sound effects

[Kim Welch]

When you can get the real sound you get it while shooting the scenes but if you can't do that you have to add the sound effects later, right? what is the most cost effective way to do it and what would be the high end expensive way to do it? Things like fountains, wind, cars, breaking glass and other sounds are they best done with special editing or is it best to get the actual sounds while shootintg scenes with these sounds?


Kim

 

[MarkG]

If possible, record them while you're shooting, and then drop them into the edit as an extra track. Otherwise there are effects CDs you can buy which have a selection of sounds you can use: the downside being that some sound people I've met have trouble watching other people's movies and TV shows because they notice the same library effect being used again and again .

I've found I often end up lifting audio off my holiday videos to drop into the low-budget movies I edit for other people: when I need, say, a waterfall sound or an atmos track of lots of traffic I can usually find something that does the job. There are also a number of sites which have free effects to download on the Web which I've used now and again, but most aren't very good... the bit-rate is usually low and it's often obvious when you listen to them.

If you have a decent budget you can also get a Foley expert to come in and produce a custom effects track for your movie: they can use all kinds of objects to produce the right sounds which you record and drop into the movie.

 

[Manuel Marino]

Recording sounds while you're shooting could be ok for specific kind of genres, where you don't need great effects.

But for best results post audio is necessary. A recording studio specialized in media and movies knows all the tricks and have the right skills to make an astounding soundtrack.

Samples CDs are ok, but nothing is comparable to an exclusive audio work.