With the pinnacle migration of a few years ago, there was some ppl here, myself included, that was asking for this and then we got Cinescore. While SmartSound has very good themes, arrangements and orchestration, Cinescore seems to have more flexibility amongst the available themes.

I doubt that Sony would implement a competing product into Vegas. If they were too, I would like to see something like AE implemented before SmartSound. Personally, I was really hoping the Corel bundle would have eventually given us an AE equivalent but, alas, that was just a marketing bundle. <sigh>

Also, since it would likely be necessary for Sony to have access to the proprietary SmartSound technology, that would be less likely than for SmartSound to create a plug-in for Vegas as the Vegas SDK is already available - albeit outdated.

I would like to see a lot of things that are not currently available within the Vegas timeline but fear that most, if not all, won't ever be the available.

I'd like to see it, too, but don't think it will happen.

Since you're currently have SmartSound, are you using it in your Vegas productions? As was mentioned, some of us on the forum do, despite the fact that it involves several additional steps to create the soundtrack outside of Vegas. I don't mind the extra work -- music that fits the video as if it were created especially for it, adds a nice touch, IMO.

While Cinescore does seem to have great functionality, the sounds are of an artificial nature (the acoustical instruments sound like they are generated, but the Sonic Fire tracks are excellent sounding, full and rich. For me, the sound quality is the most critical. I am not familiar with AE.

I have spoken with Smart Sound about integration in the Vegas timeline on more than one occasion, but they say that the ball is in Sony’s court, and that they would like to see it happen also.

Do you think Smart Sound could create a plug-in using the SDK? They didn't talk about that idea, just said they have tried to work with Sony. Could it be a smooth integration into the timeline?

Ross

I use SmartSound. I compared it to Cinescore before making a decision (wanting timeline integration) but I was turned off by the lack of realism in the sounds (unless it was an electronic selection).

I am still working out work flows (any advice appreciated), but it appears the best approach would be to finish the video and then import to Sonic Fire for laying down the music tracks. But, since I like tight timing in a lot of cases I really need to have the music first. So, I generate some music in Sonic Fire and sometimes start my Vegas timeline playing, and then start SonicFire playing at the right time to get a sense of things before exporting and importing the sound track.

I agree with you, the extra work is worth it, because it sounds so good..

Ross

I've gotten good miles out of cinescore, and I think that the symphonic themepacks really sound great. There are only about five, I think, but they sound "realistic' in that the instruments are clear and authentic.Especially Red Ant Army and The End of High Tech. And some of the rock stuff is really usable, though it does tend to veer towards generic at times. They ones that sound the least realistic IMHO are the ones in the wedding pack-but fortunately I haven't had much cause to use them.
On the cinescore forums people have been asking for specific instrument controls withing each theme, that would be very cool.

kairosmatt
www.loggerheadfilms.com

This is not (exactlys) what you want, but you can import SmartSound Sound files into Cinescore, Vegas and Sound Forge. Just drag the sds- files into the application's time line (using Windows explorer). But of course you don’t get the possibility to “edit” these files using SmartSound inside Vegas. You have to edit them manually. But this is maybe a second best solution in some situations?

Best wishes,
Jøran Toresen

I listened to a few tracks and I must say I like them; I wonder if there are more now then when I look last Spring? I still like the compositions (the feel) better of the SmartSound ones, but I will have to listen to more of Cinescore when I have time.

Ross

Thanks. That works in some cases, but some times a better statement is made if music has an ending, instead of fading out. Currently, I export from SonicFire straight into Vegas, which is fine, but time tweaks must happen in SonicFire and then export again.

I haven't music that much yet. I some cases I will be able to complete my project in Vegas, export, and then score in Sonic Fire.

Ross

I don't own Sonicfire Pro, but I would think that you could use Satish's file server plugin to export the Vegas timeline to a proxy file that could be opened in Sonicfire. Atleast that would save you an actual render, right?

I would LOOOOOVE this functionality. I use SmartSound constantly.

Me too. Vegas + SmartSound would be quite a nice package.

I guess that Sony/Smartsound agreement was "I won't mess with you as long as you don't mess with me".
JJK

In Vegas 7 I used Satish's Frameserver to render out a really fast dummy avi file for a reference file within Sonicfire Pro 3, but honestly don't know if Satish has upgraded it for Vegas 8 and Sonicfire Pro 4.

Why frame server?
I just render out a WMV at Draft.

I at times also print out the edit details to get the TC for markers.
Then I can quickly put the markers into SFPro project.

Probably no reason though why SFPro couldn't read the markers form a Vegas file, would save a bit of work and we've already got a script that'll export markers.

Bob.

I would really like to see SmartSound integration in Vegas. I know people say that it's not as powerful as the stand-alone SonicFire Pro but it does quite a bit. I have been using SS for years in Studio and later in Liquid. I, and others, pushed for years to get Pinnacle to add it to Liquid, which they finally did. When I want a song from my SS library I have to open Studio and set it to the exact length and then let it render. I then rename the .wav file and move it somewhere else so it doesn't get deleted when clearing render files. A few extra steps but I can still use all that great music (most of which really is very good).