First-class technical support and customer service
Should you ever require support when using our applications, information and assistance is available in several forms. Access our Knowledgebase 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for comprehensive solutions, step-bystep tutorials, important white papers, and more. Talk to a customer service representative. Or, utilize an entirely new level of service with one of our comprehensive Support Solutions. (See page 42)
Leading Edge Media Creation Tools for Professional Video and Audio Editing, Music Composition, Audio Mastering, and DVD Authoring.
4 Professional Solutions www.sony.com/mediasoftware 1.800.577.6642
Updated CD Architect 5 software

NOW INCLUDES

Sound Forge 8 Key Features

General

New! Application scripting New! Batch converter functionality New! Automated le format encoding New! Customizable keyboard mapping New! Save paths in rendered media New! Updated Regions List and Playlist windows New! Includes CD Architect 5.2 software with CD text support New! Direct le export to CD Architect software 24-bit, 32-bit/64-bit oat/192kHz support Media Explorer with automatic le previewing VU meters for RMS playback & record monitoring CD extraction and track-at-once CD burning

Product Highlights

Includes Updated Version of CD Architect Software
Sound Forge 8 software now includes CD Architect 5.2 software our popular stand-alone CD creation application for comprehensive disc-at-once CD burning. This new version of CD Architect software includes CD text reading and writing, and updated drive support. You can also export tracks directly to the CD Architect workspace and media pool. Sound Forge regions are automatically recognized as CD tracks for fast and ecient CD creation.
Professional Digital Audio Editing Software

SOUND FORGE NEW FEATURES

VST plug-in eect support with automation ASIO driver support Application scripting Batch converter functionality Automated le format encoding Includes scripts for popular processes Customizable keyboard mapping Audio scrubbing tool and JKL keyboard commands Rendered media path saving Updated Regions List and Playlist windows Flash (.swf ) format import Windows XP theme support Includes updated CD Architect software with CD text support Direct le export to CD Architect software

Powerful Audio Eects

Apply over 40 professional studio eects and processes that include 200 presets. Automatable eects include Volume, Delay, Chorus and more. Use the Acoustic Mirror plug-in to apply dierent environments to your audio including bridges, churches, concert halls, modern and classic microphones and more. New VST plug-in eect support in Sound Forge 8 software expands the number of eects you can apply, increasing your mastering capabilities.
An Industry Standard For Over A Decade
Sound Forge software is the leading digital audio-editing application. Professionals rely on it for editing, recording, eects processing, and streaming media creation. How did it get to be number one? By doing what it does better than any other program: it provides a comprehensive set of tools designed to make you more productive. Now in version 8, Sound Forge software comes packed with new features such as VST plug-in eect support, ASIO driver support, application scripting, batch converter functionality, and additional powerful enhancements. Its even more of a good thing. Sound Forge 8 software now includes an updated version of CD Architect software for comprehensive disc-at-once CD burning. This new version includes updated drive support and CD text enhancements. There is also a new level of integration between Sound Forge 8 and CD Architect software that lets you easily export one le or multiple les directly from Sound Forge 8 software to the CD Architect Media Pool for seamless CD burning. Use the new application scripting to streamline repetitive tasks, integrate with external applications, and implement customizable features. Sound Forge 8 software ships with premade scripts of commonly used tasks. Save time by converting les into dierent formats, save multiple Sound Forge le regions into separate les, and set up custom commands. Sound Forge software remains the standard for professional audio editing and mastering on the PC platform. With as much production repower as version 8 delivers really what more do you need?

CD Design

Full PQ code editing support, including track and index positions and pause times Print cue sheets and format CD liner notes Up to 99 tracks and 99 subindices per track Smart track reordering Automatic pause time indication
Superior Editing Features
Zoom to the sample level and perform precise, real-time edits, fades and crossfades. Move, cut, copy, paste, and split events. Invert audio phase, normalize tracks, perform audio scrubbing, and even apply real-time pitch changes and time stretching.

CD Writing

New! Updated drive support Burns disc-at-once premaster CDs for professional replication USB, FireWire i.LINK, SCSI and IDE/ATAPI CD-R and CD-RW drive support Overburn support of 80 minute and other size CD-Rs Buer underrun protection and test burn mode PQ list verication for Red Book compatibility prior to burn Copy-inhibit and pre-emphasis ags Audio clipping detection International Standard Recording Codes (ISRC) Universal Product Codes (UPC) and Media Catalog Numbers (MCN)
Comprehensive Mixing Tools
Create transitions between songs or layer audio to produce complex crossfades and DJ-style megamixes. Create live CDs with audio placed between tracks, apply volume and ASR envelopes to events, and even create hidden tracks!
Extensive CD Hardware Support
CD Architect software includes support for a wide variety of CD burners, including FireWire/ i.LINK connector/IEEE-1394, USB, IDE, and SCSI devices. Perform test burns before writing. CD Architect software also provides buer underrun protection preventing unusable discs.
For a complete listing of all CD Architect 5 product features, go to www.sony.com/mediasoftware System Requirements
500 MHz processor Windows-compatible sound card CD-ROM drive CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning) 128 MB RAM 40 MB hard-disk space for program installation Microsoft Windows 2000 or XP DirectX 8.0 or later (Included on CD-ROM) Internet Explorer 5.0 or later (ver 5.0 on CD-ROM) Some product features may require registration
An Indispensible Tool for Custom CD Creation
CD Architect 5 software (now updated to 5.2) provides the most precise audio CD mastering and burning tools available. With this powerful software, you can generate Red Book-compliant disc-at-once (DAO) premasters of your music suitable for professional replication. CD Architect software is everything you need to produce professional CDs from beginning to end. Arrange your CD Architect project using simple drag-and-drop operations. Perform full PQ code editing, apply eects, create customized crossfades, and produce complex crossfades and DJ-style megamixes. Generate multiple takes of a song to use in your project before burning. Create best-of CDs in minutes. Preview and extract tracks of your own music, add them to your project, and burn to CD. Tracks are extracted with full PQ information including track start points, timing information, and more. CD Architect software lets you arrange tracks with speed and precision. Zoom to the sample level and perform precise, real-time edits, fades and crossfades. Move, cut, copy, paste, and split events. Perform full PQ code editing including track and index positions, ISRC codes, and pause times. Create live-style CDs with audio in the time between tracks, apply volume envelopes and event ASR envelopes even create hidden tracks. Preview your tracks in real-time before adding them to your project. Import multiple le formats without any conversion. Instantly normalize events to the peak level and master your CD projects using over 20 real-time DirectX eects including EQ, compression, reverb, and noise gate. Apply eects to individual tracks, sections of a track, or the master bus. Invert audio phase, normalize tracks, scrub through audio even apply real-time pitch changes and time stretching. Use the highest quality audio in your CD projects, up to 32-bit, 192kHz source audio no conversion is necessary. Convert your tracks to Red Book audio with high-quality resampling and dithering with noise shaping. CD Architect software supports a wide variety of CD burners, including i.LINK, FireWire, USB, IDE, and SCSI devices. Perform test burns before writing to CD. CD Architect also provides buer underrun protection preventing unusable discs.

Intuitive CD Design Features
Arrange audio tracks using simple drag-and-drop operations. Create multiple takes of a song to use in your project before burning. Preview and switch between various takes to choose the one that ts best in your project.
Multiple File Format Support
Use multiple le formats in your project CD Architect software performs the conversion for you. Convert your favorite MP3s to WAV on the y. CD Architect software supports popular formats including MP3, AIFF, Windows Media Audio, Ogg Vorbis, and more.

Precise PQ Code Editing

CD Architect software lets you arrange tracks with speed and precision. Perform full PQ code editing including track and index positions, ISRC codes, and pause times.
Fully Customizable Workspace
CD Architect software lets you customize your environment to t the way you work. Dock or oat windows, including the Playlist, Tracklist, Trimmer, Media Pool and Mixer anywhere on your workspace. CD Architect software, like all Sony Media Software products, supports dual monitor desktops.

Cue Sheet Printing

Share track list information with other applications or a CD replication house. Copy track list information, save it to a text le, or print a hard copy directly from CD Architect software. 10 Professional Solutions www.sony.com/mediasoftware 1.800.577.6642 Professional Solutions 11

ACID Pro 5 Key Features

Includes the Xpress Keyboards VSTi soft synth bundle from Native Instruments a $119 value!

Fundamentals

New! Over 1,000 music loops in multiple genres New! Media Manager technology New! Metronome for playback and record New! Customizable UI and keyboard mapping New! Flash (.swf ) le format import Unlimited tracks of audio and MIDI Real-time pitch and tempo matching 24-bit/192 kHz audio support ASIO driver support Master, auxiliary, soft synth, and eects bus tracks WAV, Windows Media, and MP3 import

New! ACID Pro 5

Original Music Creation
ACID Pro 5 software includes a powerful set of real-time features for composing original songs. Its intuitive pick, paint, and play interface lets you focus on the immediacy of music creation. By providing an unlimited number of tracks for audio and MIDI events, and a comprehensive and professional editing environment, youll nd yourself immersed in a new world with innite creative possibilities.

ACID PRO 5 NEW FEATURES

Groove Mapping and Groove Cloning quantization technology Media Manager technology Nestable folder tracks VST eect support Multiport VSTi soft synth support ReWire device support MIDI editing enhancements: piano roll snap-to-scale and note ltering Tempo-based DirectX eects Enhanced audio timestretching and beat detection Real-time event reverse Disc-at-once CD burning Bus-to-bus routing Metronome for playback and record Flash.swf format import

Mixing and Editing

New! Nestable folder tracks for enhanced project organization New! Real-time event reverse New! Bus-to-bus routing New! Improved audio timestretching and beat detection 5.1 surround mixing Beatmapper remixing tool Chopper editing tool with loop cloning Video scoring track (AVI, MOV, WMV) Tempo, time signature, and key change markers Volume and pan envelopes Tempo and key mapping
Advanced Mixing and Editing Tools
Set up and mix 5.1 channel surround project les for audio and DVD productions. Reverse audio events during playback in real-time. Use the Beatmapper tool to add tempo information to song-length les, including MP3s, so you can remix and combine music loops with existing songs. The Chopper tool creates amazing drum lls, stutters, and DJ-style eects.

Eects and MIDI

New! Groove Mapping quantization tools with Groove Cloning New! ReWire support (mixer and device) New! VST eect support with automation New! MIDI Piano Roll snap-to-scale ltering New! Tempo-based DirectX eects VSTi support DirectX plug-in support Plug-in eect automation Over 20 real-time DirectX audio eects 32 assignable eect chains
Powerful New Media Management
ACID Pro software provides new tools that oer a more ecient way to manage your project media. Innovative search and tag tools allow you to quickly identify loops found on your hard-drive or even within the entire collection of Loops & Samples from Sony Media Software by genre, instrumentation, BPM, or other user-dened attributes.
Exclusive Groove Mapping Quantization Technology
New and unique to ACID Pro 5 software is our powerful groove quantization technology. Groove Mapping and Groove Cloning can signicantly expand your loop collection by morphing existing loops into fresh, new sounds. Beat-match vocal tracks nondestructively in real-time. Quantize disparate loops to a common groove, create new grooves from scratch, apply any number of the supplied grooves, and even extract grooves from existing loops and apply them to other samples.

Export and CD Burning

New! Integrated disc-at-once CD burning Export: WAV, MP3, WMA, WMV, RM, WAV, AIF, and PCA Sony Net MD format export One-click music publishing to ACIDplanet.com*
*One-click publishing requires an Internet connection from your PC to the Web.

Bexarametric / Kevin J. Deal
ACIDplanet is the Best Site for Networking
Get heard by industry reps
Another huge opportunity to get noticed is by entering ACIDplanet.com contests. Since the launch of ACIDplanet in 1999, weve run over 100 contests, making ACIDplanet.com the hottest spot on the Internet for remixing top artists. Some of our contests are judged by reps at record labels, so entering is a good way to get your music in front of them. In addition to remix contests, we regularly feature contests for original music along with our new video contests. Previous remix contests have given ACIDplanet members the chance to work with original sounds from Madonna, Beck, Depeche Mode, Lenny Kravitz, Lil Jon, De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, New Order, and many others. As an ACIDplanet user, youll be the rst to know when new contests are announced.

Profile: Kevin J. Deal

ACIDplanet screen name: Nationality: Home: Musical Style: Years in Music/Video: Miles per year: Biggest crowd: Favorite artist: Greatest inuence: Credits: Bexarametric American Austin, Texas Electronica 11 5,000 2,500 Squarepusher Honest music 2 songs in Atari Unreal Tournament 2004, 1 song in trailer for EA Games Need for Speed Underground Bexarametric Pressure LP Eve EP BEX IDM LP BEX IDM
Reach new audiences and build relationships
ACIDplanet.com members come from all walks of life and their work represents every style of music imaginable from easy listening to electronica. Youll be able to chat with people from around the world and forge relationships with like-minded artists. The ACIDplanet site is a powerful networking tool. You can search for a vocalist to sing your lyrics, or help out another member by adding rhythm tracks to their newest song. You can also improve your technical skills with tips and advice from other musicians on recording and mixing, software, and hardware.
Download free loops each week
Stop by every week to download a free 8pack eight free loops arranged into a song. 8packs make great example songs to help you learn more about using ACID software. The free 8packs also give you a taste of what the Sony Sound Series: Loops & Samples collection has to oer. Its the worlds foremost collection of music loops, oering sounds in nearly every music style and genre imaginable.

Albums:

Sony software: Whats next:

Sound Forge, CD Architect, and ACID Pro
BEX IDM B-Sides album and a video for latest single Matsumoto

How do I nd ACIDplanet?

Go to www.acidplanet.com or, while connected to the internet, simply click the Publish button on your ACID Pro, ACID Music Studio, Vegas Movie Studio+DVD, or Sound Forge Audio Studio software toolbar.
www.acidplanet.com/bexarametric
New Premier Service on ACIDplanet.com
www.acidplanet.com/prozone
Weve made ACIDplanet.com bigger, more personalized, more productive, and better suited to advancing your visions of original music, video, and artist representation with an exclusive artist area. We call it the ProZone a new premier service available to ACIDplanet.com citizens. A ProZone account can help you maximize your online presence. Promote yourself and your work more extensively with enhanced artist pages that highlight your photos, projects, discography, and merchandise. You can also customize your artist pages to better reect your personal style and feature your latest releases. In the ProZone, collaboration is easier than ever. Browse other ProZone artists to quickly identify those with the special talents you need to bring to your work. Its also easier for potential clients to nd you by listing your skills and experiences. Let them know you have music available for licensing, or that you do lm scoring. The ProZone gives members an inside connection.
Bexarametric has been writing music for 11 years. He started on guitar and gradually worked his way into electronic music. Bexarametric recently released his third studio album titled BEX IDM. He enjoys collaborating with other serious artists and is currently busy with several other projects including launching his own online store. Thirteen of Bexarametrics songs have reached number one on the ACIDplanet.com charts, and he is currently ranked the fourth top ACIDplanet artist. The community of ACIDplanet is by far the best online, states Bexarametric. Ive been to other sites and the one thing that they all lack is a sense of community. Ive been on pay-sites that oer less features and networking than ACIDplanet.com. Bexamaretric goes on to say, I cant think of another music site that has given me more exposure than ACIDplanet.com. Because of the easy networking on AP, Ive landed jobs scoring music for multimillion-unit-selling video games. Ive also made a lot of great friends in the process. There have been countless remixes and collaborations that I have been a part of thanks to this site. For more about Bexarametric or to nd other ProZone artists go to acidplanet.com

Professional Video Eects and Transitions
Choose from over 190 customizable video eects including: Lens Flares, Light Rays, Film Eects, Chroma Key, Timecode Overlays, Color Gradients, Media Generators, Text Eects and use over 175 2D and 3D fully customizable transitions. Quickly recall frequently used eect chains with new congurable packages.

5.1 Surround Mixing

Vegas software provides extensive tools for the creation of 5.1 surround mixes. Keyframeable surround panning for tracks and busses lets you mix the most demanding DVD soundtracks without leaving the Vegas environment.
Dolby Digital AC-3 Encoder Key Features*
Professional Dolby-licensed AC-3 encoding plug-in Ocially tested and certied by Dolby Labs Inc. Adds multichannel Dolby Digital AC-3 rendering functionality to Vegas 5 software
Subtitles and multiple audio track support*

DVD ARCHITECT 2 SOFTWARE

Professional DVD Design and Authoring
Author professional menu-based DVDs using backgrounds, motion menus, buttons, text and eects. Set end actions, produce DVDs with subtitles, multiple languages and running commentary. DVD Architect 2 software provides a fully customizable interface to optimize workow.
*Included with the Vegas+DVD Production Suite For a complete listing of all Vegas 5 and Vegas+DVD Production Suite product features, go to www.sony.com/mediasoftware System Requirements
500 MHz processor Windows-compatible sound card CD-ROM drive CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning) 128 MB RAM 60 MB hard-disk space for program installation Microsoft Windows XP or 2000 DirectX 8.0a or later (included on CD-ROM) Internet Explorer 6.0 or later (included on CD-ROM) OHCI compatible i.LINK connector/IEEE-1394 DV card (for DV capture and print-to-tape) Microsoft.NET Framework 1.1 (included on CD-ROM) Some features may require product registration
Our 3-in-1 Solution for the Professional Media Producer
The Vegas+DVD Production Suite is a powerful set of three integrated programs that seamlessly edits video and audio, produces 5.1 surround mixes, encodes to Dolby Digital AC-3 le formats, and authors DVDs. It includes Vegas 5 software, DVD Architect 2, and Dolby Digital AC-3 encoding software. With a reputation for pristine broadcast video, high-delity audio output, plus support for NTSC and PAL formats, Vegas 5 software is perfect for HD and DV production, sound editing and mixing, streaming content creation, and 5.1 surround sound production. Its the new industry standard for editing and nishing on the PC platform. DVD Architect 2 software is a powerful DVD production and layout tool. Use it to author professional menu-based DVDs with backgrounds, motion menus, buttons, text, and eects. You can also create programmable actions to set DVD content to loop, hold or timeout at the end of a scene change. DVD Architect 2 software provides support for multiple audio tracks and subtitles to create DVDs in multiple languages or with additional commentary. Easily view and edit all the menus and titles in a DVD project using the Project Overview window. The DVD Architect 2 interface is fully customizable, and lets you dock or oat windows anywhere in your workspace. Additionally, DVD Architect software provides a comprehensive optimization wizard for automatically or manually adjusting the compression of the overall project or individual les prior to burning the DVD. When you are ready to create your DVD, ensure that your project will look the way you intended by previewing it on an external monitor via i.LINK connector/IEEE-1394/FireWire without rendering or using additional hardware. Also included with the Vegas+DVD Production Suite is a Dolby Digital AC-3 encoder. After nishing your 5.1 mix in Vegas 5 software, use this certied Dolby Digital AC-3 plug-in to encode stereo or multichannel AC-3 les for use in your surround sound DVD productions. From short-form videos to widescreen 5.1 DVDs, Vegas+DVD software provides comprehensive video, audio, and DVD production features for the professional media producer.

Subtitle Creation and Multiple Audio Tracks
Create subtitles in the DVD Architect workspace, or export text regions from Vegas software and import them as subtitles for a DVD Architect project. Add up to eight audio tracks for multiple-language DVDs, commentary and audio descriptions.
DOLBY DIGITAL AC-3 ENCODER
5.1-Channel AC-3 Encoding
Output surround mixes by encoding 5.1 multichannel or stereo projects with the Dolby Digital AC-3 encoder. DVD Architect software also imports AC-3 les for the creation of multichannel 5.1 DVDs.
18 Professional Solutions
VEGAS 5 WORKFLOW FEATURES
Envelope Automation Recording
Record track envelope and keyframe parameters in real-time using a mouse or external control surface hardware with touch and latch record modes and automatic post-record keyframe thinning. Automation parameter control is available for both stereo and 5.1 tracks and buses, as well as for video track envelopes.
Subtitle Creation and Support
Create and edit frame accurate subtitles within the DVD Architect 2 interface by exporting text regions using Vegas software, and importing them into DVD Architect software. Subtitles display on-screen during movies, slideshows, and music compilations. Text les can be translated for use as alternate language subtitles in a project to create DVDs containing multiple languages. Subtitles can also be imported from a text le or third-party subtitling application. DVD Architect 2 software supports up to 32 subtitle tracks for each title (16 tracks for widescreen).

Overview of Key Features

VEGAS 5 VIDEO FEATURES
3D Track Motion and Compositing
Create 3D motion and text eects with control over Z-depth, plane intersection, compositing, and more. The track grouping model allows multiple tracks to move and rotate in 3D space. Motion occurs in realtime and is previewable via i.LINK connector/IEEE1394 hardware to external monitor.
Vegas 5, DVD Architect 2, and Dolby Digital AC-3 Encoding Software

VEGAS 5 AUDIO FEATURES

On-The-Fly Punch-In Recording
The Vegas 5 recording model allows for on-the-y punch-in recording on armed tracks while playing back your Vegas project. Record and maintain multiple takes of audio into an empty track, a time selection, an event, or a combination of time and events.

Turn your PC into a music creation studio! Built on award-winning ACID Pro software technology, ACID Music Studio provides all the tools you need to create your own music, remixes, soundtracks and CDs. Select from over 1,000 included music loops in multiple genres and instrumentation, paint them into the tracks, and play them back. ACID Music Studio software automatically matches the tempo and key so everything plays back together and sounds great. Our exclusive Show Me How tutorials walk you through the entire process step by step. If you want to make your own music, you can record vocals, guitars or keyboards to combine with loops in your songs. Use an unlimited number of tracks and music loops in your project for innite creative possibilities. Record and edit MIDI les, reverse audio or customize your projects with powerful studio eects such as EQ, Reverb, Delay and more. Even import songs and MP3 les from your own favorite CDs. When youre nished, burn continuous mixes using Disk-at-Once CD burning or save to popular streaming formats for uploading to the Web. Export music to portable MP3 devices, Sony Net MD players and more. Even publish your music to ACIDplanet.com! Join the community and listen, download, create playlists, remix songs by popular artists and download free loops.
Built on award-winning Vegas software technology, Vegas Movie Studio+DVD software provides you with a powerful, integrated and easy-to-use set of features that lets you bring your collection of videos, digital photos and music to life. Its easy to transfer videos and digital photos to your computer. Our exclusive Show Me How tutorials walk you through the entire process from start to nish. Movie Studio software expertly manages your media and even detects where each scene begins and ends. Perform precise editing and choose from hundreds of Hollywood-style special eects, 3D transitions, video clips, title cards, borders, music beds, sound eects and more. Interactive tutorials provide assistance throughout the creative process so you can spend less time learning and more time creating. Use the included DVD Architect Studio software application to burn your creations to DVD and produce movies containing multiple menus, buttons and links. You can even create slideshows and music compilations. When nished, share your creations with others on DVDs, VCDs, CDs or save them to your hard drive, the Web, or Memory Stick media.

The Bill Laswell Collection: Volume I Bill Laswell reveals secret codes from the underground in Volume I of the Bill Laswell Collection.
The Bill Laswell Collection: Volume II Hundreds of sonic documents made for you to sculpt inside the ACID workspace.

The Orchestral Series

To create these four volumes, we assembled an international team of composers and producers who understand what it takes to make a great loop library. The Orchestral Series features a full symphony orchestra performing an astounding variety of authentic, original music from classical to rock & pop.
Orchestral Series 1: Classical Original music composed in tribute to the most beloved Baroque and Romantic period composers.
Orchestral Series 2: Modern Original orchestral music celebrating late twentieth century and contemporary milestones.
The Bill Laswell Collection: Volume III The basic principals of Bill Laswells production genius delivered intact.
The Bill Laswell Collection: Volume IV A 2-CD collection with superior 24-bit sound, available only with the complete Bill Laswell Collection.
Orchestral Series 3: Cinematic Complete orchestral pieces and individual instrument loops designed to enhance visual images.
Orchestral Series 4: Rock & Pop String, bass, woodwind, and percussion loops scored with popular music in mind.
Horncraft for R&B Enjoy this tremendous collection of saxes, trumpets, and trombones produced by Blues Brothers and SNL alumnus Birch Johnson.
Joe Vitale: Latin Percussion Sizzling Latin rhythms, percussion ensembles, and vital instrumentation.
Machine Language II The West Coast underground vibe, delivered straight to your desktop. A complete construction kit.
Numina II: More Peak Sounds for Cinema Lush, slowly evolving soundscapes, deep rhythms, and sustained, stackable sound elements that provide varying degrees of tension.
Stylus Pressure: Urban Grooves on Digital Wax Pure urban magik trippin grooves and freaky sonic collages with the phat sound of pure vinyl.
Ugly Remnants: Volume Two A second helping of versatile Ugly Remnants loops rounds out this stellar, multi-genre set from Endlessow.
Hydroponic Hip-Hop A complete hip-hop construction kit created by veteran library producer Brian Daly.
Joe Vitale: Organ Donor The Vitale production team strikes again with Organ Donor, a comprehensive library full of vintage Hammond B3 loops.

Ultimate Electronica Pack 2: Western Europe
Looking for the Continental sound? Tour Europe on a bullet train with your laptop and some ACID software fueled by this thumpin bundle! The Prototechno collection supplies a foundation of unfettered boom and klang; build freely on this framework with our ACID Techno Expander Pack, and Euro Techno collections. The Esoterik Beatz library is a gritty collection of jungle-inspired rhythm resources, and our Headstrong Grooves set adds the 2-step micro genre as an evolutionary stepping stone on the shining and endless neural pathways of the European dance music scene.
More loop bundles online at www.sony.com/mediasoftware
New! Sound Series: Sony Pictures Sound Eects
Volume 1: Animals / Natural Elements From farm critters and house pets, to jungle cats and reptiles, this disc pairs a variety of animal sounds with rich elemental eects like wind, re, water, and earth movement. Volume 2: Backgrounds Indoor or outdoor, loud or soft, up close or far away, these long-format les provide the backbone ambiances that will hold all of your scenes together. No collection is complete without them. Volume 3: Home & Oce / Impacts / Weapons & Explosions This arsenal of sound eects will accent any situation, from the battleeld to the oce. Choose from over 400 eects, ranging from automatic weapons and massive explosions, to everyday household appliances. Volume 4: Vintage Comedy / Sports & Recreation / Vocals & Wallas This essential volume contains an anthology of comedic music and Foley, a touch of sports, and an assortment of single and group vocals, to create equal parts avor and humor.
Sony Vision Series: 3D Textures & Backdrops
Royalty-Free Video Creation Assets
The Vision Series multimedia creation assets are libraries packed full of dynamic, royalty-free textures and backdrops that enhance all your desktop video productions. Vision Series oerings are encoded with Sony Pictures Digitals premium DV Codec, a perfect match for Vegas software and virtually any other video editing platform. Collect all the Vision Series libraries to keep your projects looking distinctively unique.

Volume 1: Evolving Luminous Objects A collection of twenty-ve stunning visual animations, dazzling 3D objects, and radiant light displays.
Volume 2: Living Color Fields A collection of twenty-ve animated backdrops and textures ranging from subdued and calming to brilliant and kaleidoscopic perfect for oating text and providing abstract backgrounds.
This ve volume collection includes some of the best sound design and eld recorded materials created by our outstanding team. From entry-level designers to industry professionals looking to expand their collections, this set of high quality sounds is a must have.
Tom McCarthy, Jr. / Executive Vice President, Theatrical & Television Sound Editorial Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.
Volume 5: Vehicles Enjoy a wide assortment of sounds generated by a variety of vehicles, from ghter jets and helicopters, to 18-wheelers, muscle cars, motorcycles, and trains. Also included are crash eects and various door and key movements.
Volume 3: Ripples and Flares Our third collection of animated textures and backdrops. Emphasis is placed on diuse, unobtrusive images designed for easy integration with a variety of other visual media.
Volume 4: Dynamic Geometries A collection of twenty-ve animations that feature owing, multi-dimensional shapes and forms, ranging from solid objects to plasma-like elds of pure, streaming energy.
Were proud to announce the launch of the Sony Pictures Sound Eects Series - a ve CD collection of sound eects and dynamic audio design, tailor-made to elevate your productions to the content quality standards of the Hollywood entertainment industry. For the rst time, Sony Pictures Entertainment is opening its vaults to make a massive archive of audio material available to producers everywhere. From rollercoasters, room tones and rocket launchers, to biplanes, Bengal tigers, and bar room brawls, this debut release includes a wide range of essential sound eects categories distributed generously across ve volumes packed full of exciting, exclusive material. With nearly 1,200 high-quality eects in various lengths and styles, youre sure to nd just the sounds youre looking for. And theres much more to come, with future volumes highlighting all areas of the silver screen, including science ction, comedy, action, and more. The Sony Pictures Sound Eects Series will provide you with everything you need to select, layer and transform even the most elemental eects into expertly crafted sound design creations to compliment all your audio/visual projects. With the ongoing support of one of the worlds largest and most successful studios, the possibilities are endless. Sony Media Software is dedicated to enriching the work of media content creators at every tier of the industry. Our Sound Series Loops & Samples collection broke all barriers to become the industry leader, providing indispensable tools that are currently enjoyed by music producers worldwide. Now, our famed music creation libraries are joined by the Sony Pictures Sound Eects Series, in our continuing eorts to provide media content creators everywhere with the most comprehensive collection of audio assets available anywhere. 38 Media and Content www.sony.com/mediasoftware

TEST DRIVE

Sony Acid Pro 7
by Steve Cunningham Having recently checked in with two of our favorite Sony products, Vegas 8 and SoundForge 9, I thought it time that we check in on Sonys Acid product, which has recently arrived at version 7. A percentoff email that showed up on Black Friday provided me with further encouragement to upgrade. Moreover, we havent checked in with Acid since version 3 way back in 2002, and the loop-based production tool has changed a great deal in six years. For one, Acid has added full-blown audio recording and editing to its arsenal of looping tools. And like its sibling SoundForge and Vegas, Acid 7 now has a full-fledged mixing console interface. Ive been a fan of Acid in the past for its ability to time-stretch and -shrink music files for concert promos, with few or no audio artifacts. Acid 7 does this job with even fewer artifacts than before thanks to its use of new algorithms from Germanybased Zplane Development. SETTING UP Like most Sony audio products, Acid 7 can be set up rather quickly. Its copy protection is serial-number based, so theres no need to find another USB port for a dongle. In fact, the longest portion of the entire process for me was simply downloading the software, which includes several gigabytes of loops and a couple of sample-based soft synths. Acids requirements are in line with most of todays editors: Windows XP SP2 or Vista, a 1.8 GHz processor with 2 GHz or faster recommended, 1 GB of RAM with 2 GB or more recommended, 150 MB of hard disk for the program and another 8 GB of optional components including loops and software

ACID Main Screen

RODUCTION

January 2009

samplers, a Windows-capable sound card, a CDR drive for burning CDs and a DVD drive for reading the program disk. You can, as I did, opt to download all the software. Just be aware that the program is small enough, but downloading 4+ GB of content takes quite a while even on a fast connection. WHATS NEW Its been so long since weve looked at Acid in these pages that the list of changes and improvements would take up more space than this writer is allotted per month. So well just hit the highlights of earlier versions that are applicable to beat matching and production work in general, and focus on the new version. The most significant improvement is in the user interface, where Sony have added a real Mixing Console window to Acid version 7, as they have done with Forge 9 and Vegas 8. I sincerely hope there was a second monitor for your rig under the Christmas tree, as youll need that, along with a dual-head video card. The new Mixing Console window does not replace the current Mixer window, but allows you to see the entire mixer in a single window, which is invaluable for setting up complex bussing schemes, and makes Acid a viable production tool that can take music promos from start to finish. The new Mixing Console window is home to the same set of controls as the Mixer window shows, including buttons for Properties, Downmixing (from surround to stereo or stereo to mono), Dim Output, and Insert Audio Track/Assignable FX/Bus. In addition, a list down the left-hand side displays all available channels (based on your tracks) with a checkbox to show or hide any or all of them. The show/hide checkbox works on whatever tracks are currently selected, and its easy to see at a glance which tracks are not visible. One small quibble is the re-sizeable dividing line between this list and the rest of the Mixing Console display -- I tend to use succinct labels for tracks (which of course become the channel names in the Mixing Console), but the dividing line cant be moved leftward past a certain point. In my case that point leaves the list about twice as wide as it actually

Mixer Window

needs to be, and wastes valuable screen real estate in the process. But this is a nit, and only serves as additional motivation for that second monitor, yes? Between the track list and the Preview channel are two groups of vertical buttons that let you show or hide tracks or functions selectively, with the top button labeled Show All. The upper group lets you hide tracks by their type, while the lower buttons let you hide sections by function. Dont want to see any buss tracks? Just press the busses button. Pressing the I/O button from the lower group will hide those buttons and extend the meters/faders to fit. You will note that some of the lower function show/hide buttons may not seem to work, depending upon your screen resolution. BIG MIX, NEW PATHS With the Mixing Console Window fully extended vertically and all Show buttons enabled, the mixer shows the aforementioned Properties, Downmixing, etc. buttons along the top, then the Insert FX group, then the Sends group, then the I/O, and finally the Faders with meters alongside. Moreover, the dividing lines between the Insert FX group and the Sends group, and between the Sends group and the I/O group are both moveable with the mouse. You can set up what you see and what you hide to suit your style of workflow and tastes. Very nice. Additional coolness within the new mixer includes full track envelope automation that works in real time, and can be controlled with either a mouse or an external fader box. Automation envelopes are graphically editable with moveable breakpoints and curves. The automation itself works in Read, Write, Touch, and Latch modes, with the latter two kicking in when you grab a fader and kicking out either when you release the fader (Touch) or when you stop playback (Latch). All the while you can monitor your tracks with real-time track DSP effects, both while in record and in playback. Also new are input busses, which allow you to record from external devices through effects processors thereby printing them wet, combine external sources with projects in real time, as well as process tracks through external effects. To help you see whats happening during complex sessions, meters are now available on both audio tracks and busses. These are new meters that can be customized with regard to both position and scale. You can even label your ASIO input and output devices, so youre not relying on the default names January 2009

Dynamics Processing

to figure out what is going where. Sweet. Of course, Acid 7 retains all the functionality of previous releases, including an interface that is extremely easy to use, a Video window for working to picture, windows that can be torn off or docked, and the aforementioned automatic, realtime pitch-shifting and tempo- matching that is as good as it gets. KILLER APP For creating music promos and beat matching in general, Acid is still a killer app thanks to its adept implementation of time-stretch and -shrink audio files, and its ability to create seamless audio loops. These can be manipulated together or independently, making it easy, for example, to alter the tempo of a pop song slightly when matching it to other songs in a promo, or even to pitch-shift a VO read to get a specific effect. Audio loops can be stored in an Acidized format which contains information about the original recording tempo, length (in beats) and root-note pitch. Like several other audio editors, Acid uses a resynthesis technique for time-stretching, which has markedly improved since Sony licensed Zplanes elastique Pro software component. Zplane makes three versions of their algorithms available for licensing, and the Pro version in Acid 7 generates the highest quality results, according to the company. I was definitely able to apply more stretch before I heard glitches, in some cases well over 20%. The results are generally excellent,

and although with any pitch-shifting or tempo-stretching the process only works within certain limits before audio artifacts appear, the new algorithms in Acid 7 allow a much more radical degree of stretch or shrink without artifacts than before. The other key component of the Acid experience has always been the straightforward organization and ease of use of the interface. This makes the mixing and matching of loops so simple that, with the right combination of loops and music thats somewhat close in tempo, even parttimers can use it to create very impressive results. The ability to preview Acidized loops in real time means that auditioning a new loop simply involves clicking on a file as you browse your loop collection in the Explorer window -- youll automatically hear it with its tempo and pitch mapped to those of the project. The Media Manager goes a long way towards making those loops more accessible. Its included with Acid 7 (and with Forge 9 and Vegas 8), but it is a separate install. Dont ignore it -- it definitely speeds workflow. The Media Manager automatically scans your hard drives and finds audio bits, or you can manually add

Chorus Effect

items. Once theyre in the Media Library, you can tag em and bag em, organizing them into folders with useful names (now theres a concept!). As you do, the Media Manager builds a searchable database that works across all three Sony products, so if youre a Vegas user your library may already be done. Of course if you buy any loops from Sony, they come to you pretagged for your dining pleasure. EXTRAS Sony bundles a whole lot of goodies with Acid 7. Unfortunately most of them are aimed at musicians -- theres a Garritan sample playback plug, a guitar sample player from Native Instruments, and even a cut-down version of Submersibles Drum Core plug-in. Fun if youre into that, I suppose. But they do include four effects from iZotope (one of my favorite propeller-head DSP wizard companies) that are excellent. Im a big fan of authentic-sounding analog effects plugs, particularly Phasers and Flangers. The Flanger and Phaser included with Acid 7 are simply outstanding. The Flanger will also create a nice chorus effect, and can generate comb filters that are either gentle and sparse or deep and dense. The Phaser can be set to one stage for a gentle effect, or six stages for a deep swoosh, or anywhere in between. The Phase Difference slider lets you dial in the affected frequencies, and an EQ lets you tame the effect. The Analog Delay plug has settings to emulate tape, or tape through tubes, or good old analog bucket brigade delay. Theres even a Trash setting to give you a little analog grit. The Dynamics plug has individual settings for compression, limiting, and expansion/gating, giving you the ability to set a multi-segment dynamics curve to handle just about anything. It sounds excellent, with no coloration. just lots of squash. HELP PLEASE The documentation included with Acid 7 is, frankly, a bit sparse. Whether you buy the download and get it as a PDF, or buy the boxed set and get a soft cover manual, it covers only the basics. However, Acid 7 comes with built-in interac-

tive tutorials which are a help. I found that theres a certain amount of trial and error involved in getting two dissimilar songs to play nicely together in a promo using Acid, and once Id gone through the tutorials I felt mostly on my own. Fortunately the learning curve gets flatter as I spent more time with the program. The fact that its organized much like Forge and Vegas certainly makes it easier, but if youre going to create an entire music promo in Acid for the first time, you may want to take a dry run at it in private. But once I established a workflow I was good to go, and its fun. The programs ability to stretch and shrink music beyond recognition, almost without artifacts, is amazing. Now that it will record and edit audio just like Vegas, Acid has become a serious tool for any project that requires beat matching as part of the pro-
duction process. Acid has become a mature product for pros. If youve got an old copy of Acid Pro in any version tucked away on your hard drive, you should seriously consider the upgrade. Its well worth it. Steve sez check it out. Acid Pro 7 carries a US suggested retail price of $299.95 (download) or $314.95 (boxed). Upgrades from previous versions start at $134.95. A demo version is available, as is more information at www.sonycreativesoftware.com. n Steve Cunningham is a voice actor and producer at Acme Voiceworx, and shares his production tips at www.audiotechsupport.com. Hes also a USC faculty member. Steve welcomes your comments and questions at steve@acmevox.com.

Delay Effects