Alright. Here is a question I bet nobody has ever asked before. Can I take a soundtrack from a video I have shot, and using Pinnacle Studio or Nero, transfer only it to an audio CD? Or (another dumb idea), can I download/save the audio only to a folder on my computer (PC)?

Thanks.
Mike

You can upload that portion of your video (soundtrack) to you tube and then convert it to an MP3 file via (you tube to MP3, just google it).

My 2 cents

The answer is yes to both. I have Studio 12. Lock the audio track and delete the video track, then exoprt as a wave or mp3 file. Then burn the file to cd.

Hi Mike,

Not sure which options you have in your edit software for export, but ideally, export as a 16-bit, 44100k
Stereo .wav file.

These are the correct settings for use with an Audio CD. Then use any software that burns music CDs to make the actual CD. CD burning software may also be able to do the conversion for you if you give it an mp3 or something.

That said, if for instance your source is DV video, that format records uncompressed audio. Exporting as mp3 would compress the heck out of it, which makes no sense since CD audio is uncompressed. In other words, use a .wav file throughout the process so as not to throw away all the quality. MP3 is the last thing you want to use.

Jeff Pulera
Safe Harbor Computers

With Pinnacle this is a simple process. a PCM file would give you great audio but i'm not sure if you can burn a pcm file to an audio cd.

When Mike says "I bet nobody has ever asked before", I'm guessing that he is asking about the specific mechanics of extracting audio by using one of the many versions of Pinnacle Studio and/or one of the many versions of Nero. Apparently, Pinnacle Studio does not have an obvious menu item such as "File --> Export" which would take him directly to a menu for exporting audio only. It is probably called something else and I'm guessing he needs suggestions for where to look.

I'll give these caveats. First, I'll guess that the manuals for Nero and Studio probably are next to useless, which is why there is no point saying RTFM. Second, I've never used any version of Studio and have never explored the video parts of Nero. (I only use Nero for burning disk images.) For that reason, I'm not carping about Mike not telling us which version of Studio or Nero he is asking about, nor complaining about his not saying what kind of video he wants to extract the audio from (HDV tape? AVCHD file? something else?).

BUT, with those caveats, I suggest exploring Studio's "File" menu. Some NLEs, such as Vegas, allow you to export and burn a CD right from the timeline, but I suspect that Studio is probably too bare-bones to have that option. However, there might be an "audio only" option under "File--.Save As." (Assuming that Pinnacle and Nero are not so peculiar that they left that option off.) There might be something like "Render" or "render to" which might give some output options. Maybe, "render to file?" From having worked with Liquid a few years back, I also suggest looking for something with a name like ""output to file."

Under one of those things, there will be some options that will give the opportunity for making a WAV file, an MP3 file and maybe a WMA file. There also should be some settings choices and, if there are, Jeff has suggested the correct settings for a CD: 16 bit stereo at 44k. If the audio file is something to be used in other video projects, you want to use 16bit stereo (or mono) at 48k. CD music uses 44k and video uses 48k. If your version of Pinnacle Studio gives you the choice, you definitely want to select "PCM" as Kevin suggested.

If you want to put the audio on a CD. open Nero, select "Music ---> Audio CD," select "add" and pick the audio file(s) you just created, and you are ready to burn your CD.

Mike: is the question about downloading "audio only" a question about downloading (capturing) audio from the camera (presumably a tape camera)? If so, the answer is probably not. The last time I remember seeing an "audio only" capture option in an NLE was in EditDV back in the previous century. Of course, it is possible to take the audio-out plugs from the camera, feed the RCA channels to an RCA-to-mini-stereo converter plug in the computer sound card's "line in" plug and record it to a WAV file, but that is a kludge of digital to analog and back to digital. Better to capture the video, strip the audio and save it as a separate file.

Thanks for the replies.

My version of Pinnacle is Studio 12, while Nero is version 9. I was in a hurry to pack for a vacation, hence the hurried request without extensive information. My question should have been; if I capture my video(with its soundtrack) to Pinnacle (or Nero) from my SR11, is there a way to copy the music soundtrack only onto a CD?
The first step when getting ready to use the video on my SR11, is to download it into Picture Motion Browser, and then to capture it from there to either Pinnacle or Nero. Currently, I have been using Pinnacle rather than Nero due to the fact that I have ungraded my computer and have not reloaded Nero yet. But that is minor.
My second step would be to edit and then burn a DVD of captured files from SR11.

I will try the suggestions given by you all and see what happens.

Thanks again.
Mike