Digital Workshop

A new client makes sound absorbing panels. I videotaped identical "Before" and "After" music recording sessions with a single microphone placed in the center of a small recording studio/room. I have made two short (1 minute) videos marked Before and After. In my OPUS presentation, I want the viewer to be able to experience the difference in sound quality after the panels were installed.

I was first just going to have two Buttons each starting one of the videos. You especially notice the sound difference when you "jump" back and forth between the two videos. Listening to one, then the other is OK, but I'd like to allow the viewer to jump back and forth.

As an alternate idea, I was thinking of starting both videos simultaneously, then have the Buttons switch the sound from one video to the other. I am concerned about having two videos trying to both play at once, as being too big a drain on older computers. Then I was thinking about getting "fancy" and calculating the position in the first video, and going to the same position in the second video, and then the reverse back to the first video.

I'm sure there are several ways to accomplish this display, all of which will demonstrate what a great product my client has developed. Before going down one path, I thought I'd see if anyone else might have an idea, or recommendation which might help. Please comment on what YOU would do.

Could you strip out the audio portion of the video to reduce the overall size burden mentioned, and only play one video hence the moving between buttonA and buttonB will be to the sound file positioning...

With that, since the sounds should be identical, then you can 1). use the positioning scripting to swich between the two...
2). Play the sound files in different channels and switch between the two....

Maybe this really doesn't need to be totally interactive. Why not just pre-produce the video with before and after cutting back and forth. Or position the before on the left of the play window and the after near the right. Do quick fades on the picture and sound and title acordingly. Maybe use a little countdown clock on the screen to show when the change is about to take place.

Just an an alternate idea as you said.

Thanks for the two additional ideas.

If I split the audio, I'd be worried that they would look/get out of synch, then it would look "faked" instead of proving the audio difference.

After I posted my question, I later thought about doing one video which jumps between the two recording sessions. That's looking like the best alternative, since I would have total control over what you'd hear. Thanks for suggesting this production alternative!