One thing that I love about Sony is the fact that, in many situations, they are one of the first folks to push the envelope on things. Sometimes this surfaces in technology, like their creation of the HDV format and cameras that used it, and sometimes it comes in the form of using assets that separate them from most other technology companies. As most of you know, Sony is one of the six media companies that own all the film studios in Hollywood. Besides the banner-head name of “Sony Pictures”, their stable of studios past and present include: Columbia, Tristar, MGM, Sony Pictures Classics, United Artists, and Orion, to name the most historically notable. With this vast wealth of history that goes all the way back to the twenties, Sony decided to market something that none of the other studios have hitherto thought of: their sound effects library! As Sony has fully staffed foley studios, they have no fear of running out of new effects that they can create, but they realized that their archives would be a huge boon to the army of indie filmmakers that were rising who did not have their collective pocketbook.
As such, early last year they tested the waters with a five disc volume of sound effects and it was wildly popular. Encouraged by this, they culled deeper into the archives to release another five discs a couple months back. We’re going to look at both sets in this review. So with that said, let’s get to it!
Ease of Use
This is one of the easiest to set-up sound effects libraries I’ve come across. While each CD has it’s own jewel case insert booklet which lists all the effects found on it, each effect is clearly and concisely labeled digitally and put in a digital folder. As such, installing all the effects you’ve purchased is as easy as opening up the Sound Effects CD and dragging and dropping the effects into one location. I chose to create a separate folder for each CD, but you could just as easily drop all the folders in a single Sound Effects folder. After that, just use your computer’s media player to preview effects you think might work for you and import the ones you like into your editing suite.
Depth of Options
Sound effects are a little hard to tick off in a depth of options sort of way, considering how limitless they can be if you combine multiple effects. With that said, I’ll check off the various sections and a little about them. Then, at the end, I’ll give you an overview on my impression of the depth in this set.
Disc 1
Animals – If you want that deadly sounding crocodile or the hissing cat or the enraged monkey, this is a great place to come.
Natural Elements – If you need a landslide, or a thunderstorm, or even the sound of swimming underwater, this is the first place to start.
Disc 2
Backgrounds – While there is only one folder effects in this disc, this is because the backgrounds last for several minutes each. This is where you come for the sounds of a laundromat, the sounds of an office building in the ‘70’s (typewriters instead of computers gives this one away!), city traffic, or a farm exterior.
Disc 3
Home & Office – A sort of catchall for Home and Office products, this includes everything from cooking in a pan to typing on a laptop to a photography flash to a bathtub draining.
Impacts – A variety of footsteps on different surfaces and different types of glass shattering. (You might think of this as the Breaking & Entering folder!)
Weapons & Explosions – Stretched a little thin, this folder tries to cover everything from explosions and gun fire to sword fights and whip fights. Later discs bring up additional effects in more specific subcategories to more fully flesh out this category.
