How to Sound Design a Commercial Like a Professional Editor

How do you sound design a commercial from scratch?

Start with the story perspective—exterior sounds for outdoor shots, interior sounds for inside scenes. Layer multiple ambiences to create depth, then add specific effects that emphasize the emotion or action you want the audience to feel.

• Build ambience layers first (engine sounds, wind, environment)
• Add character-specific sounds that support the story
• Include diegetic music that characters can hear
• Save non-diegetic music for transitions and end cards

When I was starting out as an editor, I remember always wishing that I could just sit behind a professional editor and look over their shoulder all day while they were working on a real project. Today I'll show you exactly how I built the sound design for a recent commercial, track by track.

This spot presented unique challenges that made sound design critical to the storytelling. The main character was 3D animated, so it relied heavily on sound to bring him to life. Plus it was shot on a virtual production stage—the truck sat in a studio with a 70-foot LED wall playing the moving background behind it.

Because of those two things, when I brought the project into my editing software, I literally had no sound to start.

Start with story perspective

The opening exterior shot needed sounds that matched that exterior perspective. I started with a bus driver engine idle turning off sound. Then I layered an electric car driving fast with stopping wheels—the name of this sound file—which adds some airiness to the mix.

Next came an old Beetle car sound, which gets into the discomfort of this old truck. To support that exterior perspective, I added wind howling.

The last sound on this opening shot was really important to the story. We needed something that said "car breaking down," and I found a gas release sound that did the job perfectly.

Layer ambiences to create depth

When the scene shifts to the truck's interior, all the sounds need an interior perspective. I started with an old car driving down the road—I really love that sound because it feels like an old, rough-riding truck, which is exactly what we're going for.

To add comedy, I used a sound called "driving with windows open interior perspective." It really makes you feel like you're in a rough-riding truck.

Then I layered a Dodge military truck driving fast for some acceleration sounds. On top of that, I added "driving interior perspective air conditioning engine rattling sound" as another layer.

I do expect a lot of these to make it into the final sound mix, but sometimes I'm giving the re-recording mixer different options so they can pick and choose what works best. They might not use all five sounds, but they might use a few of them.

Add specific sounds that emphasize emotion

Beyond those ambiences, I wanted sounds that really emphasized the discomfort of this old truck. I used wooden bed creaking during her close-up—you can really hear the sound of her weight shifting. Then I added a rusty metal hinge squeak for subtle texture.

My favorite part had some really cool sound design opportunities. When the animated character hits the paper bill, I brought in three tracks of paper sounds to bring that moment to life.

For the impact of him hitting the windshield, I needed a big whoosh of wind to motivate him flying up against the glass. I used an extreme climate thunderstorm ambience, plus an airy whoosh that really gave the impression of air swooping in.

Build the window roll-down sequence

The window rolling down required multiple layered sounds. I started with "out the window car manual window opening"—that one had a nice thunk to it. Then I added "car window opening and closing manually" because you can hear the whole motion. I included some squeaking for texture, plus another thunk sound.

When you layer all those together, you get a much more convincing and detailed window roll-down than any single sound could provide.

Use diegetic and non-diegetic music strategically

For the final shot, I added more paper sounds using a poster sheet rolling handling sound effect, plus repeated some ambiences from earlier shots.

We wanted music coming from the truck stereo—this is diegetic music, meaning it exists inside the world of the film and the characters can hear it. During the end card, we switched to non-diegetic music that only the audience hears.

The final mix came together beautifully thanks to re-recording mixer David Buey at Pony Sound in Austin, Texas, who made everything sound fantastic.

Building commercial sound design is about creating layers that support the story's emotional beats. Start with ambiences that match your visual perspective, add specific sounds that emphasize key moments, and don't be afraid to give your mixer options to choose from.

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