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Multiple audio tracks, audible SIMULTANEOUSLY


NancySue

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I am working on a project which will be audio only, with multiple tracks overlapping, so that you hear all the voices simultaneously and they eventually become a cacophony of many voices.  So far I've only loaded 2 tracks.  When I play them back I can only hear one or the other, not both at once.  How can I hear them both?  Can I make them transparent or something?  

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  • borate changed the title to Multiple audio tracks, audible SIMULTANEOUSLY.

If the tracks are stacked above one another you should hear them all.

Confirm that they are not muted and that the volume sliders are all the way to the right.  image.png  The 'speaker' is the MUTE icon.

Specific clips can also be muted.  Right-click on their audio track and MUTE AUDIO, or click the 'speaker' on an individual clip, if it's shown.

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Thank you, Borate!  Actually in looking at your photo I realized that I wasn't loading it into Track 2 but rather Sequence 2.  So now I have 3 Tracks loaded and all is cool.  Question:  I see how I can amplify an individual track, or can fade it in, via FX. 

How do I crop a section in an individual clip?  I can put it into the upper window, where I have a few options, but can't find a crop.

Also, can I move an individual track relative to the others?  I highlight it and try to move it with the [   ] 's but nothing happens.  Can that be done?

Thanks!!

nancy

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  • borate changed the title to Multiple audio tracks, audible SIMULTANEOUSLY

On the timeline, split out the portion of the clip to be cropped.  No need for that if you want to crop the entire clip.

Click the FX icon on the clip thumbnail.  image.png  In the effects window, click on CROP.

To move tracks, right-click in the gray area to the left of any track.  A drop-down menu appears with MOVE UP/MOVE DOWN track choices.

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That went right over my head.  I'm sorry; I think I'm using the wrong terms.  When I said "crop", I intended to say that I want to cut out/remove a few seconds of a clip.  

And, sorry again, I shouldn't have said "move a track" but rather "move a clip along its track", by whatever number of seconds.  

Could we try that again?

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It's all a learning curve.  Have patience.🙂

First, Save Project File AS routinely, giving it a unique # or name, so as not to overwrite prior saves.  Using Save Project Files (no AS) will overwrite.  From the HOME tab, that choice is available by clicking the chevron to the right of the Save Project button on the toolbar.   This for your protection.

To remove a portion of a clip, use splits at the in and out points, then click on the part that you have isolated and press the DEL key.  Or right-click on that area and DELETE(Ripple), which should close the gap left by the deletion.  If it does not, right-click within the gap and Close Gap.

If you make a mistake immediately press <ctrl-Z> to backtrack, step-by-step.  And, of course, you have a recent back up of the Saved Project File.

Moving a clip can cause several actions.  If the mouse pointer is placed within the clip to drag right, it may cover other clips.  To avoid that, and drag ALL clips to the right, first select (highlight) each by holding down <ctrl> and clicking them, one-by-one.  Or click the first clip to select it, then hold down <shift> and click the last.  All within the range will be selected.  Then drag. 

Alternatively, select the desired clips, right-click and GROUP them, so they will all move in concert when any one of them is dragged.

If a clip is typical video and audio linked together, then deleting video will also affect the audio, to keep it in sync.  If it UNlinked - perhaps a music track - then audio and video will be independent so deleting portions of one won't affect the other.

For some good tips check out the tutorials.

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Wow!  Both of those actions were things I thought I'd tried and they didn't work.  But this time both worked splendidly.  

What I'm doing is:  I'm working on a Halloween play involving seances.  At one point there will be spirits gathering--a projection of spirit-like wraiths on a darkened wall--and  voices, beginning faint and distant, growing louder, more and more voices, overlapping so none are really intelligible.  So I've got like 4 tracks so far, been recording them on Zoom.  The first one I did I opened a Zoom video file instead of "audio only", so there is a video accompanying Track 1.  It's just black.  Will that present a problem at any point?  Is there any way to get rid of the video track?  For this purpose I won't be using any video, but at some time in future I might want to make a single presentation of it, the "spirits" and the voices.  Guess I could just overlay the "spirits" video, without sound, eh?

I so much appreciate your guidance!  This is really quite a lot of fun--

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If importing video files, like ZOOM, they will have a video track even if there's no video.

Once a file is in the bin, right-click it there and Save Audio Clip as New File

If video won't be needed, delete the import under the Video tab and work with the new WAV file under the Audio tab.  The original on the PC won't be touched.

The newly created WAV files are saved to your PC's Music folder.

Should you want to get fancy, use a program like Mixpad to create a final mix that can be imported to Videopad.  Or simply mix them in Videopad by varying volume levels and applying audio effects.

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I am bit by bit figuring things out.  A question:  Is there a distinction between "Amplify" and "Volume" in the FX box?  Both say they adjust the volume of the clip; Amplify works with "gain".  Also there is the little slider to the left of the tracks.  

My husband thinks that "gain" will make a permanent change, whereas "volume" will only change what I hear now, but that when the file is exported it will return to full volume.  I suppose the idea is that one would adjust the volume during playback; but I'd like to be able to change the volume of one relative to the others.  Can I do that?

Can I bring multiple clips, which are all on one track, into the window to work on Fade In?  I could do them one at a time, but easier to do as one track.

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If you truly want to fade in a number of clips on a single track...

Click the FX icon on one of the clips and choose the FADE IN effect.  Then, for each of the other clips to be faded in, right-click on them and APPLY LAST USED EFFECT.

VP will prompt for a duration for each.  That effect, in reality, is a transition.

The words Gain and Volume are synonymous.  However, the volume slider to the left of a track affects all clips on the track.

The AMPLIFY audio effect is usually applied to only a single clip.  Either of these actions will persist in export.

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ok...I guess this is working.  So I've got like 3 clips on this track:  5 seconds and 8 seconds and 30 seconds.  I want the fade-in to start at the beginning of the first clip, and conclude part-way through the 3rd clip.   I think that's happening if I say "from the start of the clip, duration 28 seconds".  Is that how it's supposed to works, or am I being delusional?

 

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No.  A fade applies to a single clip.

Click the + sign to the right of the Sequence 1 tab above the thumbnails to open a new, blank sequence 2.  Add the desired clips to this new sequence 2.              Apply individual transitions (except an ending transition) and effects if desired, but not the fade.

Click the Sequence 1 tab. Delete the clips that you composed in sequence two, if necessary.  Place the cursor where you want the sequence two content to be inserted.

In the bin (top-left), click the Sequences tab.  Right-click on Sequence two and Place On Sequence At Cursor.

Now the clips that were assembled in Sequence 2 are a single clip.  Apply the FADE IN for :28 and add transitions between clips if desired.

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I have finished the first draft of this project and exported it and played it back, with major problems.

I have 9 audio tracks and one video (they are overlapping voices, of "spirits", coming closer).  In the export the video is not visible.  I return to the project in VideoPad, play it, yes I see the video, export it again, same thing.

The other thing is that the audio, every track, is extremely louder in the export than when I return to VideoPad and view it there.  I'm not clear how to estimate the final volume.  The tracks are supposed to start low and increase in volume toward the end.  I've dealt variously with the different tracks to make this happen; some I Fade In, some I adjust the Gain or the Volume or turn down the volume bar at the left end of the track.  And the voices are added one by one, so the cumulative sound should be greater.  Even in VideoPad, it is bonking up against the red microphone bar by the end; I know it has to be softer.  In the export, the whole thing is too loud.

I didn't have either problem with the other videos I have made (only 2).  Can you advise?

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What version of Videopad is being used?  Look at the left-bottom corner of the window.   Install this one.  What are the export settings?

Someone here will be glad to take a look at the project and come up with a fix if you take a few minutes to share it.  It's not difficult;  just follow these steps closely...

  •     Back up --- With your project on the timeline, click on MENU at the top-left.  Click FILE|BACK UP PROJECT FILES TO FOLDER.  Choose a folder and SELECT FOLDER.
  •     Upload ---  Use a free server - Google Drive, MS OneDrive, etc.* - to upload the saved, numbered FOLDER.    Do NOT upload the individual VPJ or export file. 
  •     Get link --- Get a public link.  If using Google Drive click GET SHAREABLE LINK. If necessary change "restricted" to "anyone with the link can view" 
  •     Share ---     Click COPY LINK | DONE.  Paste that link here, or click the folder at the top-right of this forum to message it privately to me.  It won't be shared.

          *    Before uploading, right-click the folder, click PROPERTIES.  Look at the File Size to confirm that it's not too big for the free space on the server.

And, of course, Save Project File AS routinely, giving it a unique # or name, so as not to overwrite prior saves.  Using Save Project Files (no AS) will overwrite.  From the HOME tab, that choice is available by clicking the chevron to the right of the Save Project button on the toolbar.

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I'm working on loading up the project, hope to send that soon.  My version is 8.99, which you recommended last spring when I was having problems with my previous version.  I've never had this problem (no video); I've done 2 major projects and 3 or 4 monologues.  

Also:  I find that when I save this project and re-open it, all 9 audio tracks have been combined into one!  I had hoped to be able to tinker with them individually some more!  Would they have stayed separate if I had them before I saved the project?

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ok, first, shamefacedly:  the "combined tracks" are operator idiocy.  Only Track 1 was visible, and I couldn't seem to access any other tracks; but they were in there.  Please forget I asked that.

Here is the link to a folder, which apparently contains all the versions I have saved of this project.  (I couldn't find the capacity of the server, sorry!)  Look for "Voices 9 = add video!"

(artistic disclaimer:  the video is a rough draft; there will be many more images, so that they run 3/second probably)  Starts in black.)

 https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19z8y-vorN6-wMbcNupJUOEhQGCCeeZlP?usp=sharing

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Only the Voices 9 VPJ was available - a single project - but It's tough to tell what's going on...

The source AVI and mp4 video/audio files are all a dark screen with an audio bell near the start followed by voices.  Only Cat Butcher loads on the timeline.

Of the audio-only files, two WAVs loaded, but none of the mp4 files are recognized.  The mp4 container normally houses audio and video streams, but no video is displayed on the source files when viewed in a PC media player.  (The files can be converted to audio only.)   Most of the mp4s have the same bell at the head, followed by voices.

The ISQ file would have to be converted into a format that VP recognizes.

So, sorry, but at this juncture there's little we can do until a valid project is submitted.

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Oh my god.  I don't understand a tenth of what you just said, but it doesn't sound good.  I returned to the project in VideoPad--it is a cacophony of voices; in the project I was looking at, a video was visible on the Video track and in the window (slender white "spirit" figures in a jerky animation).  I exported the project straight into Google Drive, got a new link, put it into my browser, and played it.  The voices were about what I would expect (it is way too loud and must be adjusted); I heard many different voices, I think all the ones I imported.  I did not hear a bell at the start.  No video was visible.  That link is here:  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UKfTYPhmgWvJVWC2F6sjHR5Hw_egz_6P/view?usp=sharing

I obtained the voices on Zoom, recording them to my computer:  either reading lines myself, or recording passages from YouTube.  I took the "audio_only" output and brought those files into VideoPad.  I think they are all .m4a.  

The missing video came from:  I photographed a drawing as it evolved:  shoot/draw/shoot/draw/shoot, resulting in 28 photographs, which I made negative and put in one folder.  I used "Add Images as Video" to make the file which I brought into the Video track.  I did the same thing with a different video last month, and it worked beautifully.

So.  Now what?  What should I be doing that I am not?

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All your files that contain video, including the linked mp4 above, look like this at the head - then pure black... 

image.png

If the project plays on the timeline with video and all the intended audio tracks, then it should save (not EXPORT)...  Click Menu (top-left) FILE, then BACK UP PROJECT FILES TO FOLDER.  Note where it's going to be saved and click SELECT FOLDER.  The new numbered folder you just saved needs to be uploaded to Google.

If video is simply a single file (slender white "spirit" figures in a jerky animation), upload it alone and link here.  What is the name of that file?                The 'bells' may have been a sync mark, and edited out.  They are not heard on the timeline.

Don't see how you got the m4a files into VP, as they wouldn't load here.  After conversion to mp3, all did load and the timeline appears to reflect what you intended.  Several audio clips have an AMPLIFY 100%, or multiples of that effect applied.  But an amplify 100% does nothing.  The slider must be moved to either lower or raise the volume.  Delete the effect or move the slider.  Use no more than a single AMPLIFY effect for each clip.

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Hi

Your clip is as Borate describes - Multiple voices getting more complex and louder but the video is just black apart from the start where a faint grey area is noted. No bell sound. How did you create your spirit video clip?  One way around this is if the audio is as you want it  create a new sequence of the timeline by clicking the + that follows Sequence 1 x  then opening the Sequence bin and then Save Sequence Audio as a New File. Create a new Spirit clip and combine it with the new audio.

Nat

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