Feature
Add sound effects to a video automatically, then turn them down or off
Some video editors add sound effects for you as part of the edit, so you don't place each one by hand. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, each style adds them, and you can ask for them quieter or off.
In short
- Sound effects can be added automatically by AI editors such as Cutroom's Magic Editor, where each style adds them to the edit.
- By hand, you pick each sound from a library, like Audio and then Sound effects in CapCut's online editor, and place it yourself.
- In a talking video, sound effects belong where something changes on screen, such as a picture coming in or the ending.
- In the Magic Editor, you can ask Jacob to make the sound effects quieter or turn them off, and your voice stays as it is.
- The Magic Editor doesn't let you pick one particular sound, so use a timeline editor if you need an exact one.
Can sound effects be added to a video automatically?
Yes, in some editors. Most editors give you a library of sounds to place yourself. A few add the sounds as part of the edit.
- Each style adds sound effects to the edit, and you can ask Jacob to make them quieter or turn them off.
- Submagic says it makes audio for its b-roll clips automatically, and you add other effects per caption line from 10 ready sounds or your own.
- In CapCut's online editor, you open the Audio tab, go to Sound effects and click the + next to the one you want.
- When you place sounds by hand, you also set each one's volume so it stays under your voice.
Where sound effects go in a talking video
A sound effect works when it marks something the viewer can see change. Over a plain stretch of talking, it only gets in the way.
- A soft sound on a transition helps the cut from one shot to the next feel deliberate.
- A short sound when a screenshot or a photo comes in pulls the eye to it.
- A sound on the last moment tells people the video is ending.
- Keep every sound under your voice, and never on a word people need to hear clearly.
- In the Magic Editor, Jacob adds the sound effects as part of the style's edit, so you don't place them.
A designer's app review, then the same edit without sound effects
She liked the edit but wanted it quieter for a calm review. One chat message turned the sound effects off and left her voice and the music as they were.
Drawing of an example clip, not a customer video
Before · the clip as filmed
A 45-second phone video of a freelance designer reviewing a scheduling app she used for a month, plus two screenshots
“So I, I tried this app for a month, um, and honestly it saved me two hours a week.”
struck through = what Jacob cuts
After · Jacob's first edit, Verdict style
“I tried this app for a month, and honestly it saved me two hours a week.”
- On “app”: your screenshots playing on a laptop while you shrink into a small card
- On “hours”: the word set big in your accent colour
- Under the whole video: the style's sound effects mixed in under your voice
- Under the whole video: calm music under your voice
Then you ask Jacob
- “Turn the sound effects off”v2the same edit with no sound effects, and her voice and the music unchanged
How Cutroom's Magic Editor edits a video like this
Jacob is the AI editor inside Cutroom's Magic Editor: it edits your video for you, then changes it when you ask in a chat.
The 4 styles, as example edits
Steps
Three steps, four angles
Skit
Hook, hard stop, demo card
Verdict
The tester's verdict
Poster
Typography does the talking
Hover or tap an example to play it, without sound. These are example edits of each style; the presenters in them are generated with AI.
- Your take: one video of you talking, up to 3 minutes
- Your style: one of 4: Steps, Skit, Verdict or Poster
- Your files: screenshots, a screen recording or a logo, if you have them
- Your goal: what the video is for, in a few words, if you like
- Jacob makes it: normally 10 to 15 minutes, and you get an email
- Your edit: ask Jacob for changes in a chat, then export
Then you ask Jacob, for example
- “Make this about 10 seconds shorter”
- “Put a clip on the strongest sentence”
- “Change the music to something calmer”
Each change is a new version, and going back is free. First cut 250 credits, each change 40, questions free, export 30 credits per started minute.
Making sound effects quieter or turning them off
In the Magic Editor, you change the sound effects by asking Jacob in the chat, in plain words. Each change comes back as a new version.
- Type “Make the sound effects quieter” to keep them but lower them under your voice.
- Type “Turn the sound effects off” to remove them and keep everything else.
- A chat message that changes the video costs 40 credits, and a question that changes nothing is free.
- Every change Jacob makes is a new version. The earlier versions stay, and going back to one is free.
- The music is separate, and the music setting under Style is free to change.
- You can't swap in a sound of your own or make the effects louder.
How many sound effects a talking video needs
Fewer than you think. In a video of you talking, your voice carries the message, and the sounds only mark what changes.
- One sound per real change on screen is plenty, and a stretch with no changes needs none.
- If people notice the sounds more than what you say, there are too many or they are too loud.
- A calm subject, like a review or a personal story, often works better with quieter sounds or none.
- Play it once on a phone speaker before you post. That's where most people will hear it.
Questions people ask
- How do I add sound effects to a video automatically?
- Use an editor that adds them as part of the edit. In Cutroom's Magic Editor, each style adds sound effects to the video you get back. Most other editors give you a library and you place each sound yourself.
- Can I turn off sound effects in Cutroom?
- Yes. Ask Jacob “Turn the sound effects off” or “Make the sound effects quieter” in the chat. The change costs 40 credits and comes back as a new version.
- Can I choose which sound effect plays?
- Not in the Magic Editor. You can make the sound effects quieter or turn them off, but not pick a particular sound. CapCut and Submagic let you choose each sound yourself.
- Do sound effects cost extra in the Magic Editor?
- No. They come with the first edit. Only a chat message that changes them, such as turning them off, costs credits.
- Will sound effects drown out my voice?
- They shouldn't, because they sit under your voice. If they still feel too loud, ask Jacob to make them quieter, or turn them off.
Upload your clip, and the edit comes back with sound effects you can turn down or off. Your first video is free.