Hello and welcome to the forum.

I compose for big band jazz, chamber orchestra and (rarely) full orchestra. I'm glad I don't have your deadlines.

BIAB is "a" tool you can certainly use. I do, along with many others.

1. Yes
2. Yes (using the Reharmonist feature, which is fairly new; you can then even have it suggest alternate chord progressions).
3. I think your question might mean, can BIAB use VSTi so you can use your own libraries. Yes. There are 24 tracks and you can mostly put most instruments on these. Huge improvements here recently should continue.
4. Yes. And even better, Music XML
5. Tons. I love the quick melody entry by mouse since I don't play keys. It can analyze keyboard input and suggest what chord you are playing. Over 100 harmonization choices for a melody are available, really useful in arranging. I make jazz backing tracks with BIAB and use them in my notation software, Notion 6, or my DAW. This is just a few of the ways I use it daily. It can also generate a melody, a song title, or even a movie soundtrack of a specified length.


BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Roland Integra-7, Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.