Jake Ludington

SmartSound Sonicfire Pro
Sometime back I received a review copy of Smartsound’s Sonicfire Pro software. The software is designed for adding soundtracks to movie projects, by taking stock audio and manipulating a number of variations of the track to get a sound that fits the mood of your video. The mood concept is extremely interesting and works better than I can put into words, which is why I’ve been wrestling with how to write a review of the software. At its core, Sonicfire Pro is good at a number of elements in combining audio and video or adapting a piece of music to fit a specific time target. In fact, this is my favorite use for the software, browsing the library of available audio, choosing a mood and then setting the audio length to exactly the amount of time I need to fill. Each of the tracks is automatically customizable and includes 10 different variations on the music theme. If you only need a specific piece of a track, you can grab a loop from any segment of that audio and integrate it into your audio or video project. If there’s an instrument in the audio track you don’t like, you can remove the instrument from the track, which makes the audio infinitely customizable to actually fit the sound you’re looking for from the audio. Of course, what I love about the software is that using a few quick options gives you a feel for what the sound might be; it’s often great and better than good enough to keep as the soundtrack for the final product. I won’t go so far as to say you could fire a composer from a professional project, because there’s no replacement for human creativity, but it certainly makes it easy to build out great sounding audio in places where you might never have thought of using a soundtrack. The only thing that’s a little scary for home users and DIY creative types is the price. A base package with some core audio sounds and the actual program starts at $199, putting Sonicfire Pro out of the price range of many users. At the same time, if you ever purchase royalty free tracks, the price of individual packages adds up quickly to the point where buying Sonicfire Pro will save you money and deliver a better sounding product over the long haul. I guarantee the trial version will have you hooked. [Windows XP | Mac OS X | Various Prices]