Overdub video over audio

[Ellis]

I would like to overdub a video of me playing my guitar over a mp3 audio track of a song I like. I am a total novice with video editors. I am able to drag my audio file onto the audio bar, but I can't figure out how I can listen to the audio file while recording a video track over it. Any help or link to appropriate tutorials will be much appreciated. Thanks.

[borate]

Use the narration (record over sound) feature.  http://help.nchsoftware.com/help/en/videopad/win/content_narration.html

Audio already in the sequence will be heard as you add guitar to a second track.  Use headphones.

Audio can be positioned on the timeline by dragging it, as can an existing video, which can be added to a video track.

[Ellis]

Thanks. This should make it easy. I'll report back . I may need to fiddle with my studio setup because I'm currently capturing my video on an SD card and then bootlegging it into the computer's SD port.  I haven't figured out how to input the video directly into the computer so I can monitor it with the headphones. The DSLR I'm using to shoot the video has a digital A/V USB jack, which I'm not sure is an output jack, and an HDMI out jack. If I have the cabling I need, it should just be a matter of some experimentation. Trouble is, the camera is 15 feet from the computer and me. 

Thanks again.

[Ellis]

Progress report. No joy yet.

I recorded a video (MOV file) with my DSLR of me playing lead guitar over a recorded song. I imported this video into Video Pad. Then I dragged the mp3 file of the recorded song onto the little bar at the bottom of the VideoPad interface. I can't figure out how to mix them. The little wave pattern of the mp3 isn't aligned with the corresponding place in the video, and I can't figure out how to align them. I've tried every possible combination of clicking and dragging with no luck. It's quite a comedy of errors, but I'm running out of time and patience. Is it worth trying to describe in detail how to accomplish this? Sorry to be a dummy.

[borate]

Not a dummy, just inexperienced.

MOV video on video track one, Mp3 audio on audio track one.  Drag one or the other to the right to align.

You can't drag either to the left because there's no content before the start.  An attempt to drag video left, for instance, will shift audio the other direction, and vice-versa.

So drag the track that's coming in too early to the right along the timeline to make it come in later - until what you hear (or the wave pattern) matches up with the other track.

If a track it SNAPS back to the left after you drag, hold down the <alt> key while dragging.

[Ellis]

Thanks again, Borate, for your prompt reply.

Here's the thing, I dragged the mp3 to audio track2 so I would have two audio tracks.What I need to do is blend both tracks, so that the original recording becomes the background for the video of me playing my leads over it. I need to mix the two audio tracks somehow, which will include registering the exact timeline positioning and also allow me to apply volume and EQ controls to each of the two audio tracks to achieve the final result. Then they have to be merged down to the video and saved as an mp4 that I can upload to my private YouTube channel.

Am I asking too much of VideoPad?

Thanks again for your indulgence.

[borate]

Audio channels are mixed;  you should be hearing them all - unless you mute or solo a track by using the icons at the left of each track.  Volume for the whole track can be set with the volume slider.   The entire clip or individual split-out segments can be adjusted via AMPLIFY, EQ and other effects.

What you hear is what you will get at export, whether it's a direct upload to YouTube from VP (can be iffy) or an Mp4 exported file for their uploader.

Once all is in place, click the chevron to the right of the SAVE button on the Home menu toolbar and SAVE PROJECT FILE AS.  It's a good idea to do this frequently, giving it a unique # or name each time, so as to not overwrite a prior save.  Using SAVE PROJECT (no "as") will overwrite the earlier file.

Then you can restore the project by clicking on its VPJ file, which is normally found in the same folder as the source files.

[Ellis]

Ah, but here are my problems:

1. Since the video contains a lot of miscellaneous footage of me walking into the frame and putting on my headphones, then punching the music track into my headphones, then starting to play along with the music, I need to cut out all the prelim and post recording video, and then somehow align the separate mp3 audio with my recorded A/V. This has proven too difficult, and I'm sure there's a way to do it clearly and accurately.

2. I need to adjust the individual audio track volumes and EQs so that the balance is acceptable. Not sure how to adjust them individually within the mix.

It would be a lot easier to just record the mp3 audio at the same time as the camera audio, but I don't think I have the cables and monitoring capability I would need to do that. Nor have I figured out yet how to use VideoPad to actually capture the video and monitor everything on my computer screen with headphones. I guess I'm a little too far down the learning curve for what I'm hoping to do. If this weren't a pandemic, I would gladly hire someone to come here and teach me in person.  But, your patient instructions are helping a lot. I do appreciate it.

 

[borate]

Place the full video and the full Mp3 clips on their respective tracks, then sync them, as instructed earlier, by moving the track that's early to the right so it matches up with the other track.  Once done, select all tracks, right-click on one of them and GROUP SELECTED CLIPS.  This will lock them together.  Now is the time to SAVE PROJECT AS, so you can always restore.

You can then split all tracks where you want to begin, and at the spot where you want to end.  Now delete the extraneous content with a right-click | DELETE (ripple) in the areas to be removed.   If there are gaps, drag the content.  Everything will move in concert because the tracks are grouped.  Sync won't be changed.  SAVE PROJECT AS once again, with a unique # or name.  Anytime you make a mistake, press <ctrl-Z> (EDIT | UNDO) to go back step-by-step.

To monitor the mix while tweaking individual audio tracks for EQ, Echo, etc adjustments, click its track, then click the AUDIO EFFECTS button on the Home menu toolbar.

Isolate a track by clicking its SOLO icon  at the left of the track.  The volume sliders can also be adjusted, for relative gain.

To see and manage what effects are being applied to a specific track, click the FX icon at the lower-left of the audio clip.  Click the X there to delete an effect.

If an effects window for a specific track is open you can click on the header to see its waveform in the preview window. Or double-click the track in the sequence.  Drag the line up or down to set keyframes and plot a volume graph.  Right-click on a keyframe dot to delete it.  You will hear only the track whose waveform is being displayed, unfortunately.  The ability to hear the mix in this mode is on the wish list.

[Ellis]

I'll be plugging back into this later today, but now I think I understand the whole process. I can't thank you enough.