Does Valmera generate sound effects with AI?

No. Valmera does not synthesize audio. Its AI finds real recorded effects, compares candidates by their waveforms and places the best one in your video. Valmera removed generation because generated one-shots tended to sound uncanny under real footage.

Where do the sound effects come from?

From Freesound's library of recorded effects, searched through Openverse, or from files you upload. You can also use the sound from a video clip you send.

Are the sound effects free to use?

Each sound carries its own license, and the agent tells you the terms of every sound it places. Public-domain sounds have no conditions, credit-required sounds need the creator credited, and non-commercial sounds are not for monetized or business content. Sounds that forbid adaptation are excluded from results.

How does the AI choose between similar sounds?

It measures them. The agent downloads the strongest candidates and compares attack, peak position, tail, crest, spectral balance, bass and event count against the purpose of the moment: a click should be short and sharp, a riser should peak late, an impact should hit fast with weight underneath.

When should I use an AI sound generator instead?

When the sound doesn't exist as a recording: a creature, a spell, a designed sci-fi texture, or many unique variations of one sound. Generate it in a dedicated tool, upload the file to Valmera, and the agent places and levels it on the moment you name.

Can I upload sounds I made or generated elsewhere?

Yes. Upload MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC or OGG files up to 50 MB and say where each one goes. Creating an account and uploading are free. Editing requires a subscription.

Does Valmera generate music too?

No. There is no AI music generation and no mood or genre music library. Upload your own track or name a specific song for the agent to find; licensing the song is up to you. The agent then fits it to the edit and ducks it smoothly under speech.

AI Sound Effects Generator vs Real Recordings

Valmera does not generate sound effects. It uses AI to find, audition and place real recorded ones: you name a sound, and the agent searches Freesound’s library of recordings, compares the candidates by their actual waveforms and puts the best match on the exact frame of your video. We chose recordings over synthesis because generated one-shots tended to sound uncanny under real footage.

If the sound you need doesn’t exist as a recording, a generator is the right tool: make it there, upload the file, and Valmera places it. To add effects across a whole edit, see add sound effects to video automatically.

Real Sounds, Picked and Placed by AI

Name a sound and a moment, then review the preview. Creating an account and uploading are free. Editing requires a subscription.

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How to Find and Place a Real Sound Effect with AI

1
Upload your video
MP4, MOV, M4V, MKV or WebM, up to 14 GB and 3 hours. Valmera indexes the transcript, shot changes and frames, so “the moment the photo appears” is a moment the agent can find.
2
Describe the sound by what makes it
Name the physical sound and where it goes: “a camera shutter on the photo reveal,” “a short whoosh on the cut at 0:14.” Physical names find better recordings than mood words.
3
Let the agent search and audition
It searches real recordings, downloads the strongest candidates, compares their waveforms against the purpose and places the best match at −6 dB, or keeps the moment dry if every option weakens it. It tells you the sound’s source and license.
4
Listen and adjust
Watch the preview, then ask: “try a drier one,” “quieter,” “move it earlier.” Export a full-quality MP4 when it sounds right.

PROMPTS TO PASTE

Find a real camera shutter sound and put it on the frame where the photo appears.

Audition a few whooshes for the cut at 0:14 and use the one with the cleanest start.

Add a 20-second rain ambience under the opening shot. Public domain only.

I made a sci-fi UI beep in another tool and uploaded it as beep.wav. Put it on each button press.

Why Valmera Uses Real Recordings Instead of Generating Audio

Valmera used to generate one-shots. We removed the feature because generated hits tended to sound uncanny under real camera footage. A recorded effect carries real acoustics and a real transient, so it sits naturally beside sound your camera captured. The AI now works on the harder part of sound design: choosing the right recording and putting it on the right frame.

How the Sound Search Works

The agent searches Openverse, which fronts Freesound’s library of recorded effects. It queries by the sound’s physical name (“whoosh,” “camera shutter,” “keyboard click,” “pop,” “riser”) because recordings are labeled by what they are, not by mood. Results are capped at 15 seconds by default, since a one-shot lasts seconds; ambience searches can go up to 60 seconds. Every result carries its license, and the agent repeats the terms of any sound it uses:

License label	What it means for your video
Public domain	No conditions. Use it anywhere.
Credit required	Credit the creator the way the license line asks, usually in your caption or description.
Non-commercial only	Fine for a personal video. Not for monetized or business content: ask for another sound, or upload one you have licensed.
No derivatives	Never offered. Syncing a sound to picture counts as adapting it.

How the AI Auditions Candidates

A title says what a recording claims to be; the waveform shows how it behaves. Before choosing, Valmera downloads the strongest candidates and measures each one: attack, where the peak sits, the tail, crest (how sharp the transient is), spectral balance, bass energy, and whether the file holds one clean event or several. It scores those measurements against the purpose of the moment:

You ask for	The audition favors
Click, tap, shutter, pop	A short sound of about half a second with a fast attack and a sharp transient
Impact, hit, boom	A fast attack, roughly a second long, with strong bass energy
Riser, swell	A build of a few seconds that peaks late, so it resolves on the moment
Whoosh, swish	A sweep of about a second with its peak mid-sound and its energy in the mids and highs
Any sound	A clean start with no dead air at the front, and one event rather than several

On the one-call path, a listening pass over the top three candidates can also decide that the moment is stronger with no sound at all.

When a True AI Generator Is the Better Tool

The sound doesn’t exist as a recording: a creature, a spell, an impossible machine.
You want a designed sci-fi or interface texture built to a brief.
You need many unique variations of one sound, for example for a game.
You need a sound at an exact length or pitch to fit a beat.

Generate it there, upload the file to Valmera (MP3, WAV, M4A, AAC or OGG, up to 50 MB) and ask for it on the moment. The agent places and levels it like any other effect.

Limits of a Recording-Based Approach

Valmera doesn’t synthesize or process sounds: there is no text-to-audio, and no per-effect EQ, reverb or pitch. It finds, auditions and places recordings and your uploads. License labels come from the source; Valmera relays them but doesn’t grant rights, so check the terms before commercial use. It doesn’t generate music either, and there is no audio denoise.

From One Sound to a Full Edit

To add effects across a whole video (whooshes on scene changes, pops on titles, clicks on a product demo), see add sound effects to video automatically. For music, Valmera works with the track you bring and ducks it under speech: add music to video. Levels and defaults for every audio layer are in the audio and music docs.

Using Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor? The same search_sfx, audition_sfx_candidates, fetch_sfx and add_sfx tools are available through Valmera’s MCP server.

Creating an account and uploading are free. Editing requires a subscription — see plans.