Well I have it and it works as advertised, to paraphrase what SPOT said it's Muzak for video. But for corporate hack stuff it's fine. Quality of the music seems excellent, as in the recording / mixing quality that is.
IF SPOT's doing any ACID training while he's in Sydney I'll be attending that and I might invest in the training DVDs as well. I'm just very uncertain of my musical abilities but I'm prepared to give it my best shot.
Problem I find is the kind of music I need is just Muzak, maybe 10 to 15 minute tracks at a time to sit behind narration for training videos. I can't see even if I had the talent to compose something in Acid or whatever, how I'd justify the time, in fact I kind of feel using Acid would be almost demeaning to it.

farss,

That is the way I feel about Acid. I'm sure it's a great program, but I just don't want to invest the time into creating music for my types of projects. Although I'm compelled to try it, especially now that V5 is offering some Acid integration. I imagine this integration will improve over time, which is another reason I'm interested. But not if if it has a lengthy learning curve.

I think I'll download the Acid demo and give it try. Does anyone know how the demo is limited?

No lengthy learning curve at all. Drag and drop. It's more a concept of selecting the sounds/libraries you want to use.
I don't know how the demo is limited, but there is a free version of ACID that you can download that has 8 audio tracks.
It's really more related to deciding what sorts of sounds you'd like to hear, and therefore choosing a library.

David,

I felt the EXACT same way as you and just received my copy of SonicFire Pro 3.2 yesterday. I got the 5 CD bundle. Even though I used to be a professional musician I felt I had enough to learn with Vegas and DVDA so I wanted something easy and quick for now. I figured in the future I would look into Acid.

So much to learn, so little time.

MadMikey

Acid is VERY simple. :) I made a song just by sleecting sounds/clips I liked, then drawing shapes on the timeline. :) You can check it out on my website (members.localnet.com/~elsysop) in the music section up top.

Seriously, that's ALL i did! I used Screenblast ACID to do that. I also download the free loops (8-pack) from Acidmusic.com every week or two (I always forget to go there).

I agree, it's not the best song, but considering I worked for about an hour or so on it, i like it. :)

Now here's the bit that I don't get, I've asked this question before but never got a definative answer and yes I've looked in the appropraite places.
To me it seems many of those 8pack projects are copyright, one of them from memory was by Merrilion, I think that was the name of the band. Now I know I can use any of the loops but surely not just take their composition as is and use it, if it is copyright then I'd imagine even a somewhat modified version would still be considered a derivative work.
I know this has been bandied about before but I never saw a definative answer and until I do I'd rather err on the side of caution.

It's great. I started using Smartsound while trying to work through all the bugs in Pinnacle Studio 8. The Smartsound feature was great. So at that time I went ahead and purchased Sonic Fire Pro. The latest version has the Maestro and Smartsound assistant. Can't get much easier than that to create an audio track to go along with your video. I am just now getting into using the music blocks to create different beginnnings and endings.

In my opinion, for the hobbyist such as myself, Sonic Fire Pro is a no brainer.

Galen

I think it comes down to knowing your target audience. For me, my audience is my family. They are not going to know the difference between SonicFire "Muzak" and Acid music. In fact, I imagine the SonicFire stuff will sound a lot better that stuff I create, at least at the beginning. They won't consider it Muzak but rather will be extremely impressed.

What about using Acid Express to learn and become familiar with Acid? What do you lose with Acid Express that's of consequence? Maybe that's the way to, especially since it's free.

Lastly, I've been using Sports oriented free music samples quite a bit for some of my work. Yet, when I look for that theme on acidplanet, I can't find anything. I'm sure it has to be there, but where?

OK, I'm in the same boat as most on this thread...

I have done my "liitle things" on Acid (3 in my case, which if anyone is really bored can check out on http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?songs=169526&T=3123 - I personally quite like "Andalusian Fields" and "Despedida sin Rumbo" which come from the Spanish Guitar library...) but now have to face 8 different videos for a corporate project I'm involved in...The real problem is that I spend hours on each of the Acid projects (ok, ok, it may not sound like I do, but I have absolutely no music backround at all..) and I definitely will not have the time to invest in 8 "compositions" if they are really going to take a few hours each (given my backround...) so Is Smartsound a good move??

I think my main peeve with Acid is that my feeling is that there are no real "shortcuts" (ala smartsound it seems...) to create a decent music bakcround: my experience is you do need a certain creative spirit/mood to put something relatively decent together...I think Sony would do videographers a real favour, and their products too - ie. Acid and Vegas now - if they offered "easy" libraries for the musically challenged...

I do have the distinct feeling that Sony has introduced the Acid properties to Vegas to counteract Pinnacle's Smartsound capabilities/featureset included in it's products; however, I feel they have left out the obvious, namely the easy peasy libraries to make life simple for videographers/pros who do not want to find two dozen loops with key/tempo changes and tweaking to create a sountrack...Of course, I may be wildly off track, but I keep reading through the cds on offer and never really make out what is included (and yes, I have bought 5 of them...) Just check Smartsounds: you can preview online the type of tracks the offers/libraries contain...


In short, Sony have the tools (both Acid and now Vegas...) All I would need is a dummy's library for times when I cannot spend 8 hours + creating music backround stuff...

Thanks for reading, and if anyone has any suggestions on a good, easy library for corporate video, please let me know...coz it's now urgent! (before I pull out the old credit card to buy Smartsound - would MUCH prefer to give Sony my €€€ than Pinnacle (or is it Sonic??) of course...

Regards

Paul.

> What do you lose with Acid Express that's of consequence?

ACID Express is the free version that is limited to 10 tracks, doesn’t have any effects, or pan/volume envelopes, etc. but its great for getting started. I would highly recommend the VASST ACID for Nonlinear Editors training DVD. This DVD is targeted for just this audience. You can read my review of it at the Digital Video Editing web site. It will give you a good idea of what’s covered in the tutorial. The DVD includes ACID Express and the trial of ACID Pro 4. A lot of what Rudy does will give you an appreciation for the advanced functions of ACID Pro. To be quite honest, you do loose a lot of control over the sound in ACID Express but you should definitely start with ACID Express to see if loops based music is your thing. You could always upgrade to Screenblast ACID as a stepping stone as you want more capabilities.

~jr

PDB, I tried to listen to your music but I couldn't play the files from the AcidPlanet web site. I also tried a few other files with the same result. Couldn't download either because I'm not a member yet. I'll try again later because I really want to hear your creations.

DavidPJ,

Just for the fact that you have invested the effort to check them out...THANK YOU!...Like you, I started out in this purely as a hobby/amateur thing...The reason I got involved in ACID was precisely because I was asked by a friend to produce a corporate video for his business for a meeting overseas...(a slightly different version of "OTC" to that posted on Acidplanet...)...
Acid IS a great tool: it does entice creativity (if you do feel inspired and especially if you have the time)...it can be immensely gratifying if even if you can't make out one note from the next...(and please don't take my attempts as exemplary becasue they aren't!) I decided to go for ACID 3 at the time (about a year ago...) mainly because of my lack of a musical backround...(I still can't work out if ACID Pro 4 will suit my need better...) I am definitely going to invest in the Vast DVD series on Acid in the future (even if it is for hobby purposes). At present though I need to work out how to get 8 decent music backdrops for these corporate vids (new project...) efficiently: ie, there are 2 of us doing this project and neither know music - so we either both create vid, or one of us does the music while the other does vid...in which case we are in a lil' bit of trouble...

Anyway, enough of my probs...give Acid a try if you like a challenge! (an easy one mind you; just a question of creativity, inspiration and finding the right combo of loops to suit the project!!!! - that is the difficult bit BTW)

But in my experience they do require dedication: a bit like Vegas in that sense...

Thanks again,

Paul.

JohnnyRoy,

Sorry this is off topic but how do you create those hot links in the text of your post?

TIA
Blues_Jam

Sorry this is off topic but how do you create those hot links in the text of your post?

You simply use standard HTML. If you do a search in this forum, it has been discussed several times as well.

I've been thinking about getting Acid. One thing that holds me back is the constant reminder that you don't have to be a composer or musician, just drag and drop some sounds you like to hear, and that's it. I can see this will sell a few copies to many people, but not me. I AM a composer.

On the other hand, I know of some musically very capable people who use Acid a lot - and they do not seem to be bothered by the instant composer (Dad could do it) image of the thing. But some of them create music for people who look rather like the ones who tagged down our garage wall last year.

I've been looking at Sony's Acid info on the net. It does not tell me how I - the composer - could use Acid to compose. Only how I could piece together royalty free "music beds" in no time, and create state of the art loop-holes (couldn't resist that).

Why don't I download it as see for myself what I can do with it? I'm not there. If it does not seem entirely useful from the pages of the information I'm not going to install a demo. The trouble with Acid is that it DOES sem useful and at the same time it does not.

The present day composer refuses to buy.

Tor

PDB,

I played your music today on ACIDPlanet and I'm very impressed. Iliked Andalusian Fields and United the best. About how much time did it take to create each piece? Typically how many tracks were used to create these?

Dave

The present day composer was sued by the Hollywood musicians union for using it to score the Academy awards. It can be used by non-musicians, but it IS a musicians tool. VSTi synths, melodic structured breakup of loops, tempo and key changes on the fly...
Every major film I've worked on either contained, or started out containing ACID loop bits. Many bands from Metallica to David Was to Quiet Riot use ACID to sketch out songs. Long before it was a "royalty-free' music tool, it was a musicians sketchpad.

One thing about Smartsounds that I don't think was mentioned in this thread is the fact you can create music tracks of a specified length. The program then creates the song in a way that logically ends at the time you specified. You don't have to fade out a pre-recorded track that was longer than you needed.

Mike

Spot said >>"but it IS a musicians tool"<<
I definitely agree; anyone that has a general knowledge of song/music construction can create a full fledged song or composition (and it sound damned good). The only problem I have with Screenblast is that I get SO many tracks stacked up that I get lost looking for the one I'm looking for. I think it would be nice if one could take one particular "instrument" (ie a particular guitar), and throw the differnet loops on one track instead of having 10 tracks for that one instrument. Another thing would be if there were individual notes of that particular sound that could be MIDI triggered (like Giga Studio), then you'd have a true "musicians tool".
Randy

Tell me, what exactly is "melodic structured breakup of loops"? If it is what I think it is, I'm a large step closer to being sold.
Tor

"....melodic structured breakup of loops..."

I'll try this one...

A loop is just a very short piece of music, maybe a single note or a measure or two. While it's usually obvious that you can extend this "loop" for as many measures as you want, it's not always obvious that you can shorten and split the loops into loops of different lengths. An 8-bar loop can be physically split into two 4-bar loops, and so on. If your melody would sound better with one measure of a loop removed, you can do that.

I *think* that's what Spot meant!

DM

Daivd,

Thank you for those very kind words!...As for how those were done, I would say (I can't check now because I'm not at the comp with Acid loaded..) that they typically range from 10 tracks (one of them was done exclusively with one of the 8packs available weekly off AcidPlanet) to around 15-18 tracks (one may have been larger: I will have to check...)

As far as how long it would take...Time in my experience VERY much depends on how quickly you come across/find loops befitting to the project...This can be laborious...There again I may not have the right type of cd collection for my level of musical experitise...Once I find 5 or 6 loops which sort of make out a tune the fun really starts...I would say that the actual "composing" stage once you have a nice set of loops will take me on average something around a couple of hours before I'm more or less satisfied..

Hope that helps, and once again, thanks for listening...

regards

Paul.