Many users have asked for clarification on SmartSound and its removal from Pinnacle Studio. Here’s our attempt to provide some background and address the questions we have received.

With the introduction of Studio 11, we introduced our Scorefitter music generation software and removed SmartSound (although, through a negotiated arrangement with SmartSound, we allowed existing SmartSound users to continue using legacy SmartSound content by ensuring “backwards compatibility”).  The reason for this strategy was two-fold. 

First, with the introduction of Scorefitter, we embarked on a new music generation approach where we would enable musicians to “score” music for automatic music creation. This approach has allowed us the flexibility to work closely with musicians to author music specifically for the Studio environment. We have signed up great musicians and are open to signing-up new musicians and helping them author content for Scorefitter. In addition, with Pinnacle becoming a part of Avid, new exciting audio technologies have become available to us to consider for an exciting Studio roadmap.  Most of you know the Avid family includes Digidesign, the leader in professional audio production and M-Audio maker of high performance, hardware audio components. Avid is very strong in audio and video and we, along with Studio users, have an exciting audio future. 

 

Second, we made arrangements with SmartSound for “backwards compatibility” in an effort to help migrate existing SmartSound users.  We wanted to ensure that our SmartSound users could continue to use the tools they had come to rely on in previous versions of Studio, with the intention that they would eventually migrate to Scorefitter as a music solution.

 

In terms of Studio 12, we have decided, based on market research and looking ahead to future opportunities, to remove support for SmartSound. This decision was not made lightly but based on a wide range of factors. At SmartSound’s request, and as a result of inability to reach a contractual arrangement satisfactory to both parties, we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound.

Thanks very much Pinnacle, I have spent a LOT of money on Studio 7 - 12U and its "Add-Ons" over the years.

You are making a very big mistake as far as I am concerned.

Market Research !!!!!

 

Paul W. H 

 

 

I have just gotta say it.  LAME decision.  You're going to lose many users.  I, for one, feel betrayed.  I bought Studio 12 Ultimate with the knowledge that Smartsound worked with it.  Now, after version 12 is released and purchased by untold many purchasers, you take away Smartsound functionality.  I say it again.  LAME decision.  I've been using studio since version 1.06, and really like it. Guess I'll finally give up the ghost and move on to brighter and greener pastures.  LAME, LAME, LAME!!!!

I may be deeply regretting my S12 purchase.

VERIFICATION PLEASE -- When the next patch of S12 (assuming there is one) is released, I will have to chose between losing SmartSound and and the fixes.

SmartSound should at least work through S12, and not go away during the life of S12.  Since "S12" supports the workaround, a patch should not break it.

So when you say "next release", do you mean a v12 patch or do you mean "S13" (or whatever you call the next "major release")?

 

BAD DECISION - Rather than drive me toward Digidesign it will very likely drive me away from Studio.  If these new offerings are good enough to stand on their own merits, then we will spend money on them.  But at the very least, you have a gap.  Sure, musicians can begin to author Quicktracks, but where are the libraries?????  Not available yet, and what little is there is clearly regarded as inferior to SmartSound.  So much for the ability to "produce professional quality results". 

Bad, bad decision.

Please reevaluate your "research".  I suspect you surveyed the wrong people!!!

Jon RT:

In terms of Studio 12, we have decided, based on market research and looking ahead to future opportunities, to remove support for SmartSound.

Damn!  

Jon RT:

 At SmartSound’s request, and as a result of inability to reach a contractual arrangement satisfactory to both parties, we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound.

Double Damn!  

Looks like a case of the little fish trapped between two whales

Jerry 

 

Jon RT:

In terms of Studio 12, we have decided, based on market research and looking ahead to future opportunities, to remove support for SmartSound. This decision was not made lightly but based on a wide range of factors. At SmartSound’s request, and as a result of inability to reach a contractual arrangement satisfactory to both parties, we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound.

This is just not acceptable. You are forcing people with large libraries of Smartsound music to go elsewhere. Do you honestly think that we would just throw out our old Smartsound music that in my case has cost several thousand pounds (that's GB pounds) just so that I can enjoy a $100 piece of software no matter how easy it is to use? Of course not. I have been waiting for clarification so that I can decide whether to upgrade our 4 systems to S12 or look elsewhere. I am glad I didn't upgrade, tomorrow the search begins for something as comfortable to use as Studio but with the ability to continue to use Smartsound.

I implore you to reconsider this decision. You are going to lose vast numbers of customers who will feel betrayed by your future actions, heck there may even be a legal case here as the original manual I believe for S12 states that Smartsound is supported, if you then remove that support with a patch would that not be similar to buying a car only for you to come along later and remove the engine during a service?

I can understand why you would wish to develop your own music software, but at the moment it just does not hold a candle to Smartsound.

If Avid were to develop their own codec for compression of film, lets call it the .avid format, would you then remove support for all other file formats?

I am bitterly disappointed by this decision, my company will not be purchasing S12 and neither will our customers unless this decision is reversed.

Yours Sincerely

Ian Litchfield
Sales & Marketing Director
Timeless Moments Limited (UK)

Is Pinnacle game to publish on this forum the full details and results of the "market research" which told them to remove a valuable feature of Studio?

 

If Pinnacle's decision to remove Smartsound support is not reversed very quickly, I for one will NOT be buying any further Pinnacle/Avid products.   I will continue to use S12 while I evaluate offerrings from other suppliers.

 

I request that the Moderator of this forum set up a POLL with a very simple question:

"If future versions of Pinnacle Studio do not allow you to use Smartsound, will you purchase that future version?"

Forum members could then voice their opinion with a simple yes/no answer and the results would be available for all to see - especially Pinnacle's Marketing Department "experts".

 As It seems that many serious users of Studio are members of this forum, they are the users that Pinnacle should be surveying.

Probably wouldn't purchase, but the problem isn't with future versions, but with losing the smartsound with the next interim release (12.1).  I've already purchased version 12 and have smartsound functionality.  I'm sorry, but this is ridiculous.

we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound.

I've mentioned this before in this Thread. Pinnacle now need to define exactly what they mean by "future releases". IMO, an "Update" to S12 would be to fix any bugs found in a previous Version of S12. & "future releases of Studio" would be succeeding Versions of Studio (Next Gen?) & not Updates to S12. If that's the case, then Pinnacle's decision would be considered to be within the bounds of good business practice. If it isn't, then it wouldn't. No doubt Pinnacle have already  considered that?   

colour:

we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound.

I've mentioned this before in this Thread. Pinnacle now need to define exactly what they mean by "future releases". IMO, an "Update" to S12 would be to fix any bugs found in a previous Version of S12. & "future releases of Studio" would be succeeding Versions of Studio (Next Gen?) & not Updates to S12. If that's the case, then Pinnacle's decision would be considered to be within the bounds of good business practice. If it isn't, then it wouldn't. No doubt Pinnacle have already  considered that?   

From Pinnacle:

"In terms of Studio 12, we have decided, based on market research and looking ahead to future opportunities, to remove support for SmartSound. This decision was not made lightly but based on a wide range of factors."

I read that as removing SS support in an S12 update.   I hope I am wrong!

"At SmartSound’s request, and as a result of inability to reach a contractual arrangement satisfactory to both parties, we will be disabling in future releases of Studio current known work-arounds that enabled the use of SmartSound."

If it a just a question of money , Pinnacle should at least make Smartsound support an add-on that can be purchased at a reasonable price for the users that need it.

 

 

 

With Sonicfire Pro, all our SmartSound investments should be available for use and import into Studio as .wav files, in spite of lack of support directly from within Studio in future updates.  All other functions such as matching music length to video should be available.

If it a just a question of money , Pinnacle should at least make Smartsound support an add-on that can be purchased at a reasonable price for the users that need it.

as a result of inability to reach a contractual arrangement satisfactory to both parties,

Jon RT clearly cannot say anything more than that, but there is an implication to this statement.

Smartsounds are actively emailing people trying to sell them Sonicfire. Smartsounds may have less to lose. Pinnacle come out as looking like the bad guys, and Smartsounds get to a captive market of disc owners that have no choice but to buy Sonicfire or move over to a video editing program that does allow Quicktracks support.

So, this may not be about money. Smartsounds may be wanting a guarantee (for themselves and their disc purchasers) that smartsounds support will contine in later versions of studio. The more developed Scorefitter becomes, the more tempted Avid will be to drop Smartsounds. Smartsounds have some leverage at the moment.

As someone who doesn't regularly use either feature, nor have any investment in Smartsounds, this shouldn't really affect me. The people that are most likely to be affected are at the professional and serious hobbist end of the user base. I would not be surprised if 90% of Studio users have no reason to care, and that may well have come out in a marketing survey. What I do care about though, is a percieved disregard for Studio users just because they are in a minority.

 

Interesting point Jeff

 I wonder how many users of Studio have indeed purchased additional Smartsound cds? Mind you, at £50 each they only need to have purchase 2 or more to have invested more in Smartsound than Studio. In addition I would suggest that it is the hobbyist/pro/enthusiast who are most likely to tell everyone they know how good Studio is resulting in many extra sales of the product. Likewise if these same people feel cheated by Pinnacle they are perhaps less likely to sing it's virtues and more likely to try something different.

 Ian

This is indeed very bad news (i own about 15 smartsound CD's). 

17 SS CD's is what I have on the shelf here.

I DL'd a trial of v7 ultra from one of those other NLE producing companies.

I am not saying this to score points against forum users but to show Avid how much SS is used. I have 19 SS on the shelf. Value now Avid is killing SS £0. Commitment to Avid and any updates if SS is not kept zero.

A line from a famous movie " Big mistake - huge!"

I have $0 invested in Smartsound and yet I am still very disappointed.  With my purchase of S12, I had contemplated buying some Smartsound. Then I read Ian's first post regarding the possible loss of support for Smartsound and held off.  I am currently sitting with a copy of S12 that I can't use (mostly because the software developers forgot to include proper support for my HDC-SD1 that was perfectly supported in S11). So, I am rather disappointed with S12 for other reasons at this time.

It seems very strange to me to remove something that works. Surely that takes up more effort (that Pinnacle has to pay for developers) than just leaving the software (Quitracks in this case) alone?

an example, if Studio was Tylenol (acetominophen/paracetomol for the Euro folks), and Pinnacle stopped selling it, what would happen? All of the people who have come to rely on Tylenol would no longer find it on the shelves of their favourite pharmacist/chemist where they have found it for years. They would be left with one big headache - until;an alternative pain reliever was found.It makes me sad to say this, but it really does make you lose faith in a company.

We do not need two threads on this.

 

Please see this thread.

http://forums.pinnaclesys.com/forums/thread/220782.aspx