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Feature guides · guide 8 of 16

Sound effects

2 min read Source on GitHub

What it is. Three small sounds: a click, a highlight (when a spotlight appears) and a transition (when the screen changes). The kit picks a set for your project from soundcn, a free library, and measures each sound before using it.

Steps

  1. Describe how the product should sound, in a few words:

    { "sound": { "effects": "auto", "mood": "calm professional soft" } }
    effectsMeaning
    auto (default)Pick from soundcn for the mood, measure, use what passes
    generatedThe kit's own soft sounds, no download
    noneNo effects
    { "click": "...", "callout": "...", "transition": "..." }Sounds you name

  2. To see candidates before rendering:

    bunx showcase sounds --role callout --mood "calm soft"

    Listen to any of them at soundcn.xyz by searching for its name.

  3. Render:

    bunx showcase make

Check it worked

The log says which sound was chosen for each role, and why:

sound, click: click-001 (first candidate, passed)
sound, callout: drop-002 (passed after 1 refused (drop-001: its pitch is centred at 2567 Hz, above the 1500 Hz limit for a callout sound))
sound, transition: generated (no soundcn sound passed ...)

out/<name>.credits.txt records where each sound came from. Keep it with the video.

Why sounds are refused

Nothing in the kit can hear. A sound chosen by its description alone was once heard by reviewers as a squeak. So every sound must pass these rules:

  • Licence: CC0 only, and some sets are blocked whatever the library says.
  • Pitch: a sound that plays many times must sit low. Under 1500 Hz for a highlight or a transition, under 3000 Hz for a click.
  • Length and level: short enough for its role, and not nearly silent.

If nothing passes for a role, the kit's own sound is used.

Good to know

  • The choice is saved in .showcase/sounds.json, so every later render sounds the same and needs no internet. Delete that file, or change mood, to choose again.
  • After changing only the sound, rebuild without recording: showcase make --remix.
  • A sound you name yourself is used as asked, with a note if it fails a measurement.
  • Listen to the video once before sharing it. The measurements are not an ear.