Hey guys,

not sure if this is the right place to be asking about smartsound and avid.....i want to greatly increase my sound library on avid liquid 7.2...i've been over the smartsound website countless times and still am very confused....it doesn't exactly say if the tracks are compatible with avid when it comes to selecting which format you want them....this is actually the least of my worries. i've done the upgrade on smartsound that is available on there website.

 I'm in Ireland and not sure how to go about even buying more free to air music...can't seem to find a vendor in europe...any recommendations.

Even when i go through the smartsound tool in avid and it comes to purchase and item nothing happens when i agree to purchase music.

 it's all very frustrating as i'm fed up using the same tracks on corporate videos...the last thing i want is various clients seeing the same music on there videos.

 Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated,

 thanks again and regards,

Louie

Louie,

I have added many SmartSound disks to the music library accessible by Liquid and have never had a problem.  Most of the disks are compatible, but the Multi-Layer disks only come across as stereo tracks.  You do not have the extra capabilities for mood mapping that the multi layer disks offer in SonicFire Pro.  Other than that drawback--it is all good.

I don't know about purchasing through Avid, especially since Avid/Pinnacle seems to have abandoned Smartsound with Studio 12, and I think Smartsound is changing their business model too.  May be a reciprocal divorce, so it does not surprise me if the purchase process is broken.  Nonetheless, the music works in Liquid.

I have several albums that I have added as well.  As Fred says, the  mood mapping doesn't work through Liquid, but the music plays fine as stereo.  Smartsound has a sale going on at the moment...have a look here.

Just to be safe, always get the hard copy disc in addition to any downloads.   I can't remember the ins and outs on the different kinds of albums and compatibility with Avid Liquid right now, but the downloaded tracks of some of the latest multitrack albums won't do you any good with  Avid Liquid. 

How do you import the smartsound files from SonicFire stand alone program to Liquid 7? 

When in Liquid, open SmartSound by clicking on the notes icon.  When the SmartSound MusicGenerator window opens, click on the SmartSound button in the upper right-hand corner.  Select the Migration tab and there should be some options to assist you in this. 

I have no issue with music installed in SonicFire pro being visible in Liquid and in Studio 12 (after the QuickTracks plug-in was installed).  All 3 applications show availability of all libraries identically.

BTW--Most SmartSound music filers are in C:/Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data (may be hidden)/SmartSound Software inc

When I use Sonic Fire Pro, I normally save the music as a WAV file. That way it's easy to import into Liquid, or any other program I may be using.  Once in Liquid, manipulate the Sonic Fire Pro generated WAV like any other sound file.

 

Hope this helps.

Roger that (sorry, I couldn't resist),

The only issue is that saving a WAV file does not permit the QuickTracks plugin to recalculate the length, adding good endings.

 BTW--Liquid's implementation of SmartSound is superior to Premiere Pro--CS4.  You cannot resize the sound track and have it recalculate for good transitions, theme or ending as you can in Liquid.  You can resize the clip by entering the duration needed in the Maestro, but resizing on the time-line results in abrupt endings.