Software Review – Imagination Studio 4 from Sony

Imagination Studio 4 is the latest bundled consumer application from Sony. It brings to you four consumer-based products together for a round-trip multimedia creation experience. You get Movie Studio Platinum 12 – for editing video, ACID Music 9 – for creating original digital music, Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 – for recording and editing audio, and DVD Architect Studio 12 – for creating DVD’s.

Through the use of these four products, it makes it easy for someone to take the video that was recorded either though a video camera, DSLR, or even their smart phone and add in photos, create your own original soundtrack, make a professional quality video and create the output that you can share with family and friends either online or in your DVD player.

 

Movie Studio Platinum 12

Movie Studio Platinum 12 gives you the ability to create professional looking video right at home. You can import and edit HD and stereoscopic 3D – you even get some simple 3D glasses with the package, files, apply compositing and color-correction, add 5.1 surround-sound mixing, and much more.

You start by importing your assets into Movie Studio – this can be video, photos, graphic artwork, and more, and you edit them on the same timeline by placing them in the order that you see fit. You can add music, set up transactions between scenes, add titles, and other effects.

The new project dialog will insure that your project is set up with just the right settings to create your movie masterpiece. You select the option that matches your video and Movie studio will choose the right properties. When your project is complete, you can use DVD Architect to create your DVD or Blu-ray, or publish to Pixelcast without leaving the application.

ACID Music 9

ACID Music 9 gives you the ability to create your own soundtracks and music and share it with others. Through the use of loops, you can create music with no musical instrument ability necessary. The loops take the guesswork out of making great tracks. By using the built in audio effects, MIDI functionality, and new workflow and performance features you open the door to the world of professional music production.

 

You can create music in three steps. First you choose the loops that you want. With over 3,000 loops and 90 virtual instruments, you have a lot of choices plus you can purchase more loops from the extensive Sony library as well. Second, you just paint on the tracks into the arrangement window. You can create as many audio and MIDI tracks as you need. Finally, play back your creation, alter the pitch and tempo in real-time as well as fine tune your artistic creation.

Once done, you can use it Move Studio, share it on CD’s or DVD’s, upload your creation to ACIDPlanet.com and Indabamusic.com – with the latter you get a one year ($60 value) membership that includes 5GB of cloud storage space, or you can export to your favorite portable player.

Sound Forge Audio Studio 10

Sound Forge Audio Studio provides to you everything that you need to edit and master professional-quality audio right at home. You can record live instruments, vocals, mix in canned tracks and then apply studio effects and produce broadcast quality output right on your PC.

 

If you want to record your own sounds, you can plug in a microphone or instrument to your sound card and click record. You can also take other input such as vinyl LP records or cassette tapes and digitize them to your computer with the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool. You can also import sounds from CD’s and other digital sources as well.

Using the included editing tools, you can give your sound better presence and more sparkle. You can balance the sound levels trim unwanted sections, and synchronize audio with video. Assemble a podcast or a DJ set. You can even make your own loops to use with ACID Music Studio.

There is also a new Audio Enhancer plug-in that that combines five critical processes that can elevate audio files to broadcast-quality standards with a single mouse click. User presets include settings for both music and dialog.

DVD Architect Studio 12

DVD Architect Studio 12 is included as a part of Movie Studio Platinum 12. It gives you the ability to produce picture slideshows, single-movie DVDs, music compilations, and menu-based DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects in no time. You can choose from dozens of ready-made templates or create your own custom backgrounds and buttons.

DVD Architect makes burning DVD’s and Blu-ray disc easy. The Preview window allows you to watch your project on a simulated television monitor with a virtual remote control. Use the buttons on the remote control to navigate and play your movie.

DVD Architect software supports today’s popular video and audio formats so you can make DVD and Blu-ray Disc projects that will play on almost any DVD/BD player or DVD/BD-capable computer. You can even burn directly from the timeline.

While each of these products has professional Sony siblings that they are based on, none of them loses anything for the home consumer needs. All of these products are made to be easy to use and easy to understand. They allow the general user to produce quality output with not a lot of learning curve.

 

If you like to take video and photographs and you want a tried and true easy way to put them together, add music, and style, flash, and come out with a great finished product then I can easily recommend Imagination Studio 4.