Subject:Please help ----

Posted by: lnelson86

Date:1/15/2003 10:49:42 PM

Hi. I was wondering if someone could explain to me if Acid Pro 4.0 will do this --- I have a music clip that is not on a CD --- does this program enable you to save what is coming out of the speakers? or not? If so, do you then burn it to a CD to be inputted into a home movie? Any help is grealy appreciated.
Thanks. Linda

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:1/15/2003 11:39:32 PM

Hello Linda,

If you select something like "What U Hear" or "Monitor Mixer" as your type of input for recording, you should be able to record something that's playing in, say, Windows Media Player. Is this what you were referring to?

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: lnelson86

Date:1/16/2003 5:28:53 AM

Yes. Is this done through Acid Pro 4??? So do you need any specific hardware? Also, will it be able to be burned to a CD from there? Do you know how the quality is? Would the quality make a difference on the type of speakers I have --- if so, what are good speakers?
Thanks --- Linda

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: dkistner

Date:1/16/2003 5:54:13 AM

Linda, when you say "music clip not on a CD," what do you mean? Is it a file on your computer, in a format like .mp3 or .wav? What's the file extension? What happens if you try to just open the file in Acid? You shouldn't have to re-record it, if it's one of the common audio formats that Acid can read. FYI, .wav files are much higher quality than .mp3, and 32-bit waves are better to work with than 16-bit ones, quality-wise...although you have to downsample to 16-bit if you want to burn them to audio CD.

If it's on a cassette tape, you're going to have to get it recorded to a file on your computer. You can do that by running a line-in into your computer's sound card and recording it into an audio program (Acid will do it, I think; Cool Edit does) as a .wav.

If you don't have Acid already, download the demo and play with it some. Open an .mp3 file. Open a .wav file (you've got waves in your Windows media directory--the sounds that you hear when you turn on your computer). Try to open your own music clip. But remember: In Acid, once a "track" (file) is loaded, you have to paint it onto the timeline at the right before you can hear it. You can do that quickly (with snap and the paint tool icons both pushed in) by Ctrl-clicking at the start of the empty track. You also need to have your Acid Options set up correctly so your soundcard will play it.

A lot depends on what you want to do. Are you just wanting to put together a simple home movie to share with family and friends? Are you going to mail it out on CD as Christmas presents of something, or will you be keeping it on your computer/putting it on the web? Acid does burn to CD; it does allow you to arrange audio and video--although I've never used its video capabilities. If you haven't bought anything yet, and you plan to do a lot of movies and maybe even start your own business doing it, then you probably should look at Vegas Video instead.

You've got quite a learning curve ahead of you, looks like. I hope your clip sounds exactly like you want it to sound already...because, if not, you're going to need an audio editor (like Cool Edit 2000, n-Track Studio, Sound Forge). No getting around this if you're going to be doing any amount of audio/video work. It's essential. For something simple to share with family and friends, however, it may not be that important to you that it's "professionally done." (But, warning, you might just find yourself getting hooked on this.)

Diane

P.S. I just noticed when I updated XP online that they have some movie-making thing they've added. I don't know how it works because I don't make movies, but I expect it's geared toward home hobbyists who want to put together simple movies.

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: lnelson86

Date:1/16/2003 6:47:34 AM

Thanks for your relies.
I found a sample music clip that I would like to add to my home movie --- it is just a sample clip that plays on the computer --- is there anyway to capture that??? Is there a way to do this --- it is just for our home video.

Also, I would like to capture our daughter playing the piano --- just the music and then add to her movie. Would I have to use a cassette tape? If so, is there one that produces quality sound --- any suggestions?
Many thanks. Linda

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: coolout

Date:1/16/2003 7:25:04 AM

this is kinda out of the parameters for acid. more of a vegas question.

if all you want to do is:

1. take a home movie that on a non-digital format (8mm or vhs-c), put it in your computer, add a music bed, and then spit it back out. you'll need a video capture PCI card or USB device to get your footage into your computer. they often come with a basic video editing program that will allow you to create a music bed from a wav file. if the music you want to add is not in a wav format (from another program, mp3, or streamed off the web) you can use a shareware program like Audiograbber that records any sound playing through your computer into a wav file. then you can use a cd burning application like Nero to burn your movie (in mpeg or avi format) to a VCD...then your home movie can be played on just about any DVD player or computer.

2. or if you have a nice new DV camcorder and a firewire card in your computer you can really get fancy and get Vegas Video (there's my SOFO plug). digitally transfer your footage in Vegas, add cool effects and transitions, throw in your music bed(s), and then burn your VCD in all in Vegas or render it as a mpeg-2 and burn it as a real DVD (w/ chapters, a menu, surround) provided you have a DVD burner, software, and deep pockets.

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: dkistner

Date:1/16/2003 11:25:29 AM

Linda, if my private reply to you didn't answer this question, ask again. Do some reading first.

Also, remember to be sure the sample clip you want to use is not copyrighted. You can get into mega-trouble by using copyrighted material without permission. Of course, if you're only doing it to show to your family, it's not very likely you'd get caught...but, still, better safe than sorry.

Diane

Subject:RE: Please help ----

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:1/16/2003 10:42:22 PM

Hi again Linda,

Basically, if your soundcard has the ability to use its own software output as an input for recording, you should be all set. Most soundcards have this ability.

You'd just select something like "What U Hear" (typical for Sound Blaster cards) or "Monitor Mixer" as the type of input via the Record window and just start playing the clip via Windows Media Player (for example).

(You might want to specifically select your soundcard's drivers on the Audio tab under Options>Preferences on the menu bar before attempting all this.)

The quality will all depend on the original source. What you hear is what you'll usually get.

As Diane noted, be careful with copyrighted material.

Capturing your daughter's playing and adding it to her movie sounds like a job for Vegas, per coolout's suggestion. However, if you have the movie all set and ready to go, ACID Pro can import one video track to score to. Compatible formats include AVI, Quicktime, and Windows Media Video.

HTH,
Iacobus