For television professionals , having an effective musical account is almost as lively as good camera work . Yet few videographers have the musical chops to flog together even a dewy-eyed doggerel verse from abrasion using applications programme like Apple ’s GarageBand ( ) , Soundtrack Pro ( ) , or Logic Pro ( ) . SmartSound ’s Sonicfire Pro 4 , a sound - scoring program , allow an easy alternative ; a way for exploiter to cursorily assemble soundtracks by choosing and manipulate royalty - free music to check their needs .
SmartSound packages Sonicfire Pro 4 in five bundles — Standard , Filmmaker , Corporate , Television , and Mega . The bundle you select determines how much music you receive . Each do with a different readiness of music program library , and they range in damage from $ 199 for the Standard version to $ 799 for the Mega sheaf . Sonicfire Pro 4 is a Universal program program ; I conducted all tests on a MacBook Pro .
Scoring made easy
Even if you do n’t know a B - flatcar from a waffle iron , you likely know what variety of medicine you ’re wait for — once you hear it . Sonicfire Pro work on this principle . You stretch a video track and then audition euphony tracks against it until you find something that fit .
As with the former version ( ) , Sonicfire Pro 4 helps you make a mark to fit almost any distance by stringing together segments of music auction block and then using its Smart Extend lineament to end the track in a musically satisfying manner .
When I review Sonicfire Pro 3 , my independent criticism was that the program did not allow for very much audio manipulation . The music was bushel — prearrange — you just picked how much you want to use . You could n’t murder a guitar riff from the medicine if it bothered you , for deterrent example .
With Sonicfire Pro 4 , SmartSound has opened up the euphony to tinkering , practically down to an instrument storey on the computer programme ’s Multi - Layer music cartroad . Once you have a Multi - Layer medicine sampling in your timeline , you’re able to expand the position to show up to eight levels of instrumentation , which you’re able to independently ensure . If you want to remove the drums from a song , all you ask to do is select the percussion rail and dull it , or merely remove the percussion section audio from the timeline .
Sonicfire Pro 4 also has a new Mood Mapping feature that lets you change the nature of the euphony . When I first read about this lineament , I dismissed it as a trivial peter , but I quick changed my mind when I try on it . fundamentally , the Mood Mapping tool remixes the medicine to change its characteristic ; the actual melodic tone do n’t interchange , but the way you learn them does . For example , when you apply the Dialog temper , Sonicfire Pro cut down the booster cable instruments that carry the main melody so the euphony does n’t detract from a video ’s dialog and natural action . These temper can be added to the medicine like markers , so you may change the euphony ’s mode at a tantrum change , for example .
Sonicfire Pro 4 ’s only real drawback is that the included medicine depository library is sometimes anemic , particularly with the Standard edition ( the Mega version has a decent amount of euphony , but at $ 799 , it should ) . That being said , if you need a while of euphony that is n’t included in your package , you may always search and sample distribution music from SmartSound ’s online music library via the SmartSound Maestro library web web browser . Additional music tracks are available for download at $ 20 each . extra medicine CDs can be purchased for $ 100 .
Macworld’s buying advice
Sonicfire Pro 4 makes creating royal house - free melodious scads mere , and it is an ideal programme for incorporated TV producer and indie filmmakers who do n’t have their own composer . With the accession of Mood Mapping and multitracking features , Sonicfire Pro 4 is a significant rising slope from the previous edition , and well worth the startle .
[ Anton Linecker is a expert video recording consultant and writer based in Los Angeles . ]
