Environmental sound is a term for sound used in video, streaming, games, and audio content to reinforce the impression or the information of a scene. Separately from the music itself, it conveys place, movement, transitions, and emotion.
Its basic role
Adding environmental sound fills in the atmosphere, the sense of distance, and the movement that are hard to convey through picture and words alone. Deciding what you want to communicate to the viewer before you choose material makes it easier to use.
When it is used
It is used for scene changes in video, the start and end of a stream, game interactions, and shots that show a city or nature. Be conscious of an amount and a length that do not get in the way of the main voice or music.
How to choose it
Check the length, the brightness, the density, and whether repetition becomes distracting. Even within the same type of material, a sound that seems close and one that seems far give different impressions. Judge them together with the actual picture and dialogue.
Things to watch when editing
Cutting the start and the end abruptly can sound unnatural. Add fades and adjust the level as needed. When you layer several pieces of material, check that the low and mid ranges are not getting crowded.
Terms of use
When you use distributed material, check the license for commercial use, credit requirements, redistribution, and so on. Being able to download something is not the same as being free to use it in published work.
The basics of checking
Play back the whole thing at close to finished levels, not the material on its own. The basics of organizing and exporting audio material are explained in the article on audio file formats.
