Place sound effects on the beats of a short video

A sound effect marks a moment. A whoosh on a cut, a pop when a title appears, a ding when the answer lands. Placed sparingly, effects make an edit feel deliberate. DepCut has a library of effects and can generate new ones from a description, both in the Sound FX tab.

Browse the library

Open Sound FX in the left panel and stay on the Library sub-tab. It lists the bundled sounds with a play button, a name and a length.

• Type in Search sound FX to filter by name. Searching "impact", "click", "ding", "pop" or "whoosh" each finds matches, and so does "typing".
• Click the star on a sound to mark it a favorite. Favorites sort to the top on this browser.
• Click the play button to hear a sound before you use it.
• Click + to add it at the playhead, or drag it onto the timeline.

Some sounds ring on for several seconds. You can trim them later.

Generate one that is missing

Switch to the Generate sub-tab when the library lacks the sound you need.

1. Type into Describe the sound, for example a camera shutter or glass shattering on a tile floor. Preset chips such as Whoosh, Impact, Pop, Riser, Glitch and Ding fill the box with a starting description you can reword.
2. Set Length: Auto length, or 1, 2, 4 or 8 sec.
3. Set Takes from one to four if you want several versions to choose from.
4. Click Generate sound.

Generating spends credits from your account. Each result lands under Generated sound FX, newest first, and drags onto the timeline like any library sound.

Choose the moments

Effects work best on events the viewer can see. Good candidates are:

• A cut to a new idea or a new place.
• A title or sticker appearing on screen.
• A number, an answer or a reveal.
• The end card with your request.

An effect with nothing visible to mark adds noise to the mix.

Place the sound on the beat

Put the playhead on the moment, then add the sound. A few habits make effects read well.

• Start the sound a touch before the visual change so the ear and the eye arrive together.
• Use the Up and Down arrow keys to jump between edit points while you place sounds.
• Pair a Whoosh with a push, whip or wipe from the Transitions tab.
• Give each moment one sound. Two effects stacked on the same cut blur each other.

Shape the sound

Click the sound on the soundtrack lane and use the audio tabs in the right panel.

• Volume sets its level. Effects usually sit below speech.
• Fade out brings a long tail down gradually.
• Trim shortens the clip to the part you need.
• Fade in softens a sound that starts abruptly.

If the video has a voiceover on the soundtrack, select that clip and open Duck. Duck others sets the level that everything else drops to while the voiceover plays, which covers music and effects.

Your turn

Open DepCut, take a short edit with three cuts, and add one effect at the strongest cut. Listen with and without it.