How do you get better timing/syncing of video clips & music

[kiyablossom]

How can get better timing/syncing of video clips with the music in Windows Movie Maker (WMM)

When ever I make an amv, the most difficult part is always getting perfect (or close to perfect) timing in WMM. When I want a certain clip to start at a certain point in a song, I usually spend a lot of time trimming the clip, .07 seconds at a time to get as close to great timing as possible, but sometimes this does not work. I saw in an amv making tutorial once to use the "spikes" on the Audio/Music bar under the timeline view and trim the clips to a certain point on the Audio/Music bar but the clips are still not beginning/ending in sync with the song. Eventually I do get good timing but sometimes it takes hours just to get 20 seconds of an amv done. Is there anyway i can cut down on the time I spend on getting great/good timing? I use Window Vista's version of WMM.

[Kariudo]

A few hours to get 20 seconds done actually sounds pretty fast to me...but onto the topic at hand.

WMM can't go down to edit frame-by-frame (for whatever reason,) which makes syncing harder than it needs to be. To get around it, I'd make your clips with virtualdub (or vdubmod.) This will let you make your cuts on the frame that you want. Then I'd imagine you just plop them on the timeline. With a little luck, WMM will pace the clip right after your previous clip so there isn't a frame or two of black (perhaps storyboard mode would work then.)

Another trick you might find useful is to make a copy of the last 1 or 2 frames of your clips (and perhaps the first 1 or 2 frames as well.) It shouldn't have a visible impact on the motion in your video, but it can save you a lot of grief if you just need to push a cut back by just a hair.

[kiyablossom]

A few hours to get 20 seconds done actually sounds pretty fast to me...but onto the topic at hand.

WMM can't go down to edit frame-by-frame (for whatever reason,) which makes syncing harder than it needs to be. To get around it, I'd make your clips with virtualdub (or vdubmod.) This will let you make your cuts on the frame that you want. Then I'd imagine you just plop them on the timeline. With a little luck, WMM will pace the clip right after your previous clip so there isn't a frame or two of black (perhaps storyboard mode would work then.)

Another trick you might find useful is to make a copy of the last 1 or 2 frames of your clips (and perhaps the first 1 or 2 frames as well.) It shouldn't have a visible impact on the motion in your video, but it can save you a lot of grief if you just need to push a cut back by just a hair.

Does virtualdub work with .wmv format clips?

[Enigma]

A few hours to get 20 seconds done actually sounds pretty fast to me...but onto the topic at hand.

WMM can't go down to edit frame-by-frame (for whatever reason,) which makes syncing harder than it needs to be. To get around it, I'd make your clips with virtualdub (or vdubmod.) This will let you make your cuts on the frame that you want. Then I'd imagine you just plop them on the timeline. With a little luck, WMM will pace the clip right after your previous clip so there isn't a frame or two of black (perhaps storyboard mode would work then.)

Another trick you might find useful is to make a copy of the last 1 or 2 frames of your clips (and perhaps the first 1 or 2 frames as well.) It shouldn't have a visible impact on the motion in your video, but it can save you a lot of grief if you just need to push a cut back by just a hair.

Does virtualdub work with .wmv format clips?

There is a plugin for it, Just for Virtual Dub 1.81.+ , But you can always use DirectShowSource to open them in VirtualDub

[Kariudo]

not directly.

A quick, little avisynth script can fix that though.

Code: Select all

DirectShowSource("path_to_your_clip.wmv")

directshowsource isn't frame-accurate though...which means you might not get clips that start &/or end when you think they should.

ffmpegsource is better