Do I need a sound library to start?

No. A portable recorder and a habit of recording what you hear builds a more distinctive library than any commercial pack.

What sample rate should sound effects be at?

Record as high as your gear allows, then convert to the session rate, normally 48 kHz, before editing to picture.

How do I use audio from a reference video?

Extract the audio track directly from the file rather than re-recording it, then convert it to the session rate.

7 min read

Sound design for film: building a track that serves the story

Good sound design is mostly restraint plus preparation. The technical part is making sure every asset arrives in the right shape.

Sound design is the deliberate construction of everything the audience hears that is not dialogue or music: environments, objects, textures, the presence or absence of the world around the frame.

Start with a spotting pass

Watch the cut with the director and note every moment that needs sound and, just as important, every moment that needs less. A list of decisions beats a folder of clever effects.

Layering, briefly

A body layer for the mass of the event, low and slow.
A mechanism layer for detail, the click, the scrape, the movement.
A tail layer for the space, reverb or a decay recorded in a real room.
A perspective layer that changes with the camera, so the cut feels physical.

Libraries, field recordings and format chaos

Assets arrive from everywhere. Commercial libraries at 96 kHz, personal recordings from a portable recorder at 48 kHz, a reference the director pulled off a video at whatever the platform gave them.

Convert everything to the session rate before it hits the timeline. Extract audio from video references properly rather than screen recording them, keep 24 bit WAV as the working format, and reserve MP3 for review copies only.

Naming and organisation

Name assets by content, not by source: DOOR_Wood_Heavy_Close.wav rather than Track07.wav. Future you, on the next project, will search the folder and thank present you.

Mono, stereo and the fold down

Spot effects usually live in mono so they can be panned to picture. Environments live in stereo or surround. When a surround background needs a stereo version for an online deliverable, fold it down deliberately with control over the level of each channel rather than letting an export dialogue decide.