Best Practices for Adding Audio to Your Videos for a Professional Touch is what I’ll discuss in this piece.
If you’ve got a video, and you’ve no idea how to add audio to it that looks, feels and sounds professional, you’re at the right place.
Most of the tips I’ve discussed don’t even need any special “expertise”. Anyone can implement them and skyrocket the professionalism their videos have.
No expensive software is peddled, no courses, nothing that would make you uncomfortable. Your budget isn’t an issue either as these tips are mostly technical and have nothing to do with how much or how less you can spend.
Let’s give your videos a professional voice then!
Table of Contents
Fix the technicalities
A major problem with most people trying to add audio to video is missing out on the technicalities. Picking up an audio and inserting it on a video is the easy part.
What requires attention is the technicality.
For starters, you must ensure that your audio in no way superimposes or overlaps with any other audio in the video. The volume must be just right, not blasting through the roof or not ultra low; because that will kill any effect whatsoever.
Then, the audio must be clean without other background noises in it or any other kind of interference.
Also, the audio must be just at the right moment. Not an instant sooner or later than the video needs it to be.C
Transitions need to be paid attention to as well. How your audio enters and exits the scene is important
Choose the Type of Audio to Add
Before you add any audio whatsoever, you need to know exactly what type of audio your video requires.
You may need a voiceover, sound effects, music or any other type of audio. This is important as the right “type” not only influences your video’s overall setting, but also budget. Producing one type of audio has different costs as compared to the other types.
Point being, be very sure of the type of audio your video demands.
At times, multiple audio types may suit the current video scene. In that case, you’ll have to decide the “best” of all the suitable audio types to add to your video.
Choose the most effect-inducing audio
Simply the “type” isn’t enough. You may know you need a voiceover, but which voiceover is best?Do you need to sound happy? Sad? Excited? Similarly, you may know you need background music, but which music suits your video best?
Determine this by going over the video multiple times and ensuring that the audio you’re adding brings in the effect you want.
Audio has the power to change how the scene is perceived for the exact same video if the audio is different.
Choose the best Source for your audio
Once you’ve got your hands on the best type of audio, you’ll need the exact audio you wish to add, wouldn’t you?
Again, there are multiple sources you could be using. Maybe you’re recording your own audio? In which case, you should invest in the best possible recording setup you can afford. Nothing else will matter if your hardware is of poor quality.
If you’re downloading the audio off a third-party platform, ensure you’re getting the best quality. Of course, in this case you’ll also need to obtain proper licensing by either paying for the audio, using royalty-free music or some other way.
Third-party verification
When you’re adding audio to your video, because you spend a lot of time on it already during the process, your perception of the audio and its impact changes.
It’s the same as re-watching a movie, the movie scenes generally lose effect the more times you watch them.
Hence, to get the most unbiased, honest, truthful opinion, it’s best if you share your final output with partners who haven’t heard it before.
Let them be critical of it. Their opinion, hearing it the first time is how your video sounds like.
Conclusion
To sum it all up, there are a few basic pointers that hold true for all audio/video scenarios. You just have to have the most suitable audio type, added with the right entry effect, volume, timing and exit.
Behind the scenes, you must have used good quality hardware for the audio or the best source if you downloaded it from a third-party. Licensing too needs to be paid attention in order to avoid future problems.
To some extent, the software/platform you use to add the audio matters as well. It’s best to use something that your hardware can handle easily. Online platforms like 123Apps have good audio editors that don’t need to be “downloaded”.
Your skills matter too. If you land on an overly complex software it would just add to your issues. Hence, choose something that you understand and it should generally be easy to use for everyone.
