How to Add Sound Effects to Video

Liza Brown

Nov 05, 2024• Proven solutions

Sound effects can make the video scene more interesting. If you want to add special sound effects to your video, Wondershare Filmora can be a good choice. This video editing software is supplied with a small library of basic sound effects that you can easily use in your video. Just drag the effect you want to the timeline and shift the track around until it fits the scene.

To begin with, get a free trial copy of Wondershare Filmora.

• What are Sound Effects?
• What are the Types of Sound Effects? 
• How to Add Sound Effects to Your Videos?

Part 1: What are Sound Effects?

Sound effects (abbreviated as "SFX"), like applause sound effect, explosion sound effect are any audio that a viewer hears that isn't part of the actual recording. Sound effects play a very significant role in Movies, TV, and video games. Thanks to sound effects, our world becomes wonderful and amazing.

Part 2: What are the Types of Sound Effects?

Are you wondering how many types of audio effects in the world? There are four types of sound effects commonly used, Foley SFX, Ambience SFX, Electronic SFX, Hard, and Soft SFX.

Foley SFX: produced in Foley Studio, whose artists frequently match their sounds to what is happening on screen. “It’s a weird blend of live performance and digital sound editing,” says Foley artist John Roesch.

Ambiance SFX: these are the sounds that fill the screen space, which create the sense of location or environment. For example, if you walk into a restaurant, you will hear the clatter of the silverware and the dishes. This kind of background noise will be changed as the given environment changes.

Electronic SFX: generated by instruments like synthesizers, keyboards, or plug-ins that create electronic-sounding effects.

Hard and Soft SFX: Hard SFX is directly linked to a visual that requires synchronization between the two. In a word, what you see is what you get. However, soft SFX doesn't need to synchronize with anything in the picture but is used to indicate the location or setting to the audience.

Part 3: How to Add Sound Effects to Your Videos?

1. Import the video file

Install and run this video editor. Then click the “Import” button to add the original video file to the program. Or directly drag and drop the file to the primary window.

2. Add sound effects to the video

Drag and drop the video file to the video timeline. Then click the “Sound” button and in the window that appears, you'll see a box listing different sound effects. Just select a sound effect you want, such as “Brush” “Alarm”, “Bell”, “Car”, “Animal" sound effect etc., and click the “Play” button to hear it. Or, you can also add sound effects to get some festival vibe, such as Halloween.

To add the sound effect to the Timeline, choose the sound effect you want, hold your mouse and drag the sound effect down to the soundtrack below the video clip. Then the sound effect will be added as a new audio track for your clip.

After that, move the sound icon in the Timeline to set the beginning point of the sound effect audio clip and move the playhead to a point in the audio track to set the ending time. Click on the “Play” button to see if your video plays well with the added sound effect.

You can also edit the audio effect. To do it, just double click the sound effect and adjust the “Speed”, “Volume”, “Fade in” and “Fade out” effects as you like. If you want to remove the sound effect, click on the audio clip to highlight it and press the "Delete" key on your keyboard.

3. Export the new file

Give your video a final review to see if there are other ways to improve it. When you are satisfied with the results, it's time to export your work. Click the “Create” button, switch to the “Format” tab, and specify a location and format to save it. You can also choose to save it to play on different devices such as iPhone, iPad, iPod, Zune, or Xbox or directly upload it to YouTube or Facebook. What’s more, you can even burn it to DVD for playing on a home DVD player.

Liza Brown

Liza Brown is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Liza Brown