Audio Design Desk (ADD) introduced Media Bridge at the recent NAMM show. This significantly extends the sound effects capability of ADD for video editors. Plus, they also announced a special offer providing a more affordable way to experiment with their system. (Described at the end of this article.)
AUDIO DESIGN DESK
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In my first review of ADD, I wrote: “Audio Design Desk is an amazing program. It creates sound environments faster and easier than anything I’ve ever seen. Its ability to replace sounds with similar sounds without messing up the timing is unique and stunning.”
Designed for Final Cut Pro editors, the heart of this app is creating audio environments for comedy or drama. Using simple keystrokes, you can add sound effects, ambience and music as you watch a video play. The artificial intelligence behind the app selects the sounds that are most appropriate, given conditions that you set. These clips are easy to change at the press of a single keystroke. Speed is at the heart of this app.
This app integrates placing, timing, reviewing and modifying sound effects directly in to the Final Cut Pro timeline. I’ve not seen anything like it. I’m a big fan.
Website: https://add.app
NEW! MEDIA BRIDGE
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Media Bridge gives Audio Design Desk users access to over 20,000 free music cues from Free Music Archive, 500,000 free sounds from freesound.org, and millions of media assets from paid services such as Envato, Epidemic, Artlist and Shutterstock. Media Bridge will download, tag metadata, add Sonic Intelligence, edit and organize each file so artists can quickly find, audition and use their assets without leaving their DAW or NLE.
Currently, Media Bridge supports more than twenty! audio stock websites. This means you can use the sounds you like from the websites you subscribe to directly in the ADD interface. You aren’t locked into a single library. Media Bridge allows access to paid subscriptions to stock media sites (for both sounds and video) as well as free sites like FreeSounds.org.
ADD founder, Gabe Cowan wrote: “Audio Design Desk Media Bridge is a unified delivery system for stock media. It gives users access to nearly every online media library so they can search, download, tag, organize, and use all of those assets in real time, in one location, without breaking their creative flow. When you combine these services with the 50,000+ royalty free sounds, loops and music cues that come with ADD, the possibilities are virtually unlimited.”
In a conversation with the folks at ADD, they told me that their focus is on providing the best possible interface for sound design, along with (ultimately) a sound effects marketplace. What I like about this is that ADD is not locking you into one proprietary library. Rather they provide an easy-to-use but powerful interface for sound design that you can use with the sound libraries of your choice.
Here’s a quick video demo:
SPECIAL OFFER
Last week, Audio Design Desk contacted me about a special version of ADD for editors that want to experiment with the software, without spending a lot of money.
Here’s the deal. Normally, a Basic version of ADD costs $8.99/month. For a limited time you can purchase a one-year Basic plan for exactly $1. This saves you $88! (You can, of course, cancel at any time.)
This gets you:
My sense is that this is a great way to discover the program without risking a lot of cash. If you like it, stepping up to the Professional level ($29.99/month) provides access to tens of thousands more sound effects along with film and broadcast rights.
Link: ADD Special $1 Offer
NOTE: I don’t allow paid links or sponsored posts on my website. (I know, I’m old-fashioned.) ADD has not paid me to announce this, nor do I make any money if you subscribe. ADD is simply a very cool product that deserves your attention.
