|
|
Best Methods to Catalog Sound Effects
The final step in organizing sound effects for submission to a sound effect library is pairing different types of data with each sound. This metadata, as it is called, lets prospective clients in on specific details concerning each sound. The seven most useful categories of metadata to be included in your sound effect catalog are listed below.
Finding the right format is the first step in creating your metadata document. The most frequently requested format for metadata is an .xls file with categories in columns and individual sounds in rows. Searching through your sounds according to File Name, or Time Length will be very easy if you use this type of format.
1. The first column should be title Main Category and should broadly include categories such as Amusement and Games, Home and Office, and Web Buttons. Minimalism in choosing main categories is the best means of having a tightly organized library right off the bat.
3. The next main type of metadata, the Sub-Category, is intended to splice up each main category more specifically such as Tools: Hammers, Tools:Saws, Tools:Screwdrivers.
3. If you associate a SKU number of three letters unique to you, such as your initials, and five digits such as SFX00001_DogBark with each sound effect upon their creation your sounds will be perfectly organized. The sound to follow the above example would begin with SFX00002 and so on which assigns a totally unique identity to each sound. This numbering system alleviates confusion in the future should you have multiple Dog Barks and only organize them alphabetically.
4. Simply friendly titles such as Car Honk 1 are best for the Title category because they will be displayed for interested customers.
5. A simple but significant bit of metadata is Time Length since long sound effects are usually priced higher than shorter sound effects and the buyer deserves to know how much sound they are getting for their money.
6. The quality of each sample is given by stating the Track Info which includes stereo/mono information, the sample rate, the bit rate, and file type such as Mono 44.1k 16 bit Stereo .wav.
7. One of the main ways that clients find your sounds will be by searching for keywords and thus your Keyword category is very important. Plurals of the sound, related sounds, phrases that include the sound, and misspellings can all help your sounds be found such as car, cars, vehicle, vehicles, car driving, driving a car, kar, kars.
After successfully organizing your sound effects according to the seven above characteristics you can market and submit your library to online distributors for profit through licensing.
About the Author SFXsource ponders and reports on multimedia production and produces Voice clips and free animal sounds for sampling in animation, flash, and video
|
 |
Please Rate: |
|
Rating: |
 Processing ... |
(Average: Not rated) |
| Views: | 25 | |
|
| More Articles from Hobbies | | |
| Top Articles in Hobbies | | |
|
