Music takes and the shortlist

Three options, a hard cap on Creates, a shortlist by ear in Suno's player, then measurements on the downloaded shortlist. Your ear decides, with each option playing against the cut.

• Three options against the cut: three directions (three different style texts), or three takes of one locked direction. At most one on v6-wild.

• Per direction, one Create (two clips) first; a second only if neither clip passes the screen.

• The cap: at most two Creates per direction per round, retries and credit-spending edits included (Replace Section, Extend, Cover and Remaster all count; Cover, in the Remix menu, is the same melody in a new style, on your own song only). Name the failure before the next Create, and change one thing. The same failure twice, or the cap, ends the round: diagnose it and plan the next one. Music keeps its own cap; the video batch rhythm doesn't apply.

• A first round costs 3 directions × 1–2 Creates: 30–60 Suno credits (60–120 with Max Mode). Downloads: usually 3, at most 6.

Stage 1, in Suno's player, before any download. Listen and shortlist by ear. Log each clip's length and the settings from the song info panel; nothing else can be measured there.

Stage 2, the shortlisted takes only, once downloaded. Lay each under the assembly with the voiceover and measure:

• the length against Duration;

• the BPM against the brief (a beat detector such as Mixxx);

• the hit points, within about two frames (steps below);

• whether the ending resolves as briefed: a tail that decays, not a fade, unless a fade was asked for;

• integrated and short-term loudness, and the level under speech after ducking, on an EBU R128 meter (steps below);

• a transcript of any vocal.

Then an audio-understanding report on each option against the brief (mood, arc, cultural fit, audible AI artefacts), reported, never deciding. Compare each option with the brief's reference tracks, asking what is more generic here (see The quality bar → The reference bar).

Your ear decides, each option played against the cut on your director's-cut page (see Editing → The director's cut and the client's rough cut), never picked in the player away from the picture. Music chosen away from the cut has failed before; that is why the player only shortlists. How the options sit in the timeline: see Editing → Choosing music against the cut.

Do it yourself

Measure the hit points to about two frames (your editing timeline)

1. Put a marker on the timeline at each hit.

2. Step frame by frame from each marker to the take's hit, and count the frames.

Measure an option's integrated and short-term loudness (Premiere or ffmpeg)

1. In Premiere, read them on the Loudness Meter effect (see Sound design and mix → Loudness: −23 TV, −16 online, −14 short social → Do it yourself).

2. Or run this, which prints both:

ffmpeg -i option.wav -af ebur128 -f null -

Sources

• Suno, Song Editor and Remaster.