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Need help on movie maker mystery please...

by TimothyW
11 replies
Ok -- I've been making movie maker movies just fine for a few years now.

All of what I'm going to describe is all using the same computer, same camera, same memory card, same card reader, etc.

That's what makes this such a mystery.

Ok -- here's the procedure I (always) use... Take video using camera. Put card in card reader. Save clip to computer. Import into win mov maker. Edit etc.. "Make" into movie. Upload to youtube, etc.

Works fine.

Now here's the mystery...

Suddenly clips do not have audio component. More mysterious is what could be causing it, because I've tried various things:

Older clips that were saved still work fine (when I now import them into a movie maker project)

New clips that I just made now also work fine.

The clips that do not work fine were all filmed around the same time -- and they *DO* have audio when I play them on the camera, AND when I play them on my comp, when I have copied them onto my comp (form mem. card), AND they play fine after I have imported them into the "collections" section of the movie maker project -- *BUT* as soon as I drag them into the story line>>> NO AUDIO COMPONENT!

I've tried to duplicate the problem + every time, it all turns out FINE.

So what's the (bleeding) difference on those particular clips?!?!

Please advise.

-- TW
#maker #movie #mystery
  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    I don't know an exact answer to your problem, but can you "see" the audio track in the timeline view?

    If so, right click on the audio track make sure it is not muted. Secondly, click the volume option and crank it up to maximum, see if you hear something then.

    That would be my starting point. You could try ripping the audio track from the video and then brining it back into the video as an additional audio track, but it could make it hard to get everything synced properly.
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  • Profile picture of the author imediazone
    Banned
    What movie maker are you using, the one from windows 7? If yes then there is a compatbility problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    Thanks for the suggestions.

    Here's more info -- that makes the mystery MORE strange!

    First, I'm using xp, not 7.

    the clips DO work properly on another comp. (also xp).

    no, I do not see the audio track on the time line.
    But, again, I DO see the audio track on other (older) clips (using the same/normal procedure), and I DO see the audio track on clips I make now, using the same overall procedure.

    When I look at the properties on the clips that do not work, I don't see the audio properties listed. But they DO play the audio on the camera AND everywhere else, INCLUDING when the clip is sitting in the collections section of movie maker.

    The problem seems to happen only when I insert these particular clips INTO the time line -- AND these same clips DO work in another comp.

    Any ideas.

    I'm perplexed.

    -- TW
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    • Profile picture of the author Rick TVG
      Just a stab in the dark, but sounds as though the audio sampling/bitrate of the recording was snafu'd to something WMM/WMV doesn't like. I get clips from others that work fine in various "players" but the audio won't "carry" over to nle - although usually it's some screen capture thing - and the audio has some terrible 1khz/1bit sample sate, no idea how "they" get them to turn out that way, but it requires a few magic-wand steps using other apps to get it back to something that "works" as an audio codec below a video track.

      Don't know what camera you use, what (if any) audio configs it has, and it could be just "one of the mysteries of the universe", but since there's audio "somewhere" it can be resolved - bow good it sounds, that's another story.
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  • Profile picture of the author bcturner
    Yeah - this happened to me too
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  • Profile picture of the author bcturner
    The support isn't too good
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    I suddenly had an idea that I'm gonna try out. I'll report back later -- I hope it works!

    The difference between these clips + other clips is, I saved these clips to my computer IN BUNCHES (cntrl + shift), and the other clips (that DO work properly), I saved to my computer ONE BY ONE.

    Let's see if that is the answer.

    -- TW
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    EUREKA! That seems to make the difference, so far. If that does NOT solve the problem, then I'll post that here. But, so far, so good!

    Hope this thread helps others w/ same prob.!

    PS: I don't know WHY this makes a difference (and it SHOULDN'T make a difference -- copying a file is copying a file -- no?), but it does seem to make a difference!

    UPDATE -- YES! That was the difference. when I saved the clips FROM the mem. card TO my comp. IN BUNCHES (cntrl + shift), THOSE clips did not function properly when imported into the movie maker story line (they DO work fine EVERYWHERE ELSE! -- including when previewed IN movie maker in the 'collections' section).

    When I copy the clips from card to comp. ONE BY ONE, then those clips work fine even in the WMM storyline section.

    Whew!
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  • Profile picture of the author EA
    Have you tried to re-install the software or have you tried a different movie maker?
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyW
    What software would you recommend (not too pricey)?

    I have a program called Dazzle that I haven't installed yet. From the box, it doesn't seem too much more advanced than WMM.

    BTW, I'm using an older version of WMM -- on an older xp machine (optiplex 280).

    Also, I am looking for software that would include the ability to make pretty much endless scrolling titles where I can simply cut + paste the just-plain text into it (not the little squares that the WMM scrolling titles requires). Any suggestions?
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  • Profile picture of the author EA
    I think you should try this TimothyW - on your soundcard plug the audio line into "Line in.", then go to Control Panel, Sounds and Audio Devices, find Volume and then find the advance button from there select options, after that click on Properties, next step is to click the "Recording Button" and make sure to select "In-Line" on the next panel. I'm not sure about other type of Software, just search google to find one that could work with what you are trying to accomplish with it.
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