How to add sound effects to videos
Last updated 2026-10-20
To add sound effects to a video, place a short sound on an action people can see: a whoosh on a cut, a pop on a word, a ding on a reveal. Start the sound on the frame it belongs to, keep it quieter than speech, and use few of them. A sound with nothing on screen to match reads as noise.
Tap a sound to preview.
Tip: every pad has a keyboard key.
Browse all 35 soundsMatch the sound to the moment
Use one rule: every sound answers something you can see. If you cannot point to the frame it belongs to, cut the sound. One effect on every cut wears out fast. Save them for the moments you want noticed.
Length matters too. A quick cut wants a short sound, and a slow slide across the frame can carry a longer one. The table uses the names and lengths of Woven's built-in sounds.
| Moment on screen | Type of sound | Built-in examples |
|---|---|---|
| A fast cut or sweeping move | Whoosh | fast-whoosh (0.4 s), swish-whoosh-large (0.8 s), deep-whoosh (3.2 s) |
| A word, label or icon appearing | Pop | pop-hand (0.3 s), message-pop-reply (0.9 s) |
| A reveal, result or notification | Ding | airplane-ding (1.2 s), elevator-ding (2.0 s), notification-ding (2.0 s) |
| Typing or a click on screen | Keys and clicks | keyboard-typing-realistic (3.4 s), mouse-click-2 (0.2 s) |
| A photo being taken | Shutter | camera-shutter-1-shot (0.3 s) |
Line up the start and set the level
A sound's attack is the moment it first gets loud. Put the attack on the frame of the action. For a pop on a word, that is the frame the word appears. For a whoosh on a cut, start it slightly before the cut so its peak lands on the cut.
The common mistake is dropping the sound at the right spot but leaving silence or a soft lead-in at the start of its file, so it lands late. Zoom the timeline in, step through the frames and listen. Trim off the soft start, then slide the sound until the hit sits on the frame. A sound a few frames off feels wrong even when viewers cannot say why.
Keep effects under the voice. Woven's agent guide suggests a volume of 40 to 60 percent so effects do not drown a voiceover. Never stack three sounds on one moment.
Where to find sounds
Woven's built-in library holds 35 sounds. They are original works made by Woven, shown in one searchable list with no categories, so search by name.
Woven SFX at woven.video/sfx is a separate, public library of sound effects. It is open source, with CC0 1.0 sounds, an agent skill and a local MCP server, and it needs neither the Mac app nor a Woven account.
YouTube's Audio Library also holds sound effects, which you can filter by category and duration. YouTube calls them copyright-safe, so Content ID should leave them alone. iMovie on Mac has a library of its own: choose Audio & Video, then Sound Effects in the sidebar.
A transition does not bring its own sound
The whoosh transition between two clips makes no sound in Woven. It is visual only. Place the sound yourself, on the cut, with the same attack rule.
Add sound effects in Woven
The panel is one list sorted by name, so type part of a name. A sound added from the panel lands on the SFX row at 45% volume and plays in full. In chat, Woven's AI agent can place a sound by name with a start time, a volume and an optional length that cuts it short. You can also ask it to generate a new sound, which uses credits.
Ask in chat
- Add a fast-whoosh on the hard cut at 0:04.
- Put a pop-hand on each title as it appears.
- Add a notification-ding on the price reveal at 0:12.
- Lower all the sound effects so the voiceover stays clear.
Or do it by hand
- 1Find the frame. Put the playhead on the frame where the action starts. Use the left and right arrow keys to step one frame at a time.
- 2Open the panel. Choose Add, then Sound Effects. The panel is titled Sound effects.
- 3Pick by ear. Type in Search sound effects, then press Play on a row to hear it before you add it.
- 4Drop it in. Click the + beside the name to add it at the playhead, or drag the row onto the timeline.
- 5Trim and balance. Drag the sound's left edge to cut a soft start, then slide it so the hit sits on the frame. Use Volume to set the level against the speech.
Common questions
Place a short sound on the timeline at the frame of the action it belongs to, then lower its volume under speech. In Woven, choose Add, then Sound Effects, pick a sound and click the +.
YouTube's Audio Library offers royalty-free sound effects you can filter by category and duration. Woven SFX at woven.video/sfx is an open-source library of CC0 sounds. Read the license on any other source.
Quieter than speech. Woven's agent guide suggests 40 to 60 percent volume so effects do not cover a voiceover. A sound added from Woven's panel arrives at 45%.
Not in Woven. The whoosh transition is visual only, so place a whoosh sound on the cut yourself.
If you notice the sounds more than the video, there are too many. Tie each one to something visible and leave most cuts silent.
Yes. In Woven, ask in chat for a sound and it generates one on credits. You can also import a recording you made.
Sources
- Use music and sound effects from the Audio Library - YouTube Help, checked October 19, 2026
- Add music and sound clips in iMovie on Mac - Apple Support, checked October 19, 2026
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