Sony Creative Software multimedia bundle — worth £3000

Published in SOS February 2008
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Competition

With software titles such as Sound Forge, Acid and Vegas in their repertoire, Sony Creative Software are a force to be reckoned with in the world of multimedia production. It's quite conceivable that you could use their products to take care of all aspects of a digital project, from recording, to editing and mixing, then right the way through to post-production and mastering. Furthermore, under the wider umbrella of the Sony brand, it's possible to use hardware and software from just one manufacturer to facilitate your entire project — something rarely possible these days.

Sony Creative Software are a relatively new enterprise. As a division of Sony, they handle a range of products that have stemmed from a variety of sources. Sound Forge, possibly their best-known software package in the audio industry, was developed in the '90s by Sonic Foundry, before Sony bought their software development unit and the software in 2003. Under Sony Creative Software, the application has grown from a reliable two-channel audio editor to a full-blown media-editing suite, which is capable of recording stereo and multi-channel audio, and editing to single-sample accuracy in real time. With Sound Forge, you can add off-line effects to audio, as well as hosting both VST and Direct X plug-ins, and even synchronise HD video with audio.

Acid Pro is also a well-known name in the audio world, and is another product originally developed by Sonic Foundry. Essentially it's a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) application, with all the features you'd expect, such as audio and MIDI editing and recording functions, virtual instrument support, built-in effects and automation facilities, to name but a few. But Acid is best known for its flexible loop-based operation. Today, thanks to fairly extensive development by Sony Creative Software, it's considered one of the go-to tools for 'mash-up' DJ'ing — where DJs take parts of songs from various (often incompatible) genres and blend them together to form a homogenous set — and remixing. The application has gained such a reputation thanks to its automatic pitch and tempo matching, which enables you to change the tempo without changing the pitch, and change the pitch without changing the tempo. What's more, its 'pick, paint and play' loop-drawing tools allow you to create music in a flash.

Vegas Pro is Sony's flagship multimedia software title, and it goes a step further than Sound Forge and Acid, enabling the user to edit SD and HD video from multiple cameras and video sources at different frame rates and aspect ratios simultaneously. Top-flight features include powerful colour-matching and correction facilities, as well as all the necessary tools to prepare and burn Blu-ray discs for delivery of HD projects. Vegas has an unlimited number of audio tracks, which are capable of accommodating 24-bit/192kHz files and, as with Sound Forge, you can apply real-time and off-line effects. As you might expect in a modern multimedia package, you can mix in 5.1 surround, and encode straight to surround sound formats.

Cinescore is another video-based product that, as its name suggests, is designed for score-making. But it takes a slightly unorthodox, and seemingly unique, approach to film-music creation. In a simple four-step process, you import your video, then choose a Theme from an expansive library of royalty-free musical templates. Next, you adjust your 'hint markers' (essentially instructing the software what kind of musical mood you want at salient points in your video), then Cinescore generates a score fitted perfectly to your video. Furthermore, you can make precise automated adjustments to the pitch, tempo, volume and pan of the soundtrack, and add additional Theme Packs, for a greater choice of musical ideas.

This month, thanks to Sony Creative Software, we're giving away a massive bundle of multimedia software worth around £3000. Included in the prize are Sound Forge, Acid, Vegas Pro and Cinescore, plus 12 loop libraries for Acid, four Cinescore Theme Packs, the 10-disc Master Set of Sony Pictures Sound Effects, and, for good measure, a Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)! The software works only on Windows, so if you win you'll need an appropriate PC on which to run your prize.

If you would like to be in with a chance of winning this great bundle, simply fill out the entry form at the bottom of this page and post it to the address on the coupon, or enter electronically via the SOS web site. Please make sure you answer all the questions and complete the tie-breaker. We also require your full address, including postcode, and your daytime telephone number. The closing date for entries is March 31st, 2008.

the small print

1. Only one entry per person is permitted.
2. Employees of SOS Publications Group, Sony Creative Software and their immediate families are ineligible for entry.
3. No cash alternative is available in lieu of the stated prize.
4. The competition organisers reserve the right to change the specification of the prize offered.
5. The judges' decision is final and legally binding, and no correspondence will be entered into.
6. No other correspondence is to be included with competition entries.
7. Please ensure that you give your DAYTIME telephone number on your entry form.
8. Prize winners must be prepared to make themselves available in the event that the competition organisers wish to make a personal presentation.