Opinions of Sonic Fire

[Ming]

I haven't seen anything on the forum about SF that's recent, so just wondered if anyone had anything good or bad to say about it. I'd be using it with FCP. Is it worth it? I've been scoping it out on their site and it looks pretty darn spiffy. Is the workflow with FCP pretty easy? I make sales promo tapes for show horses... lots of melodramatic slow mo shots etc. and it's important that I keep them artistic and _ not _ the cleche' cheesball crap my competition is slinging out there..(spinning text, ridiculous transitions, etc) These are 10-100k horses... I don't want em looking or sounding like a monster truck TV spot.

[Ming]

Nobody? Either this software is the best kept secret of the videography world or not worth mentioning. It's marketing is pretty damn convincing (demo movies etc.) I was just hoping for a nudge over the edge before I plunk down some cabbage.

[DC]

I just downloaded the demo recently but have yet to try it. I've tried a similar program called "CineScore" by Sony. I'm interested in comparing the two soon.

[dippytwitty]

They have pretty comprehensive demo videos available- my impressions were that Cinescore has a little better control with the 'intensity' idea. SF makes you set out the moods in solid blocks, I presume it does a short ramp from one to the other, but Cinescore lets you ramp up slowly, drop fast etc all graphically which just kinda 'makes sense.' It also has many many variations on each theme, which seems only sort-of available with the SF stuff.

Sadly though, CS has almost no content yet. Comes with 2 discs, and there's only 2 more you can get, one of which is <sigh> cheezy wedding music (sorry if that sounds harsh, but the samples online didn't overwhelm me at all)

I think Sony's figuring on people still buying Acid and getting loop libraries, some of which sound awesome, to complement what few pieces they have for CS. My guess anyway, but then that requires buying two programs, Acid is great if you have some musical know-how but not if you want what you get with CS or SF.

SF though, has like a dozen or so discs available, some of which are really nice, and SF will play their older Smart Sound stock too, without the mood mapping of course. So there's lots of content. SmartSound stuff works natively in some other programs too - I have a Pinnacle MS Titanium which will do basic SmartSound, just no mood mapping.

In the end it's too hard to decide, so even though I'm ordering Vegas + CineScore, I might pick up one or two of the better SF discs even if I have to fire up Pinnacle to get at them.

It's a tough call ;o) Hope some of this might be helpful, even if it's only my humble opinion!

Dip

[BLT]

I recently acquired this software and I'm not really sure how to use it just yet. I'll get back to ya when I figure it out the good ole' trial and error way. I do alot of action films and it is very hard finding loops suitable for the intensity and rising climax dramatic action music requires. The hardest part for me is getting suitable sound librarys. Any ideas? Btw, I have no idea how to use the 'Smart Extend' option just yet. Can anyone enlighten me please? Thanks!

[MalcolmOng]

Any ideas on finding sound librarys? You could try buying them from smartsound.

*cough cough hint hint*

[GuyS]

I have had Sonic Fire (not the mood mapping version) for about two years now. The value I see is this:

1. The soundtracks are royalty free therefore good for commercial productions.

2. The software is extremely easy to use. Once you get into it you can use the block creation function to use music segments that adapt to your video clip. If you use soundtracks that are for example... a song from an artist, you are constantly changing the video clip length to align with the tempo and highlights of the sound track. With Sonic Fire you do the reverse. This makes production much faster.

3. The sound libraries are well organized and using various parameters it is easy to search for a track that is appropriate for your video.

4. It is easy to adjust the length of a music score. You simply drag the track on the timeline (or type in it's actual time value) to match with your video sequence length. Again a very fast production tool.

I've spent about $800 on the sound library so far and have quite a good variety of music and sound effects to use.

[MarkG]

I have it: it came free with some other software I bought. I normally get music composed, but it's come in handy a few times when I just needed some music to drop in quickly. I think you'd need to spend a lot of money to make it an effective tool in general though.

[GuyS]

Mark

Are you sure you have Sonic Fire Pro or do you have Smartsound? Both made by the same company of course but only SF Pro gives you control over segments within the tracks.

[MarkG]

Says Sonicfire Pro in the title bar...

[sandesh]

SonicFire Pro OR Cinescore?

I am looking to buy one of these.. Can anyone enlighten on the pros & cons. I see this thread is old -2006. So I was hoping someone has gained more experience since then….

[Lake Films]

I just downloaded the sonicfire demo. Man their samples are awesome, very professional pieces of music. I think I'm going to do my own music, lol! Question for anyone who has used this program in the past, can you just buy the music and use it in soundtrack pro or garageband? I know the music won't be 'editable'. Thanks...

[sandesh]

Yaa heard sonicfire music, like real movie music! But I watched the Cinescore video training... was great..let me see videos from sonicfire ...I will soon decide....

[GuyS]

I just upgraded to the Sonic Fire Pro V 4. I liked and used V3 and was kind of hestitant to buy the upgrade (was content with V 3) but am certainly glad I did. The mood mapping feature really is awesome. It gives you the power to manipulate the music. For example on a track called Satin Seduction I can place the entrance of the vocals or lead guitar or rhythm section anywhere I want in the track. This aligns emphases where you want it in the video clip(s).

Also a great company to deal with, very professional and they respond quickly with shipping and any questions you might have. The software runs flawlessly.

[Lake Films]

I have decided to go with a composer. Seems like the best choice unless of course you're a musician...