Propellerhead Software has announced that Reason 4 is
now available to the public. The new version boasts Thor, a highly
sophisticated, superior sounding synthesizer, the ReGroove mixer, a new
way to adjust the rhythmic feel of tracks, RPG-8, a versatile
arpeggiator, a completely rebuilt sequencer coupled with many other
workflow enhancements that give musicians the control and power to make
great sounding music faster and easier than ever.

The Thor Polysonic Synthesizer, takes sound creation to a
new level delivering a veritable “museum” of synthesis techniques
wrapped into one instrument. With six open “slots,” Thor brings
together six different oscillators with four different filter modules
plus wave shaping, enveloping and effects. Thor offers a plethora of
modulation routings that enable users to exchange audio and control
signals just like original analog synths. The result is a fantastic,
full-sounding instrument that is extremely light on CPU usage.

The ReGroove Mixer takes traditional groove and swing
quantization from sequencers to a more flexible, user-friendly paradigm
of a mixing console. Using the ReGroove Mixer, users can apply in
real-time varying amounts of swing, shuffle and groove to tracks. This
revolutionary hands-on approach gives users 32 “groove channels” that
can be assigned to sequencer lanes, providing individual settings for
groove strength, timing shift, velocity, duration and other parameters
nondestructively. Users can create their own templates. In addition,
Reason ships with a large selection and variety of grooves—extracted
from live recordings, famous beat boxes and even vinyl funk gems of the
70s.

Reason’s sequencer has been completely redesigned and rebuilt
into a more intuitive and powerful tool, giving users unprecedented
control while maintaining Reason’s simple streamlined workflow. Users
can quickly make global edits using “clips,” assign notes and
controller events to different “lanes,” manage multiple takes, and edit
events numerically—to name but a few of the hundreds of enhancements.
Controller data now uses vector automaton for the smoothest of
transitions. Users can manage tempo and time signature changes through
a transport track.

The RPG-8 monophonic arpeggiator device provides a wide away
of controls for arpeggiation. Very easy to use, yet deceptively
powerful, the RPG-8 provides endless creative possibilities for each of
Reason’s sound sources. Reason version 4 is priced at MSRP is EUR €449
/ US$499. Upgrades from any prior registered version of Reason are MSRP
EUR €99 / US$129. All users who purchased Reason after June 1, 2007 are
entitled to a free upgrade with proper invoice/receipt documentation.

VersionTracker.com reports that Adobe have released an update to
After Effects 8, a.k.a. After Effects CS3.

Addresses issues with MP4 import and export as well as OpenGL issues
on supported video cards. The update will not work if After Effects CS3
is running in trial mode. Please install the update after After Effects
CS3 has been activated.

This update appears to be for Macintosh OS X users only.

A link to the update can be found on the VersionTracker
site.

Final
Cut Studio 2: Option to install Final Cut Pro is dimmed

If you install Final Cut Studio 2 after having installed Logic
Studio, the option to install Final Cut Pro may be dimmed so that it is
not possible to install Final Cut Pro. Other applications can be
installed. This particular issue specifically occurs on systems on
which Logic Studio has already been installed. The solution is to quit
the installer and remove the file named ProMediaIO.pkg from
/Library/Receipts/and drag it to the Trash.

Color:
Entire speed-adjusted clips may render instead of the requested segments

Attempting to render segments of a non-standard speed* clip in Color
may result in Color rendering the entire length of the clip instead. In
order to render just the portions of a non-standard speed clip located
within the In/Out points, follow the steps in the article as a
workaround.

Soundtrack
Pro 2: Exported files may play back at wrong pitch or speed

Sometimes when you export from a multitrack project, some or all of
the file plays back at the wrong pitch or speed. This can happen if the
project contains edited clips, and the sample rate for the exported
file is different than the audio hardware setting. As a workaround,
change the sample rate for the audio hardware to match the desired
export sample rate before you export the mix.

Soundtrack
Pro 2: Project playback sometimes changes speed after using the Scrub
tool

After you use the Scrub tool, playback of the project sometimes
speeds up or slows down. The issue is resolved temporarily by closing
and reopening the project. This can happen if the sample rate of the
project is different than the audio hardware setting. You can
workaround the issue by setting the audio hardware sample rate to match
the project.