The longest part of editing is sometimes the part nobody notices.

There are days when I spend more time looking for one sound effect than actually placing it on the timeline.

You know the kind I'm talking about. You can already hear it in your head, you know exactly where it should come in, but you don't know its actual name. So you begin searching through folders, opening file after file, hoping one of them is the sound you imagined.

Then you finally find it, drag it into the timeline and realize it still doesn't feel right.

That's when the real work begins.

A single sound effect rarely carries a scene. What makes a moment believable is how different sounds work together. A soft whoosh can make a transition feel smoother. A low impact underneath a product reveal can give it weight. Sometimes removing a sound creates more emotion than adding another one.

The audience may never notice these decisions consciously, but they feel them. That's why two videos with the same visuals can leave completely different impressions.

Working on different projects over the years has made me realize that the biggest challenge isn't finding more sound effects. It's finding the right one quickly, understanding what it's meant for, and knowing how to combine it with others without making the edit feel artificial.

I've been thinking a lot about this lately.

I'd love to hear from other video editors.

What's the one thing you find most frustrating about working with sound effects?

Meeting me for the first time?

I'm Paschalis Onwujulu, a Visual Strategist and Video Editor helping brands and startups communicate with clarity through video.

#VideoEditing #SoundDesign #VideoEditor #CapCut #PremierePro #DaVinciResolve #PostProduction #ContentCreator #VisualStorytelling