I have a confession to make -- I was a Music Theory/Composition major in college, so I'm probably not the most unbiased person in the world when it comes to software "composers". With that said, I've spent extra time weighing my evaluation and considering who this software is intended for. This isn't intended to be the go-to tool for the professional composer or the hardcore audio engineer who wants complete control over every instrument in a mix. Cinescore is meant for the video/film director who needs some music fast and wants something a little more custom-sounding than a rerun from a music library. (However, like Vegas, it still retains an audio-styled layout which would seem counterintuitive for many video people. More on that later.)
It comes with several musical themes to choose from, and additional themes are available from a rapidly expanding list on DVD or via web download. Variations on each musical theme and an "Intensity" parameter help you match the mood of what's happening in the film without completely changing pieces of music, much like a real composer would do. Customizable intros and endings also help provide a sense that the music was written for the scene. The package also provides a slew of Audio Transitions, sound effects that you can insert at will on their own track to be played simultaneously with the audio from the video file and your Cinescore-generated music. You can also insert and edit your own audio files using the Audio Transitions track.
Ease of Use
I found Cinescore very simple to navigate as an audio person, as I’m quite familiar with Vegas, Sound Forge, and other Sony products which have an audio-interface feel to them. (Now, I had our magazine editor, who's obviously a video person, play around with Cinescore and he confirmed my suspicion that video folks who are not familiar with Sony's audio-leaning interfaces will definitely find there is a larger learning curve than I did. He went on to say that, while it's not as complex for traditional video people to pick up as Vegas is, it's still a bit counter-intuitive for folks used to using editing programs like Final Cut Pro, Premiere Pro, or Avid.)
The primary editing window contains the timeline, explorer-type window for navigating media files, and the video preview window. You do the editing of audio files directly in the timeline. Three audio tracks are provided to use for audio from imported video files, generated music, and audio transitions. I would like to see the ability to add more audio tracks as needed, because sometimes I like to "beat match" the end of one song with the beginning of the next in ways that simple crossfades can't provide. I also like layering sound effects.
There are several slick editing features available that I honestly didn't expect to find, such as post-edit ripple and the ability to trim both the end of one clip and the beginning of the next simultaneously. Basic video editing capabilities are also provided, which greatly simplifies any minor last minute changes to your film you wish to make after hearing a score under it. This prevents you from having to go back to your main video editor and re-render the entire scene just to see how a "quick editing idea" works with the score you are creating. Just make your edits while adding music and transitions, then export your new video file directly from Cinescore. If you are a Vegas user, you really have it made because you can run Cinescore as a plugin which gives you the freedom to experiment and then render the scene with the score included in the soundtrack.
