Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Sonicfire Pro 4 Helps Digital Directors Get in the Mood
Posted by Brendan Goetz in "SOFTWARE" @ 02:00 PM
"In Sonicfire Pro 4, each music selection has a Mood Map track, where users can identify points in their production where changes in mood occur. They can change the mix of the score to fit each mood by selecting from one of a wide range of preset mixes. Each mix has the individual instrument layers set to different levels, depending on the feel desired. Examples of preset mixes include “Heavy,” “Sparse,” “Dialog” and “Acoustic.” In addition to the preset mixes, each layer can be manually adjusted by moving a slider to match the desired level, offering users unlimited possibilities in mixing their music. If a user needs to duck the horns of a particular piece of music down for dialog, or bring up the strings to add to the suspense, such changes are immediately at their fingertips."
While this seems like a cool idea for people who tinker around with making fun little movies at home and don’t really know a lot about scoring, as a serious film student, I can’t help but feel like this would end up sounding a bit “canned.” When I shoot my next feature, I am going to have my friend, who is a professional musician, score it for me. I think when making serious art, that is really the only way to do it. Still, for the casual movie maker, this might be just the product they are waiting for.
While this seems like a cool idea for people who tinker around with making fun little movies at home and don’t really know a lot about scoring, as a serious film student, I can’t help but feel like this would end up sounding a bit “canned.” When I shoot my next feature, I am going to have my friend, who is a professional musician, score it for me. I think when making serious art, that is really the only way to do it. Still, for the casual movie maker, this might be just the product they are waiting for.
