Video Backing Tracks

[johnnymegabyte]

I have made Video CD BT's intended to play in my DVD player.
Reason 1: Why not have in-sync lyrics / lyrics sheet / TABS / chords over lyrics
Reason 2: Don't need a PC for playback. Portable. Could be used for one-man-band format.

The solution is easy and FREE

The key to the equation is a freeware called CamStudio 2.0
Note: CamStudio 2.1 in NOT free
CamStudio 2.0 is an audio visual video capture.
It is extremely easy to use. Heck, I use it.
It will work on PC's even with Windows 98 and Pentium II

Here are a few tips to the process

1. THE SOURCE
a) Use Word / WordPad or any Text editor to display lyrics.
Note: you will have to manually scroll to sync lyrics etc.
b) PDF. Point CamStudio to capture the display of the PDF
c) MIDI Karaoke Player ( such as vanbasco )
Note: Target the karaoke display window
This is also a way to convert MIDI to Audio.
Just make sure you MUTE the guitar tracks and vocals guides.
Note: if you want, you can be creative at this stage by adding adding live guitars or backing vocals.

For option a and b, you will need to already have a BT, in WAV or MP3.
Play back the audio with Window Media Player, or any other audio player.

2. THE OUTPUT
When you get Part 1 rolling, Click on the RECORD button of Cam Studio 2.0
Also, CamStudio allows for creating a Hot Key for all the controls.
I personally use Ctrl-Home for Record, and Ctrl-End for Stop
CamStudio 2.0 allows you to save as AVI or Flash.
You can playback the results. if you don't like, then Delete the AVI and re-try.

3. THE VIDEO CD
I use NERO to burn the AVI's into a Video CD (VCD)
Nero will do the necessary conversion to VCD.
The total output time is quite similar to a regular CD. (upto 80 minutes)
Nero can also create a Video Index, with a few choices, such as the File Name or a Sample "freeze frame" from each AVI.
I choose the File Name option.
Go through all the wizards and it will produce a Video CD.
Warning. Depending on your processor speed, this step can take some time. On my home PC, we're talking over an hour. But the results are worth it.

4. THE DVD PLAYER
Drop the Video CD in your DVD player.
Select the song you want to play, grab your guitar and rock and roll.



Any questions, comments or additonal input is welcomed.

[Harrison]

Sounds like a cool idea, got any samples?

[johnnymegabyte]

Originally Posted by Harrison

Sounds like a cool idea, got any samples?

I don't have interent at home, and I can't DL or UpL at work, which sucks
Another member passes on the BT's.
So, I can't post a sample AVI. But read below, this program is THAT EASY
I just figured out another use for their program.

DL at http://www.majorgeeks.com/CamStudio_d4646.html There is info.


PC Magazine review (5 stars) http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1096851,00.asp


I pasted another review
CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer.

CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using it's built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)

Here are just a few ways you can use this software:

* You can use it to create demonstration videos for any software program
* Or how about creating a set of videos answering your most frequently asked questions?
* You can create video tutorials for school or college class
* You can use it to record a recurring problem with your computer so you can show technical support people
* You can use it to create video-based information products you can sell
* You can even use it to record new tricks and techniques you discover on your favourite software program, before you forget them



Don't like the sound of your voice? No problem.

CamStudio can also add high-quality, anti-aliased (no jagged edges) screen captions to your recordings in seconds and with the unique Video Annotation feature you can even personalise your videos by including a webcam movie of yourself "picture-in-picture" over your desktop.

And if all that wasn't enough, CamStudio also comes with it's own Lossless Codec that produces crystal clear results with a much smaller filesize compared with other more popular codecs, like Microsoft Video 1.

You have total control over the output of your video: you can choose to use custom cursors, to record the whole screen or just a section of it and can reduce or increase the quality of the recording depending on if you want smaller videos (for emailing to people, for instance) or you can have "best quality" ones for burning onto CD/DVD.

But all of these features would be worthless if CamStudio wasn't easy to use ... fortunately that's not the case. CamStudio can be learned in a matter of minutes and comes with a comprehensive built-in helpfile, so if you do manage to get stuck, you can simply hit "Help" and get the answers you need.

[insik]

I am also experimenting with a Video Backing Track. I used Camtasia Studio (commercial) instead of camstudio. But camstudio is also good. Especially the price.

Unfortunately for both of these products, when I record the screen for a video activity, the audio recorded was not quite good. Instead I sacrificed video and retained the audio quality.

For it to work, I did a screen capture (jpg image) on the lyrics/chords on a text editor instead of a video capture. Probably 3 to 4 scrrens depeding on the length of the song. Then in Camtasia, I imported the audio backing track and the sceen captured images. What the finished file is an avi that plays the backing track and at the same time I can see the lyrics on the screen. I just re-arranged the images to sync with the audio. The file is also smaller compared to when you capture a video and audio at the same time.

I have Comfortably Numb (27Mb) and Time (43Mb). This is still good for making a VCD (a DVD would be nice, but takes longer to create).

Unfortunately, I cannot upload it here since the files are quite big compared to an audio file.

[johnnymegabyte]

The sound for the "capture" should be based on "mixed output" of the Windows Mixer "Record" properties.
If you're capturing MIDI, where is the sounds coming from ?
(hopefully not the cheesy sounds from a cheap soundcard a la super mario video game)

A nice feature of the "mixed output" is you can add additional realtime audio like backing vocals, second guitar etc while doing the A/V capture.

For video content .
What I have tried is using WordPad for content.
You can use all kinds of fonts. You know there are Chord Fonts.
(Find them here and DL http://simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/frets.html)
Make Wordpad screen about 3/4 size of your entire screen.
Insert blank lines between series of "windows" of information ( lyrics, chors, etc )
The KEY is to have the right amount of content on your screen, so all you have to do is Press "Page Down" to get the next portion of content.
Example: I create a "title screen" with extra blanks after ( so page down gives you a new blank area )
Then first verse with extra blanks etc etc.
When A/V capturing ... set the video capture area to the size of WordPad window. Then, start your music source.
All you have to do is hit "Page Down" at the right time.

[Rexx]

Is there any mac os x version of Camstudio or similar?

[Kieran17]

Or you could use Windows Movie Maker. I use it to make lyrics/tabs go with songs.