How A Pro Video Editor Sound Designs A Commercial

I've been a pro editor for over 20 years, and today I'd like to invite you into my edit suite so I can show you every single sound I used to bring the broadcast commercial highlighted in the video above to life. We’ll listen to the background ambiances, dialog, specific sound effects, and music. Check out the video for the full lesson and final sound mix reveal. 

Many of the sounds I used were sourced from Artlist (affiliate link), which is one of my favorite online SFX libraries. 

 When I’m working on the sound for a commercial, I like to start with background ambiances. That way, my dialog has a nice bed to sit in. The first ambience I used was "binaural desert at dawn", perfect for setting the stage of this desert camping scene. Next I incorporated a "fire sound" complete with a nice, crackling feel that carries through the entire spot. Then came "cicadas and crickets", always a great add-in for outdoor night scenes. Finally, I chose a "wolf howling", which added a layer of depth to the desert camping setup. For some projects, one bed of ambiance might be enough, but generally I find layering multiple ambiances creates a more realistic feel.

This spot features four characters, each with their own dialogue: the human camper ("Mike seems to be having more fun with his money"); the camper's $5 bill companion ("Really? Because you’ve got your book, and I’m roasting wieners and marshmallows"); the guy driving the ATV ("Hey! Whoa!"); and, the $10 bill in the ATV ("Hey"). The human characters were recorded on set, the $5 bill’s voice came from a voice actor in a studio, and the $10 bill’s vocalizations were sourced from a sound effects library.  The last "voice" was the voiceover for the end art card, which was recorded in a voice studio.

Now onto the fun part: specific sound effects. We can break down the key elements as follows: the marshmallow catching fire, being blown out, and a book closing. Two of the sounds were taken from a library, with the book sound being recorded on set. The ATV sounds were wheels on gravel, revving engines, high-intensity jumps, and even a cartoony whoosh. These sounds took detailed editing to create a sense of movement and energy.

One of my favorite parts of this campaign was adding life to the 3D-animated dollar bills using subtle paper sounds. It’s those small details that truly bring the spot to life. The music then plays over the art card at the end. If this were a score, I’d mix it in earlier, but here it’s added last for its specific purpose.

Sound design involves finding and layering the right sounds to tell a story. As a sound designer, I collaborate with a sound mixer to fine-tune levels, effects, and final broadcast quality. In this case, I worked with David Bewley at Pony Sound. He takes my AAF file and QuickTime reference movie, brings them into ProTools, and performs the final mix, including equalization and compression (especially on dialog), special effects like echoes and reverbs, panning (moving sounds in the stereo field), and broadcast leveling to meet quality standards. While there’s overlap, the collaboration between sound designer and sound mixer ensures a polished final product.

By layering and refining each element, we’ve brought this commercial to life, showing the transformative power of sound design through the ambiances, dialog, sound effects, and music combined.

If you’d like to see the final sound mix, check out the video embedded above.

Austen is an ADDY award-winning film & commercial editor with over 20 years of experience. He has worked with global brands like Meta, KPMG, SAP, and Christianity Today. His PSA work has championed causes like school safety (with Matthew McConaughey), driving safety, and anti-tobacco. A thought leader in the editing field, his online lessons quickly amassed over 100K views after launch.