Discover the latest industry news and audio post production.
Discover the top 5 online sound effects resources—Soundly, Pro Sound Effects, Soundsnap, A Sound Effect, and Freesound—to streamline your search and enhance your projects.
December 5, 2018
If you're looking to make finding sound effects easier, here are a few places you can start. In this article, we will take you through our top 5 online sound effect resources so that you can spend less time searching and more time creating.
Soundly is a fully featured sound effects platform for Mac & PC. This is our go to SFX search software for our own sound effects. We also use their online library a lot. Soundly allows you to search through all of your offline sound effects, as well as simultaneously searching through its online library. Basic soundly accounts are free, with pro subscriptions at $14.99/month.
Pro Sound Effects online store contains Sound Effects expertly crafted by industry veterans. You can download individual sound effects from their online library of over 250,000 sounds - either a la carte or with a monthly subscription - and you can purchase full sound effects libraries from their main site.
Soundsnap is an extensive library with a huge range of independent Creator’s contributing their work to a monthly subscription model. Soundsnap focuses solely on professional sound effects so you can feel confident knowing that you're paying for quality. They have two payment models: Pay as you go ($15 for 5 downloads or $3 per download) and a monthly subscription ($35 per month or $199 annually which gives you unlimited downloads)
A Sound Effect is an online vendor of a multitude of libraries from all levels of creators which is useful for finding specific libraries for projects. In addition to sound libraries, they also have a ton of interesting and useful written content for inspiration. Access to A Sound Effect is free, libraries are individually priced.
Freesound is a free resource that offers sound effects from a multitude of contributors, some professional, some hobbyists. It can be hard to find high quality effects, but there are some gems in there. All of the CC0 licensed sounds can be searched through Soundly.
We hope you find these 5 resources useful! Let us know your favourites below in the comments section.
Create spine-chilling horror sound effects using everyday items, atonal instruments, and vocal manipulations for maximum eerie impact.
October 22, 2018
Happy Halloween humans! In today’s blog we’re going to give you some tips and tricks for making those spooky sound effects that send a shiver down your spine. There are many methods you can use to create these bone chilling sounds, but here are few of our favourites!
Vegetables, fruits and meats sound like human flesh. Snapping celery, crushing fruit and handling meat will give you an authentic fleshy sound. A word of advice before you go stabbing chicken breasts or smashing pumpkins; destroy with caution. Use a barrier between your veggies and the surface you are destroying it over. Opt for an old towel or blanket over anything noisy like a plastic tarp. This will help contain the mess and prevent stains. Not only is this a fun way to make sound effects, but its also a great stress reliever!
One of the most common instruments used to create horror sound effects is the waterphone. Unfortunately, their uniqueness comes with a hefty price tag. Luckily, there are many other options! All instruments can be pushed beyond their intended use or played outside of musical scales to achieve creepy effects, especially with added reverb and pitch shifting. One of our go to instruments for horror is the violin, although the bow is a great tool in itself for making creepy sounds when used on any resonant object.
If you're in a pinch with no extra vegetables, fruits, meats, or instruments lying around, don't fret! Your voice can be one of the best tools for scary sounds. Screams, zombie vocalisations, ghostly moans and screeches.
Try pitching your voice down or processing with Krotos Audio's Simple Monsters plugin to achieve that monstrous effect. We've had a lot of fun with voice manipulation, and so can you! Head over to www.krotosaudio.com for 50% off today!
This guide covers how to deliver audio and video assets to a sound design team, including proper file organization, exporting in Avid DNxHD format, ensuring timecode synchronization, and using reliable file-sharing services.
October 9, 2018
After many years working alongside clients with varying levels of experience, it has become apparent to us that a well structured, hassle free guide is needed on how to deliver assets to an Audio Post Production Studio.
This guide is intended for filmmakers/editors wanting to learn good practise on their workflow, as well as post production sound professionals who want a coherent guide that they can send to clients. This will save you hours of explanation.
One necessary step in achieving a great soundtrack is the hiring a professional Location Sound Recordist. If dialogue (and sometimes sound effects) are captured effectively on set, it leads to the availability of metadata, and multiple microphone options, which are two crucial ingredients in your turnover to your Audio Post Production Studio.
When editing your film, keep dialogue, sound effects and music on separate tracks so that the AAF/OMF file we describe in the following section is organised upon delivery. You should never delete alternative mic options from the dialogue tracks, as your sound team may be able to use these later. When editing, audio synchronisation is crucial. Once you have synchronised your dialogue, the video and audio regions should stay linked so avoid sound slipping out of sync in your editing software.
Upload all of the audio rushes (audio takes recorded on set) to a file sharing service with a service like Google Drive, which will allow your sound team to stream selected files online and download if needed.
Complete the final locked edit of your project (this can be pre Colour Grading or Visual Effects). Completion of your final locked edit before audio delivery will ensure the most seamless workflow with your Audio Post Production Studio.
Place all current dialogue tracks, ADR, voice over, sound effects and music at their desired timecode position in your editing session.
Place a 1kHz sine wave, 1 frame in duration, 2 seconds before the video region starts. When the final mix is delivered by the Audio Post Production Studio, you can use the sync tone in your edit and match it with the one present in their mix to achieve perfect synchronisation.
The video region should start at timecode 01 00 00 00, unless your distribution specifications say otherwise.
Navigate to your software’s AAF/OMF export window (as shown below), and select the following settings:
This file will allow the sound team to access all of your audio edits, volume key frames and extend takes within clips (it is comparable to an XML file). The better organised it is before delivery, the happier your Audio Post Production Studio will be, and the more time they will have for creative tasks.
Add a timecode indicator to your video, placed inside the visual ‘letterbox’ (or where it would be) at the bottom or top of the frame.
The audio attached to your video file will need to match the AAF/OMF file, so retain all dialogue tracks, ADR, sound effects and music at their desired timecode position in your editing session.Navigate to your software’s video export window, and select the following settings:
Keep all of these assets on an online file sharing service with no deletion date, and avoid using zip/rar archives. This is to reduce the risk of download corruption or lack of access. Ensure that the Audio Post Production Studio have checked and approved your assets before the start date of Audio Post.
So there it is! A simple and efficient guide to delivering assets to the sound team for your project. If anyone wants to add any additional points, feel free to comment below.
This blog outlines seven key ways to involve sound design in pre-production, from script analysis to shaping the edit, ensuring a smoother workflow and a more immersive final product.
July 26, 2018
Earlier this week we discussed the importance of beginning Sound Design in the Pre Production stages of a film or video game. At 344 Audio we believe that every project can be enhanced with the early involvement of the Audio Post Production team. There was a good response from Directors and Sound Designers alike, so we decided to put together a list of 7 ways to get involved early on.
While reading through the script, get your creative juices flowing by noting what kind of sound effects might help to tell the story more effectively. Look for passages that refer to sound, or opportunities to world build with atmospheric effects.
Some productions will call for sound effects to help shape the actors performance on set, more notably on larger budgets. When making a film about a huge monster, it is much easier for an actor to react on set when it's sound is triggered in line with their performance.
Sound Designers often have quite a lot of connections in Location Sound, and will likely be more than happy to advise on your choices if you bring them on in Pre Production. They will also know Foley Artists, Dialogue Editors and Re-recording Mixers, all of which you will likely need.
Getting your Audio Post Production team in early means that we can help with advising on your location choices, perhaps the rooms chosen are too reverberent, or too noisy? From a budget perspective this knowledge is invaluable for saving on ADR time and costs. We can also take a listen to your rushes to advise on possible ADR before your actors disappear into the wilderness!
The workflow for Post Sound still remains a mystery to many Directors and Producers. When we have the time to guide you through the delivery of media to us, it makes both our lives so much easier and leaves more time for creativity. The way your Editor lays out the dialogue and music tracks is much easier corrected from the beginning, rather than being passed on as an issue further down the line.
Let's face it, Directors like to tinker. Why not, it's their film? Getting involved early allows you to start tackling challenging sound cues, getting their feedback before the post production schedule starts and experimenting with lots of source material like field recordings and manipulated effects.
Good Directors know that sound and picture work as one seamless tool together, so don't be afraid to let your Sound Design inform the edit. If the Editor shaving off a frame helps sync the rhythm of the scene better, pitch this to the team and see what they think.
Let us know in the comments section if there are any other ways that you get involved in Pre Production Sound Design!
Explore if a reliable near-field 5.1 monitoring system can be achieved under £1000, with a detailed comparison of JBL, Genelec, and HEDD speakers, revealing a solid budget-friendly option for sound designers and mixers.
February 10, 2018
The comparison was conducted in a relatively small room, which was acoustically treated. One of our 5.1 film mixes was played at 80 dB SPL (A weighted scale) via Cubase through a Presonus Quantum audio interface.
After testing out numerous monitors and reading countless reviews, we whittled it down to three options at different price brackets. The Genelec 8030B (£459 per speaker), the HEDD Type 05 (£366 per speaker) and the JBL LSR 305 (£103 per speaker). Our LFE channel was sent to two different subwoofers for comparison, these included the JBL LSR310S (£332) and the ADAM Sub8 (£519).
We watched and listened to 5 minutes of our 5.1 mix, and then played some Drum & Bass music in stereo to test out the overall dynamic range, transient response and frequency reproduction of each speaker.
As we listened to each system, we made notes on what immediately stood out on our tried and tested 5.1 mix file, as well as the music track, here are our notes:
Monitors:
JBL LSR 305
Genelec 8030
HEDD Type 05
Subwoofers:
JBL LSR310S
ADAM Sub8
So, is it possible to get a usable nearfield 5.1 monitoring system for under £1000? The answer is yes!
The JBL LSR3 series offers an extremely well balanced system for the price, with imaging that rivals monitors costing 5 times as much. You will have slightly less transient response, but this 10-20% difference will not be alleviated until you spend at least 3 times as much per speaker. These monitors feel like they will translate well to other systems, as they are not hyped at any particular frequency.
This is great news for cost conscious Sound Designers or beginners wanting to get exceptional value 5.1 monitoring without investing a huge lump sum. Bare in mind you will also need an interface with 6 outputs to hook up your speakers/sub for mixing. Some options include the Focusrite Scarlett 18i20, Clarett 8preX and Presonus Quantum.
