Overview
Having access to a robust sound effects library is invaluable for filmmakers. While there are a lot of free websites where you can download sound effects, the quality of the files can vary and acquiring the correct licensing rights can be a time-consuming and frustrating endeavor. The College therefore pays an annual fee to license Soundly, which is an application for easy searching through the 6 Terabytes of media in our professional sound effects library. This allows you to have a vast array of high-quality, licensed effects at your fingertips, and it’s engineered to have frictionless integration with Media Composer and ProTools. You can then focus on what really matters: the creative work.
Additionally, Soundly has an AI feature called Voice Designer which allows for text-based voice generation. This is a very useful tool if you need to add, say, the voice of an unseen character or if you need to rough-in a voice during editorial that will later be replaced with ADR.
Soundly Layout and Search
When first launched, the application will open as shown below. If it defaults to a different page, make sure it is set to the “Sounds” tab. Also check that it is signed in to our account as shown below. If it appears that the Soundly application is not signed in to our account correctly, please contact the Post Staff and they can get it fixed.
In the upper-left corner is a search field where you can type in keywords to help you find the what you are looking for. The library is vast and contains sound effects, backgrounds, Foley, and more. After you select one of the sound effects that your search revealed, you can preview it in the timeline at the bottom.
By default, Soundly opens in a big window that can be viewed fullscreen. Sometimes you may prefer to put it in “Dock Mode” which will squeeze the interface down to the bottom third of the screen. To enter “Dock Mode” navigate to the task bar and select Window > Dock Mode.
This can be helpful when you are also working in Media Composer or ProTools, as it will allow you to easily have both interfaces open while you work, as shown below.
Soundly with Media Composer
When using Soundly with Media Composer, it is simple to bring sounds from the library into a bin. After you have searched for and have found the sound that you want to bring into Media Composer, highlight the section of waveform you want and drag that into an open bin.
Media Composer will prompt you with a question about the audio start-time. Make sure it is set to 24 and then click “OK”.
Assuming your media creation settings in Media Composer are set as shown in the example below, the sound will be transcoded into Avid Media and will appear in your bin, ready to work with.
Soundly with ProTools
When using Soundly with ProTools, you have two options for bringing sounds into the project. You can either bring the sound into the Clips Bin or spot the sound directly onto a track.
To send a desired sound effect to the Clips Bin, select the sound in Soundly and then press “B” on the keyboard. It will be imported directly to the Clips Bin in ProTools.
To spot a desired sound effect to a specific marked track, highlight the section of the sound effect you want, use the sector tool to mark a spot on an appropriate track, and then press “S” on the keyboard. It will be imported directly to the track that was marked.
Soundly Voice Designer
Soundly has a feature called Voice Designer, which uses AI to generate voices based on text input. Utilizing a plugin called “Place It”, it will make the generated voice sound as if it was in a particular place and/or coming out of a particular speaker.
Switch to the Voices tab and you will see the interface appear like the example below.
The top section will allow you to type in any dialogue that you need to generate. You will then have options to decide the language and the voice, and you can then generate the voice by clicking “Speak It”. You can also use one of the presets.
The bottom section will allow you to modify that voice. There are presets available or you can click the button shown below and you can choose you own “Speaker” and “Space”.
Importing the Voice Designer media into ProTools and Media Composer is exactly the same process as described above.