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Sound design plays a vital role in how we experience film, television, games, and immersive media. From subtle ambient background textures in video games, to bold, attention-grabbing moments in the best Sci-fi films, sound shapes emotion, space, and storytelling in ways that often go unnoticed. Understanding how professionals work with sound effects offers valuable insight into how these experiences are crafted and why great audio feels so natural and convincing.
Professional sound effects are rarely created in isolation. Instead, they emerge from creative workflows that blend imagination, technical skill, and experimentation. Whether starting from real-world recordings, visual inspiration, or abstract sound manipulation, sound designers build layers of audio that support the narrative and enhance realism. These processes reveal that sound design is as much about structure and intention as it is about creativity.
This article explores how pro sound designers approach their craft by examining real-world perspectives from experienced professionals across film, television, and interactive media. Each example highlights a different way of thinking about sound, whether through layering, transformation of natural sources, or flexible control over complex sound environments.
By looking at how these professionals use modern tools and techniques, we gain a clearer understanding of what defines effective sound design today. Rather than focusing on specific software or settings, the emphasis is on mindset: how sound designers listen, experiment, and adapt. Together, these insights offer a practical look into how professionals work with sound effects and how thoughtful audio design brings worlds to life.
Ben Jacquier is a French professional sound designer and composer, widely described as a long-time Krotos Studio power user. His work offers a clear example of how pro sound designers integrate specialised tools into their creative process to produce professional sound effects efficiently and imaginatively.
When discussing how professionals work with sound effects, Jacquier emphasises the value of visual inspiration in audio creation. One of his key techniques involves using Image to Sound within Krotos Studio, a feature designed to transform visual material into sound. Rather than starting with existing audio, Jacquier begins with an image, allowing the visual mood of a scene to guide the resulting ambience.
He describes Image to Sound as “a fast, easy and exciting way to create ambiences and background sound effects for your sound designs or video edits”. In the demonstrated workflow, Jacquier exports a single image frame from a project and uses the tool to generate an immersive ambient texture. This process highlights how quickly visual information can be converted into usable audio, supporting both creative exploration and tight production schedules.
Jacquier’s approach illustrates how professional sound effects are often shaped by more than just microphones and recordings. By translating visuals directly into sound, he shows how pro sound designers can expand their creative palette, using imagery as a foundation for building atmosphere and depth within a project.
Ben Burtt is a legendary sound designer, best known for defining the sound world of the Star Wars franchise. His work provides a foundational example of how professionals work with sound effects, showing that creativity and careful listening are just as important as technology in producing memorable audio.
A central part of Burtt’s approach is the use of real-world sounds as raw material. Rather than relying on synthetic sources alone, he built professional sound effects by recording natural elements and reshaping them through creative manipulation. This grounding in reality helped make the sounds of Star Wars feel believable, powerful, and emotionally engaging.
Burtt explained that “Sound designers take real-world recordings—wind, water, animals—and manipulate them to create otherworldly effects.” By starting with familiar sounds, he ensured that even the most fantastical effects retained a sense of authenticity. The audience may not recognise the source, but they instinctively feel its realism.
He also highlighted how specific natural sounds can serve multiple creative purposes. “Wind can be used for whooshes and gusts, water for depth, electricity for crackling energy”. This flexible mindset demonstrates how a single recording can be transformed into many different elements within a soundscape.
Burtt’s work continues to influence pro sound designers today. His methods show that professional sound effects often come from imaginative reinterpretation of the world around us, proving that careful observation and transformation are at the heart of great sound design.
Alex Zarfati is a filmmaker working with immersive audio and visual content, and his perspective offers a valuable look at how professionals work with sound effects from a storytelling standpoint. Rather than treating sound as a final polish, his approach positions audio as a core part of building believable and engaging scenes.
Zarfati describes Krotos Studio as “an innovation for post-sound” emphasizing how modern tools can reshape traditional post-production workflows. For him, sound design is not just about creating individual effects, but about assembling layers of audio that work together to support the visuals and enhance immersion, which is why he chooses to use Krotos Studio.
A key point in Zarfati’s process is flexibility. He highlights how Krotos Studio allows sounds to be quickly layered, adjusted, and combined to form realistic environments. This speed and adaptability make it easier to experiment, refine ideas, and respond creatively to what is happening on screen. The focus is less on perfecting a single sound in isolation and more on how multiple elements interact within a scene.
This layered approach reflects how professional sound effects are often built in practice. By stacking and shaping sounds efficiently, filmmakers and sound artists can create depth and realism without slowing down the creative process. Zarfati’s emphasis on workflow shows how important responsive tools are in modern production. By using tools that encourage fast layering and experimentation, Zarfati demonstrates how professionals turn sound into a powerful narrative asset.
James David Redding III is an Emmy Award–winning sound designer and sound effects editor, known for his work on major TV and film projects including The Queen’s Gambit, Mr & Mrs Smith, and City on a Hill. His career offers a clear illustration of how professionals work with sound effects at the highest level of production.
Redding describes his creative process through a visual metaphor, explaining: “My approach to sound is akin to Bob Ross painting. I start with broad strokes, laying down the background, and then focus on the details”. This mindset reflects a structured yet creative workflow, where establishing an overall atmosphere comes before refining individual elements. It highlights how professional sound effects are often built from a strong foundational layer rather than isolated sounds.
A key technique in Redding’s workflow is granular synthesis. As he explains, “By applying granular synthesis, I can reorder the sounds, creating a unique, customizable background efficiently”. This approach allows him to reshape audio material quickly, maintaining creative control while adapting soundscapes to the needs of a scene. Efficiency, in this context, supports experimentation rather than limiting it.
Redding also emphasises the impact of modern tools on professional workflows. He notes that with Krotos tools, “what used to take a whole day to perfect can now be accomplished in minutes”. This dramatic shift in speed shows how technology enables pro sound designers to focus more on creative decisions instead of technical constraints.
Together, Redding’s insights reveal a professional approach grounded in layering, flexibility, and efficiency: key principles that define how professionals work with sound effects today.
Pierre Griscelli brings over 20 years of experience in audio to his work as a sound designer, with credits on titles such as Batman: Arkham Knight, Rainbow Six: Siege, and Returnal. His career reflects how professionals work with sound effects when building large-scale, immersive worlds that support gameplay and narrative. Alongside his production work, he is also studying a PhD in Live Techno Performance at the University of Huddersfield, reinforcing his deep engagement with both technical and creative sound practices.
Griscelli specialises in storytelling and the creation of immersive universes, combining strong artistic vision with precise technical control. For him, sound design is not just about individual effects, but about how systems of sound interact to create believable environments. This focus on immersion is central to how professional sound effects function within complex interactive media.
In our May the 4th Presets blog, he highlights versatility through examples such as the Energies preset, where pitch, intensity, and density controls shape dynamic sound environments. Originally intended to create a warp-speed sound, experimentation led to a result that “sounds as if there are a lot of starships whizzing past you.” As intensity increases, more of these fast-moving elements are introduced, while the density dial allows the soundscape to be heavily scaled up or stripped back.
Griscelli also points out how changing pitch can completely transform the effect, making it resemble bullet fly-bys instead. This flexibility demonstrates how pro sound designers explore and repurpose sound tools to discover new creative outcomes, reinforcing the importance of experimentation in professional sound design workflows.