Use the Media Manager to tag, organize, and search your collection of loops so you can quickly find just the right media for your ACID Pro 7 compositions. The Media Manager maintains a database of your content, including file attributes, ACID metadata, and tags that you can assign to classify your media. Install the Media Reference Library to automatically tag existing Sony Sound Series loops and samples on your hard drive. Listed below are just some of the things you can do with this exciting new technology.

The Media Manager can scan your computer drives to automatically add files to your library. Click the Add Files to Media Library button. Specify each folder you want to scan, choose the type of media you want to add and click the Search button. The Media Manager searches the specified folders for media and adds anything it finds to the current library.

Use the same techniques that you use in the Explorer window to preview files in your library. Select a file in the library, and click the Start Preview button to listen to the file even while your project plays so you can evaluate the media along with your composition. To end preview, click the Stop Preview button. Click the Auto Preview button so that preview starts automatically when you select a file. When you find the file you want, drag it directly from the Media Manager into your project timeline.

To tailor your library to your exact needs, create custom tags and apply them to the media entries in your libraries. In the Search pane, click a tag that resides at the level at which you want to add the new tag. Click the Add Tag button. Change the name of the new tag to whatever will help you search most effectively. Now apply the tag to your library entries and search on it just as you would any of the default tags.

In the Advanced section of the Search pane, you can customize your searches to be extremely targeted. Click the Add New Search Criteria button. In the Search Criteria Chooser, double-click each criterion on which you want to search. Adjust the parameter controls of the criteria to tailor your search. Select the check boxes for each criterion that you want to use.

Use the Sony Sound Series: Loops and Samples reference library to search the vast collections of media files available from the Sony Sound Series. From the ACID Pro installation disc, install the Sony Sound Series Library. Choose Options from the Media Library Actions drop-down list, and choose Sony Loops and Samples from the Reference Library drop-down. Click OK and click the Switch to Reference Library button. Select a file in the Search Results pane and click the Buy Now link in the Product Information pane to get more information, preview the file, and buy the associated loop collection.

As you work through different searches in your library, you may want to return to a search you conducted earlier. Rather than trying to remember how to reconstruct a complex search, click the Previous Search button to scroll through your search history. Once you've scrolled back through your history this way, click the Next Search button to scroll through in the opposite direction.