and remux the video and audio but at that point forget about Plural Eyes because you’ll have to line everything up yourself.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
Thanks John. That’s what I was afraid of… seems like it would be an easy thing to implement and would be widely used – but then again, I’m not a software engineer…
So as far as rendering to a new file, is the Sony mxf route my best choice for quality and file size still (from Vegas)?
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[John Sieber] “So as far as rendering to a new file, is the Sony mxf route my best choice for quality and file size still (from Vegas)?”
I would use an intermediary codec like CineForm or Avid DNxHD. If you like Sony MXF you could use that but it’s lossy and not meant to be an intermediary format. You would have to buy CineForm but Avid DNxHD is free.
~jr
http://www.johnrofrano.com
http://www.vasst.com -
In the past, DualEyes could do what you want, now you need PluralEyes 3, which has integrated DualEyes features. Free trial is available, so you can try it
Vegasaur – automation plugins and tools for Sony Vegas Pro
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I bought an upgrade to Plural eyes 3, but it’s not available yet for windows, but they give you v2 and dual eyes, which I just tried and it worked! I have been using pluraleyes, synching on the timeline and using 2 instances of VP9,10,11 to copy and paste my “clips” because VP was not able to break up the synched material on the timeline to create clips for my trim bins. John R. suggested “nested projects” which worked, but only with 2 tracks, I recently started to record 6 tracks of production audio with a Tascam DR-680 and want to cut with all 6 tracks, if possible.
Today I finally got around to trying out Dual Eyes and it did exactly what I have been trying to do since VP9. I was able to synch audio outside of VP and then import the synched clip to the media bin. Opened the media in the trimmer and selected a portion to make a sub clip, dropped the sub clip on the time line and there were 6 tracks! Amazing.
A new workflow for me using VP 11/12, why Sony cannot enable audio and video to be “linked” like the Avid or Premiere Pro from within the program ??? but now I have a reasonable work around for what I want to do.
Malcolm
http://www.malcolmproductions.com
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