Nowadays, it's hard to imagine a high-quality video that doesn't use sound design. Properly chosen music design can make your video a real hit. Picture and sound should be a loving couple, complement each other, to be in perfect harmony and agreement.
Only the work of a sound engineer and sound designer can solve this problem. These masters can work wonders by adding a little magic to the video. Here there is a sound, here - a plugin. And now the soundtrack starts to play with new colors, gets a new meaning, and the effect of watching the video is multiplied.
Without well-designed sound effects, your video can be one-dimensional. Many successful films or video makers use sound effects in different ways - as backgrounds that set the mood of the film or video, or as a form of action, such as using the sounds of gunshots and explosions to simulate a battle scene.
Remember that sound is often 50% of the result, so it's worth getting creative and using different sound components. Sound effects tend to cost very little, so you might consider them an inexpensive stage extension if you have limited resources.
SFX: something that can't be
Music, films, computer games, advertisement, and TV advertisements cannot exist without sound effects. The roar of dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, the collision of the Titanic with an iceberg, the sound design of World of Tanks or The Witcher - all this crazy and beautiful sound palette is created by real wizards - sound engineers. The sound background of a future game or film depends on their creative vision and taste.
What is SFX?
SFX (sound effect, audio effect) is artificially created or processed sound used to enhance the sense of presence. These are the elements of sound that form the world shown in your video or episode of a TV series. Think of the sounds made by a rock falling into the water, the sound made by a crowd of people, or the howl of a fire siren.
There are huge bases of all kinds of noises that immerse people in the right environment and make them not only a spectator, but to some extent a participant in events, even if these events are completely unbelievable and fantastic.
Sound design is not only used in the entertainment industry. For example, advertisements use certain sound symbols created specifically for different products. This trick works perfectly with the subconscious: on hearing such a noise symbol, the customer will instantly understand which product is in question, even if he does not see it.
Much ado about nothing
Behind the sound of explosions, gunshots, screams, launching spaceships, and asteroids flying over the Earth is a lot of painstaking work by sound designers. There are simply tried-and-true ways that have been used for a very long time. For example, a powerful furniture stapler is excellent for creating a gunshot effect; to "break" someone's bones, it is enough to crush spaghetti or a dry branch; corn starch inside a leather sack exactly imitates the creaking of freshly fallen snow underfoot, and a pair of household gloves simulates the flapping of birds' wings.
There are drains, which hold a huge library of different noises, including legendary, among them - the famous cry of Tarzan. Very often the sound effects in games and movies are taken from these stockpiles, but the modern sound design offers a wide range of techniques and technical possibilities for creating any, even the most unbelievable noises from scratch.
The sound design of games, movies, commercials - from professionals.
High-quality noise accompaniment is a guarantee of success for any enterprise, whether it's a recording of audiobooks, a computer game, an app, or advertising.
Taketones has not only an extensive licensed phono library of sounds but also all the necessary resources to create unique sound effects, as well as music without license fees. Of course, you can find a lot of ready-made sounds in stock. However, professionals don't use them very often. The reason is simple: everything cannot sound the same.
Even a simple sound like water coming out of a faucet depends on many factors: how high the jet falls, how much pressure it has, what surface it hits, and how far away it is in the frame. And it is the details that determine the most important thing - whether the audience will believe you or not.
Depth, range, panorama, time, space - all these sound parameters are taken into account when recording SFX.
How to find the right sound effects
The sound design begins with a plan, and planning usually begins at the stage of writing the video script. It's best not to wait with sound planning until after editing is complete.
As you review your script, think about how you can use sound effects to better tell your story. Incorporate these sounds right into the script. For example, you can use a ticking clock to emphasize scenes full of tension or add background noise such as rain or wind to convey the overall mood of the scene.
When you know what kind of result you want, think about where you are going to get the sounds from. There are many ways to get sounds. YouTube provides an entire library of free sound effects, which can be a great starting point.
Some sound effect libraries charge for specific sound files, while others allow you to purchase access to the entire library. You can also create your sound effects.
While searching for sounds in the database, formulate a thought. For example, if you are looking for the sound of "footsteps on gravel" and can't find it, try expanding your search with the words "grinding" or "footsteps on rocks. Try to describe what effect you want to get.
Remember, you can also record your sound effects and digitally process them to match the scene - it's fun!
How to keep audiences on the movie
When you already have a plan laid out, and you've managed to find great sound effects on the Internet, it's time to use them in the movie. How do you get started? By trial and error. Try adding sound effects to your movie, and make sure you get the effect you want.
It's a good idea to listen to the soundtrack multiple times. Try to put yourself in the shoes of the users who will watch your video for the first time.
By listening to something repeatedly, we can lessen the effect it has on us because we have a weaker perception of the acoustic nuances. We may think we are hearing things that are not in the recording. That's why it's so important to step away from the computer and your sound effects from time to time, and then return to them and evaluate them with a "fresh ear." You can also ask your friends to listen to the recordings and give comments.
Do these steps:
-
1. Watch your favorite scene from a movie or TV show with the sound turned off and then with the sound turned on. What differences do you notice? Do you perceive the scene differently from the sounds? Share your impressions with the community.
-
2. Look at your already-recorded movie and think about what sound effects you can add to it. Add some effects to your video and upload it again. See what audience reactions the updated film or video elicits.
-
3. Find sound effects on the Internet that you like and put them into your movie. Show the video and ask the audience if these sounds created the desired effect.
-
4. Record your sound effects: "hunt for sounds," and record anything you might find useful in future films or videos. Ask your subscribers to send in their favorite sound files and use them in your material.
