Sound Effects Library

[Repro]

im doing some sound design stuff on local commercials and b horror movies but i want to step up it up from just ok sounds to the big feature film sounds!!!! i know alot of that stuff is foley but i was wondering if anybody knew what Sound Effects Libraries the Big Boys use on major films???? or even any cool sound design tricks some of the pros use???

[soundboy]

All of them. Seriously. Plus privately collected librarys collected over years of working.
Hollywood edge is a good place to start. Sound Ideas 6000 and up.

[starcrash13]

The best sound effects are usually the ones you go out and record yourself because they are customized to the film and the action taking place.

A good foley artist and foley mixer are invaluable. That said, I like to go out and record a lot of FX and foley myself to get more authentic sounds. For an example, check out the foley in Transformers. My partner Luke Dunn Gielmuda and I recorded a lot of stuff out in the field to add to the great tracks we got from John Roesch and his awesome foley crew at Warner Bros. We recorded a bunch of great aggressive sounding struggling/ fighting in gravel and all of Sam's bike riding sweeteners which turned out pretty cool. We also recorded a TON of big metal bangs and movement.

Commercial libraries are good to have to fill in the gaps, but using mostly your own stuff is way more fun and almost always works better for the show. Most commercial libraries sound very sterile and everything is right-in-your-face. No space, no perspective.

[Repro]

well when you are on location getting sounds for such big projects like that what was the mics, pres and recorders you brought out to these locations???

[Mixomera]

My personal setup is:
Recorder: Edirol R4, Edirol R09
Microphones: Sennheiser MKH 416, Shure VP88

Also very popular are recorders from Sound Devices, microphones in the Sennheiser MKH series, Sanken and Shoeps. What you choose is also a matter of personal taste and budget.

Mikael

[Stephen Muir]

My standard setup currently consists of the following:
Sennheiser MKH416, MKH30 (M-S stereo configuration)
Rycote modular suspension, windshield, windjammer
PSC M4 mkII (4-channel ENG/EFP mixer)
Fostex FR-2
Sony MDR-7506 headphones

Additionally, I'll often use some of the following:
Sennheiser MKH816 (long-shotgun mic)
Shure SM58 (dynamic mic)
Sennheiser MD421 (large-diaphragm dynamic mic)
AKG D112 (dynamic kick-drum mic)
VdB carbon fibre boom pole
Lightweight video tripod (adapted for use as a mic stand)
Hogshair furnace filter (deadens the sound of rain hitting the Windshield)

[introvert]

My general setup is a Sennheiser MKH418S in a Rycote with an Apogee MiniMe and an M-Audio Microtrack (taking a digital feed off the MiniMe). Things change a bit depending on what I'm recording (weapons, vehicles, whatever), but for general "run out there and get it" kinda stuff, that's what I carry.

Mark Kilborn
Sound Designer
markkilborn dot com

[starcrash13]

Originally Posted by Repro

well when you are on location getting sounds for such big projects like that what was the mics, pres and recorders you brought out to these locations???

For our "guerilla foley" on Transformers we used a Sennheiser MKH416 shotgun mic and a Sound Devices 722 recorder out in the field. I believe the WB foley crew use Neumann KMR81i shotgun mics on the foley stage.