Need to do a specific editing task...which software to buy?

Mountain T
Member

I am in the market to purchase some new editing software. I want to be able to mix two different videos into one, especially the audio portions. I have some old VHS videos of a band I used to play with. Both videos are about 20 years old and have deteriorated some. First I want to clean them up as much as possible. I probably can't do much with the video portion, but I understand that audio can be cleaned up some. Second I want to be able to combine the audio from the two different videos. One of the videos has good vocal audio and terrible instrumental audio, and the other video has good instrument audio and bad vocal audio. I think matching up the two will be a challenge. One problem I see is that these concert video's were recorded on different nights, so most likely the tempo is slightly different. Considering that the pitch and speed could be slightly different between the two videos, I need editing software with the ability to correct this so everything matches up perfectly. A slight bit of audio tweeking, if you will. Any suggestions? I've just started researching editing software. There are a bunch to choose from, Pinnacle Studio 11, Vegas, Adobe, and a host of others. Does anyone have any personal knowledge of any of these or any other software that will do what I need it to do? Thanks.

Posted 4 years ago #
matjusm
Member

Combining audio from two different videos can be done with every editing program, including Windows Movie Maker. As for 'cleaning up' the video, well I suppose the color correction tools don't vary too much from program to program (that is, among the more professional ones). Adobe After Effects is an excellent general post production program so that'll probably offer you the most options in that area. Don't know about audio, I've never done what you need to do.
I would personally recommend Sony Vegas. It is easy to learn and use while at the same time also very professional. Avid Xpress Pro is also a rather popular program that I've had experience with but I don't recommend it at all. It takes far too long to learn and when you compare that to Vegas, you'll see that it is much harder to use so in my opinion it is a somewhat pointless program. In the end however, there isn't much difference in which program exactly you go for since all offer pretty much the same options.

Posted 4 years ago #
Mountain T
Member

Thanks for the input. It seems that Vegas is a well liked program. I'll check into it a little more. The biggest concern I have with mixing the two audio sources is matching up the tempo. Do the various editing softwares have the ability to slow down or speed up the audio without changing the pitch? It may not be a problem, but considering the two videos were shoot on different nights, it may be a problem.

Posted 4 years ago #
Mountain T
Member

FYI. After doing some research I find that many software applications have what's called a "time stretch" feature. This apparently enables you to match video time to audio time or vica-verca. You can stretch the length of your sound track to match you video without changing the pitch of the music. That's pretty cool. And that's exactly what I need. Now I just need to narrow down which software I want.

Posted 4 years ago #
birdcat
Moderator

I couldn't recommend Vegas any more highly - But for audio restoration, you might want to consider adding on Sony's Sound Forge or Adobe Audition - both are very well suited to your audio needs. Sound Forge will fit nicely into your workflow if you go the Vegas route.

Also, all Sony products have a 30 day free, full functionality trial - Download here: http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/download/step1.asp?catid=1
Bruce Paul
7Squared Productions
http://www.7squared.com

Posted 4 years ago #