Get Smart with Your Audio Tracks
by Brian Underdahl
Today’s video editing tools are really great. It’s become very easy to create a professional looking video from your video footage or even your digital photos. Most of the programs even include easy methods for you to grab audio from your favorite CD or to generate a music track automatically. With a little work almost anyone can feel like they’re an expert. But there’s a little problem (or two).
You may not care too much about copyrights–after all who will know if you just rip a track off an audio CD to use in your movie? Well, I’ve got news for you, the artists, authors, and other content creators do care if you steal their work. And yes, you are stealing when you take something like an audio track and use it in a project without paying for that use. Will you get caught? Well, were you planning on posting your video on the Web? If you are, the chances of a record label discovering your “little” theft just went way up. But even if you aren’t caught, doesn’t it bother you to think that you’re a thief? You wouldn’t go into a store and walk out carrying merchandise without paying for it, would you? Of course not!
To get around the problem of turning a huge percentage of their customers into thieves, the video editing giants added automatic music generators into their products. To be honest, many of these are pretty good–if a little boring (because there aren’t really all that many music options built in). I’ve even used this feature from time to time. But I don’t use the built-in music generator on projects where I want to make a good impression on the viewers, because there’s a much better tool.
SmartSound Software has recently released Sonicfire Pro 5, a very nice upgrade to my audio tool of choice. One of the huge advantages offered by Sonicfire Pro 5 over the built-in music generators is SmartSound Software’s music library. With over 180 discs available there’s no reason for your videos to sound like everyone else’s. (By the way, most of the built-in music generators actually come from SmartSound, but they’re stripped down and don’t give you the options found in the standalone product.)
My favorite new feature in Sonicfire Pro 5 is something they call the Timing Control. I love this baby because it gives me ultimate control over the feel of the music. If I need to change the tempo or add a beat to match some onscreen action, it’s simple. The result is much more professional (sort of like hiring a group of musicians to create a custom music track). The Timing Control is just one of the new features in this version. Also new is a feature which gives you even more control over the pitch and tempo, one that lets you add “stingers” for emphasis, and a cool feature that finds tracks that match a tempo you tap out with your mouse. In fact, they’ve even created some video tutorials so you can quickly learn how to use it all.
When I create videos, Sonicfire Pro 5 is an essential part of my toolbox. If you’re serious about what you create, it should be in yours, too.