How to Add Audio to Video

Digital media is everywhere you look. Music and video production have made it to the grass roots level thanks to the affordability and widespread use of powerful computers.

Inexpensive digital video cameras are widely available, and older analog video cameras can be connected to a computer through a video card to download movies to the computer for editing, storage, and distribution to friends and relatives over the internet.

It has become fairly easy to edit your own videos, and there are many software packages available aimed at the amateur. The Windows operating system has its own video editing package called Windows Movie Maker that allows you to produce professional-looking videos.

As you explore this exciting new world, you will inevitably come up with the need to edit the audio portion of your video file. The sound quality of most video cameras is not great, so you may want to process the sound or replace it all together with music or voice-overs.

It is very easy to separate the audio from the video. Free software packages that do this task include Windows Media Encoder from Microsoft (if you are working with WMV video files) and VirtualDub (if you are working with AVI files). Either of these programs (and many others) allow you to save the audio portion of video file quickly and easily. Once you have your audio file, you can process it for noise reduction, bring up the volume, add music or do any digital magic to it that you desire.

With many video editing packages, however, it isn't necessary to split the audio to a separate file. Even simple packages like Windows Movie Maker have basic audio editing functions, and you can add separate music or voice tracks and mix all of them together.

If you have a particular audio file that you would like to use in your video (maybe a special effect or a voice over that you have recorded separately) simply add that file to the list of media to be included in the video. Other media formats can be separate video files, picture files or graphics.

The audio file can be placed anywhere on the time-line, and you can use the same file many times without requiring any extra storage space on your computer. For precise placement, zoom all the way into your timeline and place the audio exactly in sync with the video. That's it! You are well on your way to making professional-looking videos!

Hans is editor of the Audio Howto Section of the Selected Audio Review Guide

In The News:


Android Community

Spotify music streaming heads to Australia and New Zealand
Android Community
The popular digital music streaming service Spotify that we love here at Android Community is headed to a few more countries. Starting today Spotify will be available in Australia and New Zealand for users to enjoy their wide array of over 16 million ...
Spotify all-you-can-eat music service launches in NZNational Business Review
Spotify launches in OzInside Retailing
Spotify finally goes live in AustraliaZDNet Australia
CNET Australia -Register -Marketing magazine Australia
all 128 news articles »

Geeky gadgets

The playGo AP1 Wirelessly Streams High-Fidelity Audio from iOS Devices to Any ...
ParamusPost.com
playGo AP1 is an AirPlay®-enabled receiver that wirelessly streams audio from iOS devices to speaker systems through Wi-Fi or Ethernet. Providing true Hi-Fi quality and plug-and-play usability, the playGo AP1 is a fully featured audio player platform ...
Bicom turns to Kickstarter to fund its new playGo AP1 AirPlay deviceEngadget
playGo AP1 AirPlay Wireless Lossless Audio Receiver Hits Kickstarter (video)Geeky gadgets

all 3 news articles »

Brisbane Times

High rise 'tops out' in CBD
Brisbane Times
Websites in the Fairfax Digital Network offer streaming video and audio in the Flash format. Streaming media allows you to watch video on a website as a continuous feed, as opposed to waiting for an entire audio or video file to download to your ...

and more »

The Nation, Pakistan

Adele wins 12 Billboard Music awards
The Nation, Pakistan
It was another night of triumph for Adele who won 12 trophies at this year's Billboard music awards in Los Angeles. The London-born singer was named Top Artist, Top Female Artist and Top Pop Artis. Rolling In The Deep was named Top Streaming Song ...
Check Out A Full List of This Years 2012 Billboard Music Awards Winners HERE!PerezHilton.com
BILLBOARD ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF “THE 2012 BILLBOARD MUSIC AWARDS”TVbytheNumbers
Adele, LMFAO win bigToronto Sun

all 967 news articles »

RedOrbit

RIM unveils audio streaming service BlackBerry Music Gateway
Network World
By Chris Martin, TechWorld The small near-field communication (NFC) enabled gadget allows users to wirelessly stream music to a hi-fi, car stereo or other audio sources. The BlackBerry Music Gateway will be available in June with a US price of $49.
BlackBerry Music Gateway Uses NFC to Stream AudioPCWorld
BlackBerry Music Gateway: Streaming So Simple Your Grandma Could Do ItMashable
BlackBerry Enters Music Streaming Market: Too Little, Too Late?RedOrbit
CNET -ITBusiness.ca
all 2,245 news articles »

VisualOn Integrates New Streaming Standard at the Cable Show 2012
MarketWatch (press release)
SANTA CLARA, Calif. and BOSTON, May 21, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- VisualOn, Inc., a multimedia software company that provides solutions enabling high quality video and audio on any mobile platform, announced today that it has incorporated ...

and more »

Gamasutra

In-depth: Playing (with) video
Gamasutra
Well, you have to make sure that the video is encoded correctly, that the library works on all platforms and plays nice with your memory, file, sound and streaming abstractions, and that the audio and video doesn't desynchronize, which for some ...


Man saved after Niagara Falls plunge
Brisbane Times
Websites in the Fairfax Digital Network offer streaming video and audio in the Flash format. Streaming media allows you to watch video on a website as a continuous feed, as opposed to waiting for an entire audio or video file to download to your ...

and more »

Brisbane Times

Cranes to refloat Concordia wreck
Brisbane Times
Websites in the Fairfax Digital Network offer streaming video and audio in the Flash format. Streaming media allows you to watch video on a website as a continuous feed, as opposed to waiting for an entire audio or video file to download to your ...

and more »

MOH Technology Simplifies Direct Audio Streaming for Cisco Unified CallManager ...
MarketWatch (press release)
The MOH Technology innovation is to IP-stream the on-hold content directly to VoIP phone systems such as Asterisk and CallManager, using a low-cost IP audio device that is separate from the VoIP server -- thus avoiding the need to update files on the ...

and more »
Google News

Why I Hate Flash Audio and What I Did About It

I love spoken-word audio. I've been listening to seminars, lectures,... Read More

7 Ways to Use Website Audio in Your Marketing Arsenal

Most visitors to your website are using computers with audio... Read More

Dont Use Web Audio The Wrong Way

Have you ever wrestled with a set of instructions, but... Read More

Creating Web Content Using Audio Recordings of Expert Interviews

Creating Web Content Using Audio Recordings of Expert Interviews The... Read More

Teleseminars, Audio Downloads, Podcasts: Listen Up So You?ll Learn and Earn More

Internet Marketers love audio. You can't blame them. They used... Read More

WAV; Useful Applications; Recording Your Tapes or L.P.s to CD

My first article about digital recording that I have had... Read More

Alternatives to MP3

Although MP3 is the most popular format for encoding music,... Read More

What The Muscle Power of Audio Can Do for Your Site

How Audio can Influence SalesAudio can enhance your website by... Read More

CD/DVD Master Preparation Tips

"CD/DVD Master" is the disc you provide to your CD/DVD... Read More

How to Use Your Computer as a Recording Studio

A few years ago there was a revolution in recording... Read More

Eight Reasons Why You Must Add Audio to Your Website

NUMBER 1 : INTERNET USERS REMEMBER WHAT THEY HEAR Did... Read More

Why Publishing MP3 Can Cost You A Fortune

This was news to me. It might be news to... Read More

Get Personal by Adding Your Voice to Your Site

Many customers in today's online business world are shopping around... Read More

MP3 vs. WMA

There are just a few audio compression formats out there,... Read More

Why Arent You Using Audio?

As use of the Internet continues to grow geometrically, we... Read More

Audio Websites -- Web Developers: Make Money Now

Are you a website developer looking to establish a long-term... Read More

7 Ways to Use AUDIO to Increase Your Web and E-mail Sales

Thought about adding audio to your Web site yet? You... Read More

The Ten Commandments of Using Streaming Audio On Your Website

When it comes to placing audio on your website there... Read More

How To Record Streaming Audio, Internet Radio And

When it comes to music on the Internet, you have... Read More

Streaming Audio Recorders

1. i-Sound WMA MP3 Recorder 6.x - On Sale www.abyssmedia.comi-Sound... Read More

Seven Ways to Warm Your Prospects Using Website Audio

Gone are the days when putting audio on your website... Read More

Heres Exactly What Makes Web Audio So Powerful

Have you ever tried to communicate with another person using... Read More

Internet Radio: A Sanctuary in the Rubbish Tip

The internet, it's a whole world of information and entertainment,... Read More

DVD Audio: An Introduction

DVD Audio is a music format that is designed to... Read More

Jingles - What Constitutes A Successful Jingle Campaign?

What constitutes a successful jingle campaign? In this article we... Read More