With more and more people turning on their creative minds, the demand for free sound effects for video editing has grown rapidly over the last year. We’ve seen the number of ZapSplat users looking for sounds for this purpose increase and we often get asked, how do I add sound effects to a video for free?
Luckily, you’ve landed on a huge free resource for sound effects (and royalty free music). We have developed a large library of sounds (90,000 as of this writing) that are perfect for YouTube videos, Vimeo, indie films, professional filmmakers and more.
You’ll find our free sound effects categories here, and our growing range of free sound packs here.
Once you have found the perfect sounds, you might be asking what software is best for editing the videos. If you’re on a budget, then we have compiled a list of 3 of the best free video editing software available below:
Best free video editing software
This list isn’t comprehensive, but it’ll give you some good starting points:
OpenShot Video Editor
A fantastic free editor that’s intuitive, easy to learn and comes packed with features. It’s cross platform, meaning you can use it on Mac, Linux and Windows, has a powerful trim and slice function, perfect for quick editing, animation and keyframes, unlimited tracks, video effects and more.
ClipChamp
This online video editor is used by 14 million people and claims no editing experience is required. It comes packed with customisable video templates, trim, cut and crop, split and combine, add backgrounds and adjust colours, filters and transitions and more. While there are tiers in their pricing, the basic version is free for personal use and it’s only $9/month if you decide to upgrade.
Lightworks
Lightworks is a hugely popular video editor used by many creatives. It has a familiar layout and user experience to some of the professional packages available and it doesn’t skimp on features. It also comes loaded with free royalty free assets and more. The free version is limted, but you can compare what you do and don’t get compared with their pro licenses via the link below.
View Lightworks Licenses and download here
There are many more free video editors out there and a larger list can be found here. Deciding which is right for you depends on the level of experience you have and what you need it to do. Starting with a more basic editor and moving up to more complex ones will help you make the transition and improve the quality of your work.
Are there any other free sound effects libraries I can use?
We firmly believe that you’ll find everything you need at zapsplat.com. We work with some of the best sound designers and libraries to bring you a wide selection of free professional quality sound effects. However, we’re not selfish and we understand, sometimes you might also like to search other free libraries. So, we’ve compiled a list of the other places we recommend:
FreeSound.org
Freesound.org is one of the largest, if not largest free sound libraries online. The library is packed with sounds created by it’s community of users and released via several Creative Commons Licenses. While the library is jam packed, the downside is the mix of quality. While some sounds are fantastic, others are not so good. There are some gems, but also some stinkers in there. But it’s definitely worth checking out.
FreeToUseSounds.com
FreeToUseSounds.com is run by Marcel and Libby, a young couple traveling the world recording as they go, so you’ll find this free library highly useful if you’re looking for specific location recordings. From countries throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and more, this library is well worth checking out.
YourFreeSounds.com
A relative newcomer to the scene, yourfreesounds.com is a great resource for finding free sound effects. Not all the sounds are free but they’re all fantastic quality and even the paid for sounds are really great value.
BBC collection
The BBC released over 16,000 free sound effects not too long ago and it caused a stir when they did. The library is great and comes with many sounds across a wide range of categories. You’ll find some real gems here, but the downside is they are for personal use only. However, if your videos are personal use only, then this resource will also be highly valuable to you.
We hope that our free sound effects combined with a powerful free video editor will help you make awesome videos and take your work to the next level!
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