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Sound Editors

Jul 21, 2026 Posted by: Steve Pecile

 

Sound Editors have long relied on Soundminer’s advanced feature set.  The biggest names in Sound use Soundminer:  Warner Bros, Disney, Skywalker Sound, Soundelux, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, and many many more....why?  Because it has a proven track record in not only leading the industry in features but in making available options that start as low as $199.

So which product should I buy?
This depends on your budget and your needs.  You may not need all the features our flagship PRO offers: starting with Basic $199(base search engine, tabs, monitor plugin, spot to Pro tools, limited metadata management), Plus $399 (adds full metadata editing, project management, RadFX, Xray and Inline waveforms, full UCS support), Pro $899 (adds full compliment of DSP controls and plugin support, Radium Sound Design Sampler w/ AAX plugin, extended metadata control, Multichannel controls, Downmixer, Server connectivity). And, if you don't need the Server functionality of PRO, you can get all the Pro sound design components, including Radium, by combining PLUS with the ProPack module($699USD)

And often people will ask about which metadata features exist as you go up the product line. This document will dispel myths.


Server Options
For facilities that need to operate on shared centralized databases,  Soundminer offers a few different options:  PRO version (or PLUS with the Server module) can be outfitted with Soundminer Server and each attached client can have a log in, permission set and access defined by the server software.  In addition, Lighter Server options are available with few bells and whistles and simplified structure.  In addition to adding true centralized controlled server functionality, any server can also be equipped with our Web Portal which allows a facility to add web browser access to their database from either within their intranet or to the world wide web.  The Web portal can be customized for graphics and branding as well.

Soundminer Web Portal(Musicminer) - advanced web software that can be installed on your master servers, locally or remotely and can provide a fully customizable web front end to share/distribute your tracks.  APIs exist to allow it to be integrated into your site as well.  Musicminer has many advanced search options, easy to use drag and drop playlists, many sharing options that allow you or your clients to share playlists or selections, option for Cuesheets, Ecom and licensing and mobile interfacing and is ideal for facilities with secondary users who may not require the desktop features but still need access to files.

Mp3converter - MAC only - add-on utility (stand alone or with v4pro) that batch converts your master file format to any kind of mp3 while retaining the exact folder structure, artwork and metadata in the process.  Ideal for creating streaming proxies for the web!

CueManager - add-on to the web portal that enables broadcast cuesheet creation will EDL import from AVID, Pro Tools and Final Cut.  Cuemanager also leverages the metadata work on your site to auto-fill the Composer and Publisher information on recognized tracks in the cuesheet and can electronically deliver a final validated cuesheet to ASCAP’s RapidCue system.

ECOM/Licensing - Musicminer can be fitted with this option for those wishing to sell directly on the web or even for those who wish to have an advanced licensing module.  This allows clients to convert a playlist for licensing, pick their preferred licensing options for a rate card and submit it.

Mobile Interfacing - This is not just an optimization for your site, but an actual dedicated interface for all phones and tablets that allows users to do almost all the same functions they would when connected to the site via a standard desktop browser.

*Soundminer product are software only and do not include any content with a license

Search Primer

Jul 21, 2020 Posted by: Steve Pecile

Searching Primer

While there are a myriad of ways to search in our applications, there are two distinct concepts every user should know. And that is the difference between Boolean and Iterative searching.  Each has its place and knowing when to employ one or the other will improve your searching.

Boolean search (main search)
When doing a search in the FIND box the engine looks for 'terms' in its full index for your entered criteria(remember a space acts as an AND, comma operates as an OR and a minus sign means NOT to the Boolean parser). A term is a word consisting of at least two characters. A ‘Full index’ is a list of all those words (metadata) is specifically defined fields(not ALL fields.). This system is used by all robust databases engines. It pre-builds a specialized search field, called the Full Index, based on the fields the user has selected. You can access this here in any V5 product:

And here for Basic and Plus:

These menu options allow you to customize your Index.  In other words, select the specific fields you want included with the understanding that it doesn't make sense to include all fields for general searching. In this way, it can increase speed and efficiency. Note that this approach does not do a 'contains' search where it compares every character to find a match. Doing so would be a lot slower.  Instead, it applies the entered term to the pre-built full text search index. In addition, it would only bring back records that begin with your search, its synonyms and stems(if you have the thesaurus feature) and only within the full index fields and have a minimum 2 characters in the term. So a search for 'room' would not bring back 'bathroom'. 

On the other hand, it does allow you to do advanced combination searches like 'wind (gusty, blow) -window' (look for wind sounds that also have either 'gusty' or 'blow, blowing' and then omit anything that has window). So it looks for words that match, applies the modifiers AND, OR, NOT in sequence.  If all you have is a filename like TrafficNewYorkHeavyDaytime.wav and nothing else and type in 'Heavy traffic New York' it might not be found because there are no terms in the metadata fields. So having proper metadata is key. Without such, you have filenames and folders and that's where iterative searching comes into play.

Iterative Searching. Searching in the Advanced or Search in Field or right Pane for example produces a query where the terms are searched iteratively in that single specified field or according to the query string created in the Advance Search window. The query looks for that set of characters anywhere in the string - it could be at the beginning, end or in the middle of the word. This will no doubt produce many more returns but the process for finding is much slower as it has to compare each character.  By clicking the Search icon in the top right of the Right pane, the Metadata panel becomes active for search.  Clicking on a field then allows you to type anything, any string of characters, to iteratively search in that specific field, bypassing the full index.

For example, if looking for 'growl' in a set of files that have little or no metadata but in the filename contains 'doggrowlinsmallroom.wav'. then this method looks for this set of characters and has to iterate over each character to find matches. It is used when you have little metadata to go on or the characters are run together thereby not allow term searching. the drawback is it is much slower but if file have no real metadata, or want to look for some specific set of characters within a known field, then iterative search is perhaps the method to use.

To help, the system will auto-breaks apart filenames if they have Capitalizations

ie.  DogGrowlResidentialCity.wav would be auto loaded in the keywords field as 'Dog Growl Residential City' thereby making it more accessible if using the boolean routine.

ILOK system Basics

Oct 30, 2018 Posted by: Soundminer Admin

New to ILOK?

Here’s how to use the ILOK licensing system

An iLok is a special USB device that holds your licenses. In addition to having one of these USB devices, you must also have an account registered at ILOK.com.  ILOK accounts are free.  If you do not already have an account, visit ilok.com and click the ‘Sign up for a free account’ button.

So, assuming you have an account set up and are in possession of an ilok usb key, let’s begin.  You most likely have one of the following types of keys:




All will work.  It is important to install the drivers for these devices and reboot your computer. Driver downloads can be found on the ilok.com site.

After having made a purchase, we will deposit your license in your ilok account based on the USER ID supplied at the time of the order.  The USER ID is the name with which your log into your ilok.com account.  Please be aware deposits are made manually during business hours.  You will receive a ‘welcome’ email that will contain confirmation of the deposit as well as the download information for the software and access to any tutorial movies available. Please keep this email for future reference.

Now that you have all the above information, connect your key to your computer and using a supported browser launch the ILOK Manager application.  It will ask you to sign into your account and then show you all your available license and connected keys.  Select the connected key:

 

If a new license is waiting for you, it will be in BOLD, meaning it can be transferred to an available key.  Double-click or right-click it to start the activation process.  It will confirm the key where it intends to transfer and activate.  Confirm and you should be good to go!

 

Some Troubleshooting tips:

  • If you get  ‘Dongle Not Found’ alert, your driver may not be installed correctly or you may be trying to launch a version of the application that does not match your license.
  • Make sure the USB key is lit.
  • Check the key for any damage
  • If using a USB hub and you get errors or alerts, try moving the USB key to an available USB slot on the computer.