Creative Ways to Use Sound Effects + 15 FREE SFX

Check out these 3 easy ways you can use SFX to add depth to your next video.

Cover image via Shutterstock.

The proper use of a single sound can change the entire feel of your production. Your audience might not notice it, but their their viewing experience will be better for it.

Let’s have a look at three ways you can use SFX to improve your next project.

1. Atmosphere

Use ambient sound to help create an atmosphere. The ambiance is simply the background sounds of your environment, whether it’s a crowd at a football stadium, a chorus of frogs croaking in a swamp, or the low rumble of a thunderstorm. I love watching a film that relies heavily on ambiance and natural sound. It brings me right into the environment. Watch the video tutorial and see how I’ve added several sound effects to help create the atmosphere of the interior of a commercial airliner.

2. Logos and Graphics

Again, the sound effects you choose help to communicate a mood or feel. Just as visuals contribute to branding, so too can audio elements. I’ve just added a text graphic to my airline clip, and I want to use a sound effect to help reveal the graphic. To do this, I’ve simply timed an airplane ding sound to match up with the first frame of the text graphic. I could pull from a wide variety of other travel-related SFX to reveal my main graphic. You can search through a variety of sounds here.

3. Movement

Whether it’s a character moving through the scene or simply a camera movement, sound effects can add life. From a snap zoom to a swish pan, a punch or a swinging sword, a good sound effect can complement a camera move. In this example, I show a gear-up style sequence wherein I’m prepping a backpack. The short montage includes a rapid-fire edit of close-up shots of the backpack. By adding a few whip and whoosh sound effects, I can make an entertaining sequence.

Download 15 Free Ambient SFX

Looking for some ambient noise? Here are fifteen free ambient SFX from the extensive PremiumBeat SFX library. Like all our music and SFX, these free ambient tracks are royalty free, and you can use them in commercial or personal projects. Read more about the FREE SFX pack here.

DOWNLOAD 15 FREE SFX

Need royalty free music and SFX? PremiumBeat.com has a massive library of exclusive tracks and over 100,000 sound effects. Explore our catalogue.