Cut between two videos with a single sound track

[JF]

This may have been covered by others, but here's how I got this to work
inelegantly by trial and error if it's helpful for anyone. The problem is
how to 1) use a video + audio track, but then 2) cut to a different video
sometimes while 3) maintaining the same audio track and not getting the main
video and audio out of sync even though you're cutting/splicing in different
video sometimes.

****Video Cut Steps****
Put a copy of the main video into the regular video track at the top.
Put a copy of the main video into the Audio/Music track (to the far left).
Split main video where desired.
Insert other video into split, then split and remove beginning/trailing
unwanted video segments.
Get exact duration of the inserted video (properties) in seconds.
Get duration of the next mainline video in seconds (see properties).
Subtract inserted video duration time from mainline duration time, then add
0.05 second.
Zoom in all the way (PgUp/PgDn).
Trim left edge of main video by that time amount.
Put the vertical green timeline bar into your next/right segment.
Nudge the main video left/right (ctrl-shift-b or n) until main audio lines
up perfectly with 2nd audio track.
Mute the mainline audio to the left of your progress.
Save your work so far.
*****

The problem is that it's difficult to go back and re-edit anything
prior/left of your last edit point since you'll need to re-align the video
and audio tracks again. You might need to publish the video to a new single
file, then re-edit that one (that's what I had to do for this,

, which turned out good enough,
but with some glitches in the audio when I needed to go back and re-edit
since YouTube apparently doesn't allow videos longer than 10 minutes
anymore..).

If someone has a better method than the above, I would happy prefer to do
something else. Or if you have a recommendation for a different
free/inexpensive video editor that can do it all automatically (or easily)
that would be fine too, but otherwise I'd rather just use MovieMaker. Hope
these steps help! Thx

 

[John Inzer]

This may have been covered by others, but here's how I got this to
work inelegantly by trial and error if it's helpful for anyone. The
problem is how to 1) use a video + audio track, but then 2) cut to a
different video sometimes while 3) maintaining the same audio track
and not getting the main video and audio out of sync even though
you're cutting/splicing in different video sometimes.

****Video Cut Steps****
Put a copy of the main video into the regular video track at the top.
Put a copy of the main video into the Audio/Music track (to the far
left). Split main video where desired.
Insert other video into split, then split and remove
beginning/trailing unwanted video segments.
Get exact duration of the inserted video (properties) in seconds.
Get duration of the next mainline video in seconds (see properties).
Subtract inserted video duration time from mainline duration time,
then add 0.05 second.
Zoom in all the way (PgUp/PgDn).
Trim left edge of main video by that time amount.
Put the vertical green timeline bar into your next/right segment.
Nudge the main video left/right (ctrl-shift-b or n) until main audio
lines up perfectly with 2nd audio track.
Mute the mainline audio to the left of your progress.
Save your work so far.
*****

The problem is that it's difficult to go back and re-edit anything
prior/left of your last edit point since you'll need to re-align the
video and audio tracks again. You might need to publish the video to
a new single file, then re-edit that one (that's what I had to do for
this,

, which turned out
good enough, but with some glitches in the audio when I needed to go
back and re-edit since YouTube apparently doesn't allow videos longer
than 10 minutes anymore..).

If someone has a better method than the above, I would happy prefer
to do something else. Or if you have a recommendation for a different
free/inexpensive video editor that can do it all automatically (or
easily) that would be fine too, but otherwise I'd rather just use
MovieMaker. Hope these steps help! Thx

==================================
I noticed you used the word 'Publish' which
tells me you must be running Vista.

Your method is excellent. And...maybe the
following info will be useful also:

The following tutorial describes a simple
method for inserting still shots into a video
but inserting a video clip would work also.

A method to accomplish this was
previously posted by a contributor
named Ralphy.

Split your video clip on each side of the
area where the stills will be. Now...drag
the cut portion to the Audio/Music track.
BTW...If you wish to add a 5 second still...
remove 5 seconds of the video clip.
(info below on splitting if you need it)

Drag your still shots to the time line and
drop them in the location where you
removed the video.

The Audio clip on the Audio/Music track
can be dragged right or left to adjust it's
position.

More info on splitting....

"Splitting A Clip In MM2.1"

Drag the video/audio clip to the
Timeline.

Play the video/audio by clicking the
"Play" button under the view screen.

You will see the Playback Indicator
(vertical line) advancing across the
timeline.

Click the "Pause" button at the point
where you wish to trim and type...
Ctrl+L or click the "Split" button at the
bottom of the view screen.
(you can also make adjustments by
dragging the Playback Indicator)

Make as many splits as you want and
remove the unwanted clips by right
click / delete.

And...Movie Maker 2.1 only displays every
other frame. In order to see all frames, the
following info from PapaJohn may be useful:

===

Movie Maker 2 shows you every-other-frame
when doing project editing. MM1 and Movie
Maker in Vista show you each frame.

It's usually not a problem when skipping over
the in-between frames, but sometimes you
notice a flickering frame in a clip that is a 'stray',
and you can't see or cut it out.

If you apply the Slow - Down - Half video effect
to a clip in the timeline, you are then seeing
each frame rather than every other one. You
can see the problem frame and split it out.
Then remove the effect from the clip to return
it to normal.



--

J. Inzer MS-MVP
Digital Media Experience

Notice
This is not tech support
I am a volunteer

Solutions that work for
me may not work for you

Proceed at your own risk