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Homemade Sound Effects With Big-Budget Impact

From the delicate ticking of a timebomb to its gut-wrenching explosion, sound effects are a sure-fire way to grab and hold a viewer's attention. Hollywood movie moguls wouldn't invest millions of dollars in a soundtrack if sound effects weren't vital to the movie's impact.

If you can't take my word for it, try this experiment: rent a big-budget action thriller (Terminator, Aliens, Air Force One) and find a particularly engrossing section. Turn off the sound, and watch the scenes in silence. Then, crank up your highest-fidelity stereo system or headphones, close your eyes and "watch" the same scenes again. Comparing the visual effects and the sound effects, which was most captivating on its own? In many cases, the sound effects are even more powerful than the visual effects they accompany.

You can give your videos the same auditory impact as a Hollywood movie without the mega-bucks budget. In fact, you can use the same techniques that feature film producers still employ today. All you need is creativity, a willingness to get your hands dirty, and some common household items.

Sound effects can do more than just rock viewers in their seats or set their hair on end. In fact, sound effects can achieve some subtle things you may have never thought of.

Sound effects can enhance realism. The low rumble of warp engines will help your viewers believe they're on a spaceship traveling nine times the speed of light.

The roar of a stadium crowd will make a Superbowl experience out of six actors and an empty bleacher.

Sound effects can reinforce a mood or a feeling. The sounds of dripping water and the occasional bat screech really drive home the isolation of three spelunkers lost in a cave. The gentle buzz of insects on a lazy spring day, the crackle of a campfire under a starry sky--these sounds connect with a viewer's emotions like no visual can.

Finally, sound effects can imply the presence of things that aren't really there. Tribal drums add an ominous twist for already nervous jungle explorers. Machine gun fire and mortar shells transform a backyard fort into the front lines.

And, best of all, sound effects can work this same magic in your videos. You don't need a huge budget, fancy equipment or a recording studio to enhance your videos with engaging sound. You just need a little imagination.

There are several ways to acquire sound effects for your videos. One of the easiest is to download sound files from Videomaker's website (www.videomaker.com/downloads/free-sound-effects/). Another option is to buy professionally recorded sound effects on CD or CD-ROM, but that's the easy way out. Much better for the home videographer is the do-it-yourself method. Home-brewed sound effects don't cost anything, and they're much more fun and rewarding than just plucking a sound effects CD off the shelf.

You can make convincing sound effects with common materials and items you have around the house--even top Hollywood sound designers use everyday items to create stunning effects. In a worst-case scenario, a sound effect may require a trip to a local hardware or grocery store. The key is learning to see common goodies not for what they are, but what they sound like.