best go-to places for sound effects / SFX?

[dylansmith]

as above - which website would have the most comprehensive set of SFX that I can search for and download? It can be either free or paid, but most importantly I should be able to preview it and it has different versions (e.g. close car collision vs from further away), saving me from extra post-production efforts.

Preference given to online libraries (pay-per-use) rather than SFX bundles (1,000 random clips bundled together).

Thanks!

 

[Rick R]

Many choices for 'Royalty Free Sound Effects' (search), and most have the option to purchase singles. On the 'free' side, Freesound.org is good, though it may take a while to go though the 'crap', as there are S/FX posted by amateurs as well as pros.
Even with all the pro and free sites, it's not always possible to find the 'right' sound, and recording it yourself or hiring it out may be necessary.

 

[Noiz2]

as above - which website would have the most comprehensive set of SFX that I can search for and download? It can be either free or paid, but most importantly I should be able to preview it and it has different versions (e.g. close car collision vs from further away), saving me from extra post-production efforts.

Preference given to online libraries (pay-per-use) rather than SFX bundles (1,000 random clips bundled together).

Thanks!

THe pay per use model is generally a nightmare, and can get VERY expensive.

Your question pretty much says you don't have a lot of experience and are working on projects that use very little sound. That is not a dig but it makes a difference in what will work for you.

For instance high end "pro" sound libraries are 99% aimed at professionals working in sound post. So they will not have any "car collisions" because the sound designers/ editors are going to build that collision to match the action. What they will have instead would be various metal hits and glass breaks. They may have a "crash" for the 1% but often not.

So if you are a to be professional you really want to aim at those kinds of libraries.

The other end of the spectrum are the consumer libraries for folks to make halloween tapes etc. Those are usually nothing but built FX. You will have "monster growls" and "T Rex roars", and lots of crashes.

In between there are some "prosumer" libraries that have a bit of both. The Digital Juice libraries are a good prosumer collection and a good price. Sound Ideas and Hollywood edge are in the top of the prosumer to straight pro zone (depending on the library).

The consumer ones are all over the place.

Sound dogs probably has the most single purchase SFX around. Almost all of the pay per use are in the prosumer zone and are mainly aimed at needel drop use at radio stations. Most get very expensive if used in a feature film. Plus by far there is more music clips in that category than SFX.

So you have to define what your needs are before you can find a best.

The "best" was/is a british outfit (can't remember the name). You would call up and tell them what you were looking for and the librarian would send you some sounds matching your descriptions. Fantastic recordings of just about everything on earth. But it was like $300 per sound to use one, and that was for a single use. It was where the pros went when you couldn't find it anywhere else and you couldn't record it or create it.

 

[dylansmith]

thanks for the insightful post.

My #1 need is full length underscore music (typically 3-5mins) that is used to match different genres such as travel and children at play. Good if it has all the wacky/wonky sound effects to go along when I need them.

My #2 need is for wedding videos - partly for underscore and partly for trailer music.

would welcome specific suggestions for the above, if any. Thanks!

 

[Alex H.]

My #1 need is full length underscore music (typically 3-5mins) that is used to match different genres such as travel and children at play. Good if it has all the wacky/wonky sound effects to go along when I need them.

My #2 need is for wedding videos - partly for underscore and partly for trailer music.

So, your primary need isn't SFX. It's production music. There are collections out there of wacky/cartoon SFX, but music is an entirely separate category.

Have you read the yellow stickies at the top of the sound forum? Specifically, THIS one?