Audio
AI Sound Effects Generator
Skip the SFX library hunt and the licensing fine print. Martini generates sound effects with ElevenLabs SFX directly inside the same canvas where your video and voiceover live. Match a scene, match a moment, layer the cue into the cut — no folder of unlabeled WAVs, no separate audio tool, no rebuild back in your NLE.
What this feature solves
Sound design is half the perceived quality of video work and most teams treat it as an afterthought. The standard workflow — search a stock SFX library, audition fifty samples, license the right one, download, drag into your timeline, hope it fits the cut — burns hours per project and still produces generic results that other people's videos use too. For brand work, the lack of differentiation matters; for product video, the lack of customization matters; for narrative work, the lack of intentional sound design matters most of all.
Stock SFX libraries also lock you into pre-recorded specifics. The cymbal crash you need is two seconds long, the impact you need is 90% of the way to the right one but the tail is too long, the ambient bed you need does not exist for the specific environment. AI-generated SFX (ElevenLabs SFX, Mirelo) lets you describe the sound you want and produces a custom take — the right length, the right tone, the right tail. The capability is real; the workflow is fragmented across yet another tab and another tool.
Then there is the integration problem. SFX needs to live inside the cut, frame-aligned to the moment. Generating SFX in one tool, downloading it, re-importing into your NLE, and re-aligning to the picture is the same multi-tool relay race that makes voiceover and music workflows painful. SFX in particular suffers because timing is everything — drift by a frame and the cue feels wrong even when the sound is right.
Why Martini is different
Martini generates SFX as audio nodes on the same canvas as your video and voiceover. Wire a scene description into an ElevenLabs SFX node and the generated cue lands as an audio asset with output ports that connect directly into the sequence builder. The cue is frame-aligned in the timeline because it is part of the timeline — no re-import, no manual alignment, no separate audio tool. Sound design becomes part of the video workflow rather than a downstream chore.
Multi-take fanout is the unlock for scene matching. Need five candidate SFX for one impact moment? Duplicate the SFX node with five prompt variants and run them in parallel. Audition every take inside the canvas, drop the winner into the cut, and the rejected versions stay on the canvas as fallback options. Stock library audition becomes prompt-based audition, and the right cue is one prompt away rather than fifty searches deep.
Sequence integration finishes the workflow where standalone SFX tools dead-end. Layer ambient beds, impact cues, and foley directly onto the timeline alongside dialogue and music. NLE export bundles the SFX with the rest of the audio track at standard sample rates and bit depths, dropping into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, or Final Cut Pro ready for the final mix. The sound design lives inside the cut, not in a folder of orphan files.
Common use cases
Match a scene with custom ambient beds
Generate scene-specific ambient sound (rooftop wind, busy cafe, forest at dusk) tailored to the exact moment in your cut, not a generic stock approximation.
Layer impact and foley for action moments
Generate impact, whoosh, and foley cues custom-fit to the on-screen action — the right length, the right intensity, frame-aligned in the sequence.
SFX for product videos and demos
Add UI sounds, mechanical cues, and product foley that sound designed for your specific product, not pulled from a generic interface library.
Fill missing audio in talking-head or avatar video
Generate ambient room tone, breath, and movement foley for AI talking-head video that lacks natural production sound.
Sound design for branded film and editorial work
Build full sound design — ambient beds, impacts, foley — for branded films and editorial pieces without booking a sound designer per project.
A/B test SFX cues for emotional read
Generate three candidate SFX for the same beat and pick the one that delivers the emotional moment — without searching a library for hours.
Recommended model stack
elevenlabs
audioIndustry-leading SFX generation alongside best-in-class voice synthesis on the same provider.
fish-audio-s2
audioAudio model for additional sound and voice variety alongside SFX generation.
kling-3
videoGenerate the video the SFX layers into, all on the same canvas.
seedance-2
videoReference-locked video generations that pair with custom SFX for product and brand work.
How the workflow works in Martini
- 1
1. Identify the SFX moment in your cut
Open the sequence builder and find the timestamp where the cue belongs — impact, ambient bed, foley moment. Note the duration the cue needs to fit.
- 2
2. Add an SFX audio node
Drop an ElevenLabs SFX node onto the canvas. Write a descriptive prompt — "soft rooftop wind with distant city ambience, 6 seconds" — that captures the sound, the scene, and the duration.
- 3
3. Generate and audition takes
Run the node and listen to the generated cue. If it does not match the moment, adjust the prompt and re-run, or duplicate the node with variations to audition multiple takes in parallel.
- 4
4. Wire the SFX into the sequence
Connect the SFX output into the sequence builder track for sound effects. Align it to the picture cue — most SFX nodes auto-align to the timestamp of the connected video clip.
- 5
5. Layer multiple SFX for sound design depth
Add ambient beds, impact cues, and foley as separate SFX nodes. Layer them on different sequence tracks for a full sound design pass rather than a single cue.
- 6
6. Export through NLE export
Push the timeline into Premiere, DaVinci, or Final Cut. SFX tracks arrive aligned to the picture at standard sample rates — your editor handles final mix.
Example workflow
A creative agency is finishing a 30-second product launch spot for a new electric vehicle and needs custom sound design — the spot has eight cuts, each with its own SFX needs. They build the sound design layer on the same canvas as the video. For the opening hero shot of the car door closing, an ElevenLabs SFX node generates a clean luxury-thunk door close at the exact 1.2-second duration. For the driving sequence, two layered SFX nodes produce ambient road tone and a subtle electric motor hum. For the cabin shot, a UI cue for the touchscreen and a soft seat foley. For the closing logo, a custom whoosh-into-quiet ambient. Each cue is generated, auditioned, and wired into the sequence on the same canvas. NLE export drops the timeline into DaVinci Resolve with picture and sound design intact. The mixing engineer adjusts levels rather than building cues — half a day saved per spot.
Tips and common mistakes
Tips
- Be specific in the prompt. "Door closing" produces generic results; "luxury car door closing softly with damped resonance, 1.5 seconds" produces useful cues.
- Generate cues to match the picture duration. Asking for the right length up front is faster than trimming a too-long cue in your NLE.
- Layer multiple cues for sound design depth. One ambient bed plus one impact plus one foley reads as designed sound, not just an effect.
- Use SFX to fill missing production sound on AI-generated video. Avatar and AI video lack natural breath, footsteps, and room tone — generate them.
- Save the SFX generation prompts as part of the canvas template. The same product spot ships repeatable sound design across SKU variants.
Common mistakes
- Writing vague SFX prompts ("scary sound", "cool whoosh") and expecting useful cues. Specificity wins.
- Generating SFX without checking duration against the picture. Re-running for the right length is faster than trimming after.
- Using one SFX cue per moment when sound design wants layered cues. Ambient + impact + foley reads as professional, single cue reads as amateur.
- Skipping the layered sequence build and exporting individual SFX as standalone files. Use the sequence + NLE export chain so audio arrives aligned.
- Forgetting to balance SFX levels against dialogue and music. Generated cues default to a flat level — your mixing engineer needs the cues, not pre-mixed audio.
Related how-to guides
Related features
AI Voiceover Generator — Narration That Plugs Into Video Workflows
Generate narration and connect it to video workflows on Martini using ElevenLabs, Minimax Speech, and other audio models.
AI Lip Sync — Sync Voice and Dialogue to Portraits and Video
Sync voiceovers, dialogue, and music to portraits and video on Martini using lip-sync models.
AI Music Generator — Background Music for AI Video
Generate background music and soundtracks for AI video projects on Martini.
AI Video Workflow — Node-Based Production From Concept to Final Sequence
Build node-based AI video production pipelines on Martini's canvas — from concept and storyboard to final NLE-ready sequence.
AI Voice Cloning — Clone or Design Voices for Production
Clone a voice from 30 seconds of reference audio on Martini's canvas — ElevenLabs, Fish Audio, chained directly into video, lip-sync, and sequence.
Related docs
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Which AI model handles sound effect generation best?
ElevenLabs SFX is the current best-in-class for AI sound effect generation — strong specificity from text prompts, custom durations, and quality consistent enough to ship in branded work. The same provider handles voice synthesis on the canvas, so SFX and voiceover use one upstream account.
What kinds of sound effects can I generate?
Most sound categories — impacts, ambient beds, foley (footsteps, fabric, movement), UI cues, mechanical sounds, weather, environmental textures, weapon sounds, vehicle sounds. The model performs best on prompts that describe the sound and the context — "metal chair scraping on concrete floor" beats "scrape sound."
How long can a generated SFX cue be?
ElevenLabs SFX generates cues from sub-second impacts up to roughly 22 seconds in a single generation. For longer ambient beds, generate in segments and chain through the sequence builder. For shorter cues, ask for the exact duration in the prompt.
What audio formats does the export support?
NLE export bundles SFX as standard WAV tracks at industry sample rates (44.1kHz, 48kHz) and bit depths (16-bit, 24-bit) that drop into Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro alongside dialogue and music tracks. No format conversion required.
Can I commercial-license generated SFX?
Yes — ElevenLabs SFX commercial-use terms apply per the upstream provider. For branded and commercial work, generated SFX clears the use case in most jurisdictions; for distribution to large platforms, confirm the commercial license tier matches your project scope.
How does this compare to a stock SFX library?
Stock libraries give you pre-recorded specifics — fast for common needs, slow when the cue does not exist or needs customization. AI SFX gives you custom-fit cues at any length with any tonal direction, but takes generation time per cue. For high-volume sound design work, AI SFX shifts the workflow from search-and-audition to prompt-and-iterate, which compounds faster across projects.
Build it on the canvas
Open Martini and wire this workflow up in minutes. Free to start — no card required.