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Audio contents in a video
Hello!
i’m dealing with video editing for some time now, but still getting anxious every time i have to fill another audio track with a certain music. i wonder if there’s a more convenient way than to listen tons of music prior to beginning of the editing phase (for instance if i want to have a non-vocal electro music for my initial sequence). i’d like to know how do you deal with it?
Moreover i’ve always had a feeling that i could implement my videos with a sound extensions of my video effects (when transitional ray of light crosses the screen there’s always a whoosh sound in the background). Where can i get those sounds, shall i produce it on my own, if so, there’s probably a specialized program especially for making that kind od sounds??i would really appreciate any help, since i spent awfully lot of time lately solving such problems.
thx in advance,
with kindest regards, alex. -
3 Replies
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This is such a specialized and time-consuming aspect of video post production that virtually all major projects are sent to a dedicated AUDIO POST facility just for sweetening and music additions.
If that is not an option… I know that anyone in this business has (over the passage of time) has spent HOURS doing ‘music searches’… that’s just how it works.
And the audio post-production aspect can add nearly as much time to the edit as the video decisions.
I own many “buy-out” music packages and I spend some of my “off-time” (not in an edit) just listening to the cuts and creating my own computer list of impressions as to what kind of situations I could be using the individual tracks.
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Most of the “whoosh” and “shuwush” sounds that accompany flash-frames and other transitional elements in commercials and trailers are from sound effects libraries. Try going over to sounddogs.com and doing a search for “whoosh,” “fireball,” etc. A general-purpose sound effects CD set is an excellent investment for a picture editor, especially when there won’t be a sound editor working on the project down the line.
There are a number of ways to make these sounds yourself, but all of them require some degree of skill/experience in sound design and effects recording. The easiest one I can think of is to blow a short burst of air directly into an AKG D112 kick-drum mic. That’ll give you that low-frequency “whump” you’re probably after.
As for selecting music, most buy-out music publishers have extensive catalogues organised with ease of access and selection in mind. If the duration of musical cues is problematic, you have a number of options there as well. Software such as Smartsound will automatically re-edit proprietary music tracks to your specifications. They’re not perfect, though, and are limited to musical cues specifically recorded for the software. If you want to edit the musical cues yourself, you should look into software such as Pro Tools. Pro Tools, unlike most picture editing applications, will let you cut audio with the sub-frame accuracy needed for transparent music editing.
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If you have a Mac, you can use Apple’s Soundtrack Pro and it’s supplied library of loops and efx for your purposes. It allows for easy editing and layering of tracks that can be of any length and style. It does take time to edit and mix the tracks, but you then have a somewhat unique music track and can make it a full mix, or just a “bed” mix to use under VO.
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