exporting video selection problem

[Adam]

Hi there,

I'm currently completing sound design for a film. I'm in Cakewalk doing my audio edits and, I want to export selections of the sound/video from Cakewalk to the director for approval. After making my selection on the timeline, Cakewalk exports the entire video with the sound selection at the start of it! Pretty useless!  Please tell me I'm doing something wrong! I really don't want to have to export the audio, attach it myself in a video editor for each edit I make.  

Adam

[OutrageProductions]

If your video reference track was imported with SMPTE H|M|S|F burn-in or encoded AND your timeline is clocked in SMPTE (in addition to MBT or some other composing time base), then just save each sound selection as a Broadcast Wave file and it will be timestamped so that the music editor can lock it to picture at the exact location that you intend. Export Tracks or Busses [not Entire Mix] in order to make stems for spotting on the film mixing stage. I do stems and snippets and cues all the time and the Vancouver & LA stages never have any issue locking back to the dailies or mix sled.

Good luck.

[Adam]

Thanks for your input, but, not realy helpful.  I simply want Cakewalk to export the video selection in sync with the audio selection I've chosen.  I am aware of timestamping: I'm hoping to send 4-5 versions of the same take with different audio options for each version.  I'm aware the director could import my audio output themselves, but, this will slow the process down considerably, as, I'll be doing this over hundreds of sections of the film. In an era where so many of us audio engineers are working in multimedia contexts, Cakewalk really needs to get a little more sophisticated here.

[OutrageProductions]

CW/Sonar has never been a video edit sled, therefore exporting a 'Section' of video with attached audio is a joke. Use a proper video editor to sync.

[Byron Dickens]

Cakewalk is not intended to be a video editor.

[Adam]

I'm not asking for it to be a video editor!  Just some basic functionality: why have video/audio export available if you can only export the entire video?  

[Adam]

And I can use a proper video editor to sync (I do this regularly when working on film edits: I'm in the drafting/ideas stage where I'd like some very basic functionality with video exporting).  ?

[msmcleod]

@Adam - I think I've found a workaround:

1. Make sure the Selection Module is showing as either medium or large
2. Set "Display all times as SMPTE" to checked within Preferences->Customization->Display
3. Create arranger sections for all the sections you want to export
4. Click on an arranger section, so it selects both the section and the events underneath it
5. Copy the selection start/end time (shown in blue below) to the video track start/end time (shown in red below):


6. With the selection still active, export your video
7. After exporting, set the video start time to 00:00:00:00  and the video end time to the time shown in green above.

Repeat for each section.

I'll make a suggestion to the team that we incorporate this somehow into the export, so this can be done for multiple sections in a batch, or at least be able to do it per section without manually having to edit the video start/end time.

 

[Jimbo 88]

I don't believe I've ever been able to export a section of video in CbB no way, no how.  And my clients are all on Apple computers so even when I render whole videos in MP4 format from CbB there are issues.  Some can't play back with audio etc...  I always try to send a pic reference to whoever is laying back or mixing my audio and those guys are very tech savy, and can have problems.  I don't even want to imagine how producers who know nothing about codecs and such react when I send them a video from a DAW.  

I've been doing this for years and always respond the same.  It's much more efficient to use a simple video editor to do this.  Quicktime Pro, Vegas Movie Studio are some of the cheap options I have used.  If you are going to do any kind of sound to video, you really should have/need something to do quick video edits in.   I don't care if you are working in ProTools or Cubase or whatever, you really need to have the option.  You never know what you are going to receive as a video, or what changes are coming at you.

So let your DAW render audio (which it does very well) and let a video app render your video samples ,  you will have much greater control over what you send to your client.

I know some people will say I just want to quickly render from my DAW with no other steps, and DAW XYZ does that, but I still do so much better with my simple video app. 

So this is just my advice, don't waste your time trying to do video renders and edits from an audio app.  You can do it just as quick and with better options with an inexpensive video app.

 

 

[Andres Medina]

1 hour ago, Jimbo 88 said:

I don't believe I've ever been able to export a section of video in CbB no way, no how.  And my clients are all on Apple computers so even when I render whole videos in MP4 format from CbB there are issues.  Some can't play back with audio etc...  I always try to send a pic reference to whoever is laying back or mixing my audio and those guys are very tech savy, and can have problems.  I don't even want to imagine how producers who know nothing about codecs and such react when I send them a video from a DAW.  

I've been doing this for years and always respond the same.  It's much more efficient to use a simple video editor to do this.  Quicktime Pro, Vegas Movie Studio are some of the cheap options I have used.  If you are going to do any kind of sound to video, you really should have/need something to do quick video edits in.   I don't care if you are working in ProTools or Cubase or whatever, you really need to have the option.  You never know what you are going to receive as a video, or what changes are coming at you.

So let your DAW render audio (which it does very well) and let a video app render your video samples ,  you will have much greater control over what you send to your client.

I know some people will say I just want to quickly render from my DAW with no other steps, and DAW XYZ does that, but I still do so much better with my simple video app. 

So this is just my advice, don't waste your time trying to do video renders and edits from an audio app.  You can do it just as quick and with better options with an inexpensive video app.

 

 

I agree.

My workflow is the same: work audio inside CW, export the audio (either Wav or Broadcast Wave), then use a video editor to assemble whatever you need.

Is really straightforward and easy. 

I'm not familiar with other DAWs, and of course it would be nice to select audio in your timeline and choose to export video at the same time, but not sure if it's easy to make it work for the developers, as it involves editing video capabilities.

[Starship Krupa]

Mixcraft is one DAW that handles this very well. The video track behaves like the audio tracks, you can export just sections. Mixcraft is also a rudimentary video editor, you can even add titles and fade in/out. My only issue with Mixcraft in this area is that it renders video to HUMONGOUS file sizes, so you always have to run it through a converter.

I usually stay away from armchair development quarterbacking, but I believe that Cakewalk uses FFMPEG as its video CODEC. FFMPEG can handle what the OP is talking about.

[John Vere]

When I read this the first thing came to mind is the fact that even my $40 version of Vegas supports multi track audio. 
My thinking is if faced with this problem I’d somehow be using those audio tracks to export samples of different audio synced to the video. I drag and drop audio clips into Vegas all the time seems pretty easy to me. 

[Jimbo 88]

On 5/5/2022 at 4:22 AM, Starship Krupa said:

Mixcraft is one DAW that handles this very well. The video track behaves like the audio tracks, you can export just sections. Mixcraft is also a rudimentary video editor, you can even add titles and fade in/out. My only issue with Mixcraft in this area is that it renders video to HUMONGOUS file sizes, so you always have to run it through a converter.

I usually stay away from armchair development quarterbacking, but I believe that Cakewalk uses FFMPEG as its video CODEC. FFMPEG can handle what the OP is talking about.

Yes, exactly.  Mixraft is probably the best at this.  I'm pretty sure I can also do this in Cubase minus the add titles feature.  

 

So I have always done what John Vere is talking about.  I just render the whole audio file from CbB, drag and drop the client's video and my new audio into Vegas (Movie Studio nowdays),   select the area I want to send, the type of video, then render.  Sometimes i do put a title on it so the client knows what version they are looking at.  This is the best, quickest, most professional way. 

[Jimbo 88]

so just to beat a dead horse!

Another thing that causes me issues is the fact that video editors now send me picture files with no preview time or roll up.  Which is not really an issue until you want to record live musicians.  If you want to record something on beat 1 bar 1 with a live player(s) you most likely are going to clip the 1st note.  Your great music score is going to sound amateur right off the bat. 

So from the very beginning, when I get a film/picture file to score I start with throwing it into Vegas and adding 10 secs on the front and create a title page.  I will also add streamers to let me know when music start, stops or changes direction.  This knocks hours off of the composing time.  And say I have a Guitar player recording to the picture,  I don't have to say things like "OK be out when that graphic goes away", or "change  when the car pulls away" .  He sees the streamer and knows what to do.

When I need to send a music sample I already have a project in Vegas that is just waiting for me to add the new audio that I render from CbB.  Again, the DAW renders audio quickly and efficiently,   then the Video App does the same.  I end up with a Video file that I have complete control over the size and content.

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by Jimbo 88

[John Vere]

Vegas( Movie Studio) also uses all my 3rd party effects, compressors, limiters, reverb and so on. So I can create a 48/24 audio track via the exact same audio interface I use for Cakewalk live if I so choose.
 

There’s also the option to open that track in the audio editing software of your choice. 
 

Of course it doesn’t do midi but as far as audio goes it’s pretty advanced. It’s based on Sound Forge so it should be. 

[javicario]

On Cakewalk Bandlab: Trim the video clip in the track to whatever portion you need to render. Export video.

[57Gregy]

On 1/9/2024 at 6:25 AM, javicario said:

On Cakewalk Bandlab: Trim the video clip in the track to whatever portion you need to render. Export video.

Can't do that in CbB. You have to use a video editing program.