I have started a new thread on this topic as we have not received an answer from Pinnacle about this. To recap, I was sent the following email from Smartsound:

From: SmartSound for Pinnacle Studio [mailto:sales@smartsound.com]
Sent: 17 July 2008 23:35
To: Ian J. Litchfield
Subject: SmartSound for Pinnacle Studio - Action Required

Dear Ian J.,

This is an important update for Pinnacle Studio users.

THE BAD NEWS: Starting with Pinnacle Studio 11, the built-in SmartSound music scoring features were no longer supported by Pinnacle. While we have provided a workaround for Studio 11, this feature will be completely removed from future versions.

THE GOOD NEWS: We have a special offer for you and the thousands of people that have come to rely on the fast and professional music scoring results offered by the SmartSound feature.

I challanged Smartsound on this, here is the thread:

Original message follows:

Incorrect:

Smartsound, whilst not specifically supported by Studio 12, does indeed work normally providing the installation instructions are carried out. Check the Pinnacle forums and you will see there are plenty of people happily using Smartsound with Studio 12.

Kind Regards
Ian Litchfield
Sales and Marketing Director
Timeless Moments Limited

And their reply to me:

Sorry, Ian. According to Avid, with the next software update the SmartSound feature will cease working. So if you're able to use it now, that will not last for long. Please make sure you let Avid know how you feel about this issue.

I find it unbelievable that Pinnacle would deliberately prevent smartsound from working in an update patch for S12, however, I think this should be confirmed by Pinnacle ASAP.

Ian

That would be quite a low blow if Pinnacle were to actually include a patch to disable SmartSound in S12.

 We'll have to wait and see if it's true. In which case the obvious workaround would be to keep S11.

Why would Pinnacle do that?......If it does indeed happen, I will no longer purchase further upgrades........Money spent on Smartsound music clearly surpasses what I have spent on Pinnacle.

Timeless Moments:

I find it unbelievable that Pinnacle would deliberately prevent smartsound from working in an update patch for S12, however, I think this should be confirmed by Pinnacle ASAP.

 

I am astonished that Pinnacle might even think of doing this.   Many Studio users have a large investment in Smartsound.

I also think that "this should be confirmed by Pinnacle ASAP".

 

I must say I am surprised by the lack of interest in this thread. Surely many of us have invested heavily in Smartsound and if it is to be disabled in the next patch it would mark the end of the Studio experience for us would it not?

Interesting also that Pinnacle aren't commenting.

 

Ian

There have been several threads on this subject, but I'm in the camp that if smartsound does not work in studio 13 (It works fine in studio 12) then I'd bee looking for a replacement NLE. I use smartsound in just about every DVD I make, and have a much larger investment in music then I have with studio products.

Include me as one NOT to upgrade if that does happen.  I also have and enjoy Smartsound far better than the "Other"

I too would like to add my voice concerning this matter and request Pinnacles make it's intentions known.

Thanks, Barry

I am curious if Scorefitter is going to be a dead duck too, as there has not been any new additions, but for the 2 volumes offered.  I too have used SmartSound in every DVD I have created.

At the time, Smartsound integration was what got me interested in Studio to start with!

Does this refer to the next UPDATE or UPGRADE?? It would make more sense if it was UPGRADE, since for marketing purposes IMO, it's unlikely to be called Version 13 & more likely to be "Next Gen" or a Version of that. IMO, the indications so-far, with the exclusion of the "Bonus" Content DVD & Montage, instead of additionsal video tracks in S12, lead to the next version of Studio being combined with that of Liquid, giving additional video tracks. The betting office is now open  

When I upgraded from Studio 11 to Studio 12, the Smartsound feature disappeared.  The Studio FAQ knowledgebase included an entry that mentioned this "could" happen, and that the solution was to use Windows Add / Remove Software utilities to to a "repair" installation of Studio 12.  This worked.

My confusion is whether this temporary loss was a mere glitch (among many) in Studio 12, or if it were perhaps the "discontinuation" alluded to by Timeless Moments.  I would like to think it was a mere glitch.

If Pinnacle intends to discontinue or suspend SmartSound, it should not be selling the albums.

If an upcoming Studio 12 patch euthanizes Smartsound, it should warn users of the consequences.  Some may forego the patches, or revert to Studio 11, which did not have the bothersome sound volume suppression bug in review mode which makes Studio 12 almost impossible to use when adjusting sounds.

Avid announces its 2-QTR-08 results this evening. The company PR release, numbers, and conference call may reveal something about the product futures.  Some good news is vital to turn around the share price trend.  1-QTR-08 was in the red.  Maybe some Pinnacle user can phone in and cordially ask if the Pinnacle Studio products will be supported with patches and upgrades or .... 

I don't own any Smartsound volume (other than the defaults from S10), but have been contemplating jumping in along with S12.

I just got an email offering $25 volumes or 5 packs for $199. When I look at the compatibility on the web (and by email), although I have it installed adnd have used it, I don't see V12 as being compatible. Is that a prelude?

Smartsound web sites has always been a little behind, until just about a few Months ago it only listed studio compatibility to 10.

Markk655:

Yes, it is true, it is not on the compatible list. But if you own Studio 10, you can install Quicktracks plus the Smartsound files on Studio 12, and use them in the same way that you used them on S-10.

The question now is if the next "Update or Upgrade" will dissable Smartsounds in S-12

I too use Smartsound on EVERY DVD I make, whether it's used in the intro, the closing credits or used as the soundtrack for a custom motion menu... and I make an awful LOT of 'em... count me in to not upgrade any further if they remove Smartsound as an option.  And I've been purchasing their upgrades ever since version 8!!!   Scorefitter couldn't hold Smartsounds jockstrap when you compare the two of them.  When I upgraded to 12 Ultimate, followed the instructions properly (for Smartsound), it worked perfectly! 

In fact, I don't think I've yet used a Scorefitter track on any DVD... hmmm... anyone else (with Smartsound) NOT used scorefitter yet?  This could be an interesting stat.... 

Great, now we have a discussion going, but where is the response from Pinnacle?

I am on the verge of ordering 4 copies of 12, but I really don't feel like it if the news from Smartsound is correct.

 Their silence is interesting isn't it? If it wasn't the case then surely a quick reply from a mod stating "this isn't the case" would have stopped this thread in it's tracks, perhaps what they aren't saying is actually answering the question for us!

 PINNACLE - PLEASE RESPOND ASAP and put this one to bed.

 

Ian

We typically do not discuss future releases.  Sometimes things change as software is being developed, tested, etc, so making forward looking statements is prone to error.   

We have not shipped SmartSounds since Studio 10.  We haven't tested or supported it since then.   

If you want clarification on what SmartSounds said or means, you'd have to ask them. 

 

@ Ian, you wrote:

>>I must say I am surprised by the lack of interest in this thread. 

We all have our interests and hot buttons and sometimes we think that what is important to us is important to everyone.    

That would be the typical "we neither confirm nor deny" response that we expect from lack lustre governments around the world.

Surely Pinnacle has more respect for its paying customers than that!  Or am I just being too naive?

What was Pinnacles reasoning for removing Smartsound from Studio 11 (and 12)?

I don't think that's exactly fair to Pinnacle's response, which was not ambiguous. Smartsound is NOT supported. Hasn't been since Studio 10. The fact that it does work in both Studio 11 and Studio 12 (I can definitely confirm that it works perfectly in Studio 12), is a fortunate residue from earlier versions.

If the fact that Smartsound is not supported is a deal-breaker for you than so be it. Apparently the two companies are taking different paths.

I do agree that Smartsound support was an extremely valuable addition to their Studio product.

I do wish and strongly urge Pinnacle to include Smartsound support, or at least not break it, in all future Studio editions.

mcperry:

That would be the typical "we neither confirm nor deny" response that we expect from lack lustre governments around the world.

Surely Pinnacle has more respect for its paying customers than that!  Or am I just being too naive?

What was Pinnacles reasoning for removing Smartsound from Studio 11 (and 12)?

I have commented on the other SmartSound thread(s), so I'll chime in here as well.

I strongly believe the SmartSound should be supported.

• That doesn't mean Pinnacle has to provide and SmartSound music tracks, but it should be supported (and tested!) to work like it does in S11 and S12.
• I don't mind having to go through and extra step in the installation in order to get my SmartSound library working.

SmartSound has been part of Studio for a long time, and it is a GREAT ASSET.

I have sampled many of the Scorefitter songs, and I may have used one, mostly to say I have used one.  It's fine to include that as a base product offering, but if Pinnacle actually does something that causes SmartSound to quit working, that'd be a huge mistake.

It should not offend anyone at Pinnacle when we say SmartSound is superior to Scorefitter.  That is what SmartSound is all about - music!  Scorefitter doesn't suck, it's just that SmartSound is superior.  Pinnacle often includes (or at least provides hooks for)"enhanced" tools that go beyond the core capability of Studio:

• Boris Graffiti
• BIAS SoundSoap
• ProDAD ViataScene
• SmartSound...

The thought of losing that MAGICAL ability to effortlessly change the duration of a quality sound track right inside of Studio is too painful to even think about.  I would hate to have to go to SonicPro and edit my music there.  I change things in my project too often to "finish" the video work and then author the sound track in SonicPro, for importing back into Studio.  That would be regressing back into the 1990's.  Ugh.

It's just like their plug-in support.  Even if they don't "sell" it, I totally believe it's important to ensure that SmartSound continues to work in current and future versions of Studio.  The loss of SmartSound support would be a major step backward.

I can almost piece together what's going on here from the latest smartsound sale they mailed out today. I have e-mailed smartsound to conform what's going on but I already know the answer. The 20 new disk they just released came out in 44K mode, studio has never supported 44K sampling audio, they only supported 22K. This was not a problem until now, because smartsound always provide both the 44K and 22K music on there disk, if you wanted to use there music inside of studio you had to load the 22K version.

But now they seem to be only releasing there latest music in 44K mode, which will not work inside of studio. So much for that sale, there was one disk I liked, and had a great price of $25.

Well now, we will have to wait to see who gives in first, will studio support 44K music files, or will smartsound still provide 22K music option on there disk.

ghuck:

 studio has never supported 44K sampling audio

 Is that right?   

I can add 44k Smartsound  files to the Studio 12 library, then add music from the 44k files into the soundtrack and it works OK.  So where is the problem with 44k in Studio?

Studio loads the 22K from there interface even if you have a 44K disk the 22K will also be on that disk which is the one studio will load. If you load a 44K though the smartsound sonicfire interface studio will not see it. At least on my computer that what happens. Studio has never seen multi-track music also but those are totally different things. Check your smartsound library the music files will end with 22K. Any file ending with 44K studio will not see.