Adding Commentary Tracks

Hello,
I am prepping my new feature film for DVD. My crew recorded a commentary track for the film, as well as a commentary for our deleted scenes etc.
What format should the commentaries being converted into--AIFF?
And how do I properly bring them into the project, so that when one plays the DVD, they have the choice of playing the film or deleted scenes with or without commentary?
Thanks!

AIFF 48khz/16 bit works best.
How to create multiple streams in a DVD is best asked in the DVDSP forum.
Good luck.
x

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Adding commentary tracks / alt audio to one video track

Hello-
I have tried to follow along in the books and it does not get too far. Fairly comfortable with scripting.
I have a short video track with a default audio (same name) with 2 additional audio tracks that I want the viewer to be able to select via a sub menu I have created. I know how to drag them intot he track editor in DVDSP but, from there, I'm lost.
Can someone please help.
Thanks,
Tom J

hey tom
this can be done with or without scripts.
you say that you have a menu alreay with the different audio options, correct?
if you do, you would lay all your audio tracks onto its appropriate stream (A1, A2, A3).
then you go to your menu and set up the menu like you would any (create the menu name, drag a selector box to correspond to the highlighted button, etc.)
one this is accomplished, click on the button associated with audio track 1 (A1) and look at your inspector. click on the advance tab and you will see options for setting the streams angles, audio (this is the one you want) and subtitle. click on the dropdown box, and select A1.
then click on the on the menu button associated with A2 and look at your inspector again under the advance tab and you will see it reset itself, now again click on the doprdown menu and now associate that stream with A2.
do the same for the A3.
once you are done, verify the setting with clicking on the first menu button associated with A1 and you will see under the inspectors advance button that Audio stream 1 will be saved. your golden form there!
scripting the bad boy is a little more involved. there is an an article out there that goes through it with great detail.. do a forum search for "scripting audio stream" and you will find it.
goodluck
Mikey

How to make a commentary track in iDVD and iMovie 6

Could someone please explain how to make a commentary track using iMovie6 and iDVD? I think I will be able to import the commentary track onto the second sound track in iMovie 6 with no problem. I just can't figure out how to make it an optional track in the final DVD.

Yes, you can put the commentary track on the second sound track in 06. You can also attach a mic and make the commentary as a recording. I will caution that you will need to depress any original sounds associated with the film so that it does not sound like a garbled mess with both tracks competing. I imagine you know how to grab the volume level line in the audio track and nudge it lower or higher?
I also don't see any other option than including two versions of the film on the DVD. Pretty simple fix if it will fit... I would export the plain film first before adding the other audio (or you can simply uncheck one of the audio tracks while exporting to mute it).
Terri

Optional Commentary Track?

I'm making a DVD of a 90 minute play. I'd like to record a commentary track that the DVD end user could turn on or off as they wish when they watch the play. Is that possible through iDVD? If not, does anyone have an idea of how to go about getting that done? Thanks!

........that the DVD end user could turn on or off......
I'm not even sure I could do that with DVDSP (part of FCS 2). It might be possible with apple's pro apps but I'm not 100% certain. I'll have to do some searching and post back later.
I do know DVDSP allows for subtitles on a video track but I'm not sure if this will help your cause either.
A possibility (without having to use Dvdsp) might be to make two identical movies with the exception of adding a commentary track on the second /duplicate movie. That way the end user could select which movie s/he wishes to view directly from the menu which you could identify as such. You'd have to add each movie separately to the existing iDvd project as an independent QT movie for each version of the presentation.
But given the 90 min. length, you'd be forced into using dual layer. That or make a disc image to the desktop and then use Roxio Toast (Fit to Dvd) option to burn the image to a single layer Dvd.
If I were attempthing this with i-apps only the workflow would look something like ......
Make my 2 separate QT movies within iM6 => iDvd'08 => disc image to the desktop => Roxio Toast (Fit to Dvd) to make one single layer Dvd-R (using verbatim or maxell and lowering the burn speed to 4x or lower).
Message was edited by: SDMacuser

Added music track to video..entire screen is green and I cannot delete music track

I added music track to video, inadvertently dropped outside of clip now entire area outside of track is green and I can't remove or delete music.

i literally deleted the entire "Purchases" folder and restarted the phone. it recreated the folder (except without all our problem files) as soon as it powered back on.
no idea what downloads refers to - i tried this process with that folder and it didn't change anything or solve the prob.
as for the syncing of the playlist - i still don't think that would solve it. it seems like there is a discrepancy being created whenever a song is downloaded from the store, period. and as for deleting the stream files - no. I switched over to manual manage, deleted the files manually, but they simply recreated themselves as soon as i did another sync.
It was indeed the purchases folder that needed reconciling.
as a fun side note - i used phoneview to make a PDF of all my 60,000 texts from the previous 3 years, and then deleted them from my phone - saving myself like 10 gigs
realizing now this could all seem like i'm some rep for the phoneview app. i swear i'm not hahahaha

Adding commentary in ASO Cube and aggregating it to TOP Level

Hi Gurus,
I have one peculiar problem. We are adding commentary in BSO Planning cube now i have couple of problem related to it.
a) These commentary needs to be pushed in ASO cube (Reporting) which need are entered in Lower Level.
b) At top level these commentaried need to be Aggregated or rather Concatenated.
eg.
ProfitCentre has two child P1 and P2 and user enter commantary in BSO for P1 and P2 as "Market Risk Deviation" and "Standard Output"
then in the HSPgetval Smartview report the conent of report will look like:
Profit Centre          Market Risk Deviation + Standard Output
P1                        Market Risk Deviation
P2                        Standard Output.
Any thoughts/ Suggestions/ Input/ Ways to achieve so
Thanks
Anubhav

Apart from what Glenn suggested
Not out of box, you are looking at a JAVA API + SQL based solution here
Here are my thoughts
Either use a Select query and get the Text values and IDs from the tables HSP_CELL_TEXT (or HSP_TEXT_CELL) table
Create a Java API, which can import a TextList in ASO cube, ID is going to be what you get from the table
Load the data to ASO from Planning
Now for the aggregation/concatenation part, you'll have to Add those as again Smart List, This can be done by looking at HSP_CELL_TEXT (or HSP_TEXT_CELL) table, there is an ID associated with each text, get the id associated
So for example Market Risk Deviation is 1 and Standard Output Deivation is 2, then you should add Market Risk Deviation + Standard Output as 3, however you'll have to make sure that there is no entry from Planning for 3
It is complicated
Regards
Celvin Kattookaran

Toggle for commentary track

I have a special features menu on my dvd, with on and off buttons for the commentary track. Right now, when you select one of them, the video track begins playing, from the beginning, with the correct audio stream selected. So it works.
But on most normal dvds, when you select an option for commentary in the features menu, it sends you back to the main menu, where you can then choose to play. Most of the time, choosing 'play' will even resume playback to the spot you left off.
So how do I set up DVDSP to behave this way? Thanks so much.
Message was edited by: nigelewan

It's just a question of setting the parameters for playback, but not actually starting the playback. The following tutorial at Kenstone should help:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/dvd_setup_andresume.html

I added several tracks into my itunes library but they will not play?

I added several tracks that came off a DVD burned in my brothers Itunes program. Now, my Itunes library shows the music in both numbers and space used. Now when I try to play the music it will not play? Can anyone advise me as to how to make the music play in my Itunes program?

Depending upon what country that you are in (music can't be re-downloaded in all countries) then try deleting that track from your iTunes library and redownload it via the Purchased link under Quicklinks on the right-hand side of the iTunes store home page on your computer's iTunes.
If you aren't in a country where you can re-download music or if it re-downloads with the same problem then try the 'report a problem' page to contact iTunes Support : http://reportaproblem.apple.com
If the 'report a problem' link doesn't work then you can try contacting iTunes Support via this page : http://www.apple.com/support/itunes/contact/ - click on Contact iTunes Store Support on the right-hand side of the page, then Purchases, Billing & Redemption

Adding a track when out of Objects in The Environment

Hi,
I use GarageBand 2 (GB2) to get the idea down quickly when the inspiration strikes. It works perfectly for that purpose. To take a song from that initial idea to the finished product, I import the song into Logic Pro 7.1.1 (LP7).
All in all, LP7 is a very good-, comprehensive- and versatile product, but the one thing that keeps frustrating me beyond belief is "The Environment". I have read and re-read the documentation on "The Environment" several times, but I just hit a road block every time I need to add a track if I'm out of objects in The Environment (Audio, Midi or Audio Instrument). When I choose "Track -> Create With Next Instrument" and there is no "Next Instrument" left, I'm stuck.
My current workaround is that I add plenty additional "Real Instrument" and "Soft Instrument" tracks in GB2 before importing the song into LP7. The import routine takes care of setting up The Environment. But sometimes I don't add enough tracks and then I'm stuck again.
Can anyone suggest a reasonably straight forward way of adding a track once you're out of objects (Audio-, Midi- or Audio Instrument) in The Environment, please?
Thx & brgds,
...tt

Well, I've tried both of those and that's where the problems arise.
If I do "Track -> Create Multiple..." I get the error message "No more tracks available".
If I create an Audio Object in the Environment, double-click on its icon to transform it into a channel strip, and then try to assign the desired channel, only the channels that are already taken appear in the pull-down menu. If I go back to the Arrange Window and choose "Track -> Create" a new track is created given the same name and linked to the same Audio object and channel as the previously last Audio track. Going back to The Environment I still only have the same channels as before to choose from.
In GB2, in Cubase and in Sonar all you have to do is create a new track and choose whether you want it to be an Audio track or a Midi track. I just don't get why it has to be so complicated in Logic?
What am I doing wrong?
...tt

Help with DVD Studio Pro Audio Track/Commentary Track

Hi Everyone -
I am authoring my first DVD for a film. I believe I have everything under control - menus, chapter selections, bonus features - except for the director's commentary.
I have created 2 main menus - one with a button to turn commentary on, another menu with a button to turn commentary off.
They work fine.
But when I simulate the DVD, select commentary ON, play movie (commentary track plays) ... Then click the MENU button, it returns to the main menu with the button to turn commentary ON, but the commentary audio track (audio track 2) is still activated at this point.
Is it possible to tell it to return to audio track 1 if the menu button is pressed, or tell it to go to "main menu 2" if the menu button is pressed?
I hope my question is clear.
Thank you.
Joe G.
Houston TX

Each track and story has its own end jump and its own Remote Control selection. If I understand your problem correctly, changing the Remote Control>Menu (in the Inspector window) from Same as Disk to the appropriate Menu should fix the problem.
If not, a more complete explanation would help.

How can I position my added audio track?

Hi all,
I need to have a delayed start for my added audio track.
The music should only start 30 seconds after the movie starts.
I tried to position it manually to a second movie sequence but it doesn't seem to work... it will only place itself at the beginning.
If anybody has clue?
Thanks in advance.

Apple have made background music rather simple in iMovie.
You are allowed only one track, and it just starts at the top.
I have found the only way to do this is to create multiple projects that later are assembled together as a whole.
Not the nicest solution, but it works.
Duplicate the project,
then delete the 30 seconds you want music free, and add the music track,
save this new video out to the camera roll.
Open the origonal project, delete the bit you just added music to, and insert the other video you just made.
This way you can have multiple music tracks too .
I tend to edit the whole video, and then break it into parts to add music and adjust the edits.
Then assemble all the parts again for a final output.
This is reasonably quick for small home movies.
I realise that everytime you save to camera roll you lose quality of video;
but it is minimal and I also tend to archive out the iMovie Projects just in case I want to edit again later.
I tend to use 'Splice' or 'Voddio' if I want to edit more complex stuff and retain quality.

Recording commentary track for video clip

I have recorded and edited some video clips and now i want to record an audio commentary to layer onto the audio of the video clip, like how directors do the alternate commentary track for a lot of dvds. It would be a recording of 2-6 people sitting viewing the video together with it's original audio.
Ideally,
1)I would mic each person and feed the mic into the computer to record them each as seperate tracks. I think stp can't do that, but garageband might?
2)I don't want the mics picking up the original audio of the scene they are watching, but I want the people giving the commentary to hear the original audio, as well as what they are saying and what the other people that are sitting in and recording are saying. So the only way I can see that working is to somehow have the original audio of the scene piped into headphones, along with the audio of all the other tracks being recorded.
So how is this all possible, either through my method or another method you could think of. And what equipment would i need, like a mixer or audio interface. If I can't do this natively in stp, than what can I use, like garageband, that i can import into stp for final mixing.

1) STP 1 can't do multi-track recording but STP 2 will be able to do it. In the meantime, yes, you can use GarageBand.
2) You're right, you'll need headphones.
If you want dedicated audio tracks for each one, you'll need an audio interface with multiple preamps like MOTU 8pre. You could also use only a stereo mic to record the whole room. That way, you could use an interface with only two mic pres and you'll need less mics too. And since it would be only one track, you'll be able to use STP. For this kind of recording, you'll want to use condenser mics.

Simple commentary track setting

I have a project that has a standard track and a commentary track. The user can set the audio track to 1 (std) or 2 (comm) depending on the menu selection and that works fine, but that selection reverts back to 1 every time the menu gets selected for a scene change. How can I make the user selected audio track persist until that selection has been changed? Is this a coding of some sort or am I missing some simple solution.
1.6 gHz g5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) DVDSP 4.03

The best way to do it is to script it - it isn't too tricky to do, but if you've never scripted then it could seem daunting.
All you need to do is set a menu where the user chooses which audio they want. This sets a 'flag' which you then rely on from then on. When you go back to the menu and choose the next clip, go to a script which checks to see the flag setting and then on to the clip to play the appropriate audio.
Alternatively, you could simply place two buttons under an image of the clip and set each button to play different audio using the property inspector. That way you only use one menu, no scripts and let the user choose what they want each time.

Problems adding Text track to .mov file

I am having a problem adding a text track to a quicktime file. I want to overlay text onto a PAL DV file. The original file size is 720 x 576 but when I add the text (as per the instructions in the QT Player Help) instead of having the text overlaid, it appears next to the Video image and gives me an image size of 1325 x 577. If I now export this as a "PAL DV" file, QT Player shows the whole 1325x577 frame whilst FCP accepts the file but shows only the video part of the frame.
I'm running QT 7.4.5 on a MacBook Pro with OS10.5.2. I have tried re-installing QT without success - this maybe because the Preferences seem to stick when upgrading/re-installing (?)
Any thoughts, help or, better still, a definitive answer to my problem would be most welcome.

Use the Movie Properties window to size your added text track to match the 720 width.
For viewing a DVD on a TV size it even smaller (700) and set an offset value of 10 pixels so your text doesn't get cut off during playback.

Adding video tracks

For some reason I can't seem to add more than 2 video tracks - i try to click within the sequence and it doesnt even show me the option of adding video tracks?
1st Gen Intell Mac Pro 2.66 running FCE HD 3.5 and the OS is Snow Leopard.
Thanks

It's an old bug. Try dragging a clip into the space above and it will add new tracks.

Adding Commentary Tracks

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