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.
Initially you want to pick the right format for listing your metadata. I have found that .xls projects and the most requested format for metadata which assign each sound a row and each category a column. This type of document, as opposed to a text file, will let you search your sounds easily in the future according to each characteristic.
1. The Main Category column should contain broad categories such as Ambiences, Animal, Human, Transportation. Try to be as efficient in their use as possible in order to maintain a logical order to your library from the start.
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. Assigning a SKU number that begins with three unique letters, such as your company's initials, and five digits such as SFX00001_BirdChirp as you make them will add immediate organization to your library. The next sound should begin with SFX00002 etc. allowing each sound to be completely unique in title. This sort of numbered titling eases future confusion should you end you with 50 dog barks organized alphabetically.
4. A friendly title for Title is simply intended to inform the buyer on the type of sound like Bird Chirp 1.
5. Since shorter sound effects are generally worth less than longer sound effects it is important to include the Time Length in your metadata so that interested clients know the length of each sample they might license.
6. Information under Track Info can be written, for example, as 48k 16bit Mono .wav which specifies the quality of each sample by providing the sample rate, bit rate, mono/stereo info, and file type.
7. Keywords are very important in letting potentials buyers find your sounds and should not be ignored. They should contain the plurals of the sound, associated sounds, phrases, and even misspellings such as dog, dogs, dog bark, dog barks, bark, barks, dog pack, pack, wolf, canine, wolves, canines, barck, barcks.
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.
Initially you want to pick the right format for listing your metadata. I have found that .xls projects and the most requested format for metadata which assign each sound a row and each category a column. This type of document, as opposed to a text file, will let you search your sounds easily in the future according to each characteristic.
1. The Main Category column should contain broad categories such as Ambiences, Animal, Human, Transportation. Try to be as efficient in their use as possible in order to maintain a logical order to your library from the start.
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. Assigning a SKU number that begins with three unique letters, such as your company's initials, and five digits such as SFX00001_BirdChirp as you make them will add immediate organization to your library. The next sound should begin with SFX00002 etc. allowing each sound to be completely unique in title. This sort of numbered titling eases future confusion should you end you with 50 dog barks organized alphabetically.
4. A friendly title for Title is simply intended to inform the buyer on the type of sound like Bird Chirp 1.
5. Since shorter sound effects are generally worth less than longer sound effects it is important to include the Time Length in your metadata so that interested clients know the length of each sample they might license.
6. Information under Track Info can be written, for example, as 48k 16bit Mono .wav which specifies the quality of each sample by providing the sample rate, bit rate, mono/stereo info, and file type.
7. Keywords are very important in letting potentials buyers find your sounds and should not be ignored. They should contain the plurals of the sound, associated sounds, phrases, and even misspellings such as dog, dogs, dog bark, dog barks, bark, barks, dog pack, pack, wolf, canine, wolves, canines, barck, barcks.
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.
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