Problems using SF to edit audio

D Brown wrote on 8/4/2011, 8:35 PM

Problems using Sound Forge 9 to edit audio track of Vegas Pro 9 video
Summary of problems:
1. The audio length in SF (Sound Forge 9) is not the same as in Vegas Pro 9.
2. The edited audio from Sound Forge does not update Vegas.
3. Do I need to combine audio from clips to a "single clip" so noise reduction edits in SF can be applied equally to all the audio?
Original video source:
• DVD video created by a Panasonic DVR from input from an inexpensive CCTV "security" camera with audio.
• 8 hours long recording.
• DVD has three ".VOB" files. Example: VTS_01_1.VOB, VTS_01_2.VOB …
Video import to Vegas:
4. Vegas did not recognize the ".VOB" files as acceptable video. Also Vegas "Import" "DVD Camera Disk…" would not import the video.
5. Changed file name extent of the three video files from ".VOB" to ".MPEG".
6. First renamed video file (VTS_01_1.MPEG) was apparently corrupt and would not be recognized by Vegas. The other two were accepted by Vegas a valid video files and could be added to the time line.
7. Used FixVTS to fix the first video file. Had to change the file name extent to ".MPG" for FixVTS. New file name: VTS_01_1.MPG. Vegas accepted the fixed video file.
8. The three video sources (VTS_01_1.MPG, VTS_01_2.MPEG and VTS_01_3.MPEG) were copied to the Vegas time line. This yielded one video track and one audio track composed of three clips. The tracks were the same length (about 8 hours long).
Video editing:
9. Audio normalization was done in Vegas on the whole audio track.
10. Areas of interest were identified by inserting markers with labels at the start and finish of each area. There were 14 areas of interest.
11. The 14 areas were copied as clips from the original video and audio tracks to new tracks and moved together at time zero. The result was about 22 minutes of video with audio (00:21:46;08).
12. The original 8 hour video and audio tracks were deleted from the project.
Attempted audio editing:
13. There was background 60 Hz hum in the CCTV camera audio.
14. From Vegas, "Open in Sound Forge" was used to copy the audio to SF.
15. The length of the audio (and video) in SF was about 2 hours 53 minutes (02:52:31.392). Why was the audio copy in SF not the same length as the total length of the 14 clips in Vegas?
16. All the audio clips in SF were selected and Noise Reduction was performed. Was the noise reduction actually done on all the clips, or does it have to be done on each clip separately?
17. Closing the clips in SF or exiting from SF did not result in the edited audio track being added to Vegas as a new audio track. As far as I can tell, the edit also did not transfer back to the existing audio track in Vegas.
18. Tried saving the edited audio from SF (as an MP3 file) and then loading the edited auto into Vegas. The audio from SF was not the correct length. The audio was about 2 hours 53 minutes rather than the about 22 minute length of the pre-edit audio track of the video clips in Vegas.
How to make noise reduction:
19. How do I make the noise reduction? I want the reduced noise to be the same level in all of the clips so the remaining noise that is heard is consistent in amplitude.
20. Is there a way to group or join the audio clips into one clip so normalization and noise reduction will be consistent across all the audio portion of the clips? I assume rendering the clips to create a new single "clip" is not the best way since there would be a loss of quality in the process.

Comments

musicvid10 wrote on 8/4/2011, 9:09 PM

I have spent about twenty minutes trying to decipher this post, and although I'm convinced your intentions are sincere, the only impression I can draw from your '95 Theses' is "Jabberwocky."

This impression is not drawn lightly. I have been using both applications professionally for nearly a decade; and with verifiable success, without any of the anomalies you seem to describe.

So let's begin by taking it one question at a time:
1) Assuming the properties in both applications are set correctly (i.e., matching the properties of the media itself), the length of the media in each application (assuming you mean "as a function of time"), are identical.
2) If opened by "Open in Sound Forge" or "Open copy in Sound Forge" from within the Vegas application, upon saving in Sound Forge, the edited file will be saved either destructively, or as a new take in Vegas, respectively.
3) The media is what is opened by one of the means described immediately above, not the event.. If you want to open more than one media or one or more events at a time, you will need to render them. PVR material usually needs to be re-indexed in a third-party utility such as VideoRedo.
4) Vegas does not import copy-protected media, period. Nor is this the appropriate venue to ask such questions, as many of the professionals here make a portion of their livelihoods from producing and distributing copyrighted video content.
5) OK?

Beyond that, someone else will need to pick up where I left off. I seem to be getting very sleepy, as the remainder of your edict has become rather blurry before these aged and addled eyes . . .
;?|

rraud wrote on 8/5/2011, 9:07 AM

I just got up and after reading the post I'm cross-eyed.
Perhaps ask one of two related questions at a time.
So I'll 'attempt' to explain #1 which may answer a few

"1. The audio length in SF (Sound Forge 9) is not the same as in Vegas Pro 9"

Selecting an Event and using "Open in audio editor" (audio editor= Sound Forge if set to default) The entire event file will be opened regardless of the selected event's length. Any editing on this file will be destructive. So Save-as and replace the file, or copy the file beforehand.

> On the other hand, Selecting an Event and using "Open " makes a copy of ONLY the Event's media and duration, which will be the exact length it is on the timeline in Vegas) After saving in SF a new file is inserted over the top of the original event as "Take 2" (and so on if redone) and is added to the media pool)