Choosing music for my drone footage

[RonanCork]

Hey guys,

So I've a question about how to choose and when to apply the right music for your footage. I know that it depends on the mood, atmosphere etc and that

My process is:
1 - shoot drone footage
2 - edit footage to trim clips, add speed tramps, order clips a certain way etc
3 - do my color grading or apply LUT
4 - add the music

I want the beats of the music to time properly with the transitions but by the time I get to #4 it feels too late if you know what I mean

Do you guys choose the music first?

Thanks Ro

 

[hansinla]

If you want the music to be a driving factor in any edit, you'll have to start cutting to music. It's okay to do a selects reel first, but then lay in uric and cut to the beat.

 

[Dakarenduro]

For me, and I'm no expert!, it is a combination.

I trim down my clips but still leave a bit before/after the good stuff. Then I find a suitable music track and edit them down to it. I'm not great at it you can also add in cymbals, bells, etc to the track to create a matching sound for a transition.

Some samples of me doing it that way. One drone footage and one helmet footage.

Race footage (helmet)

Utah (drone)

 

[RonanCork]

Nice one guys. Thanks for the feedback.
Ro.

 

[johnmeyer]

I've done several hundred music videos that consist of video, still photos which I animate ("Ken Burns" effect) and music.

I have about seventy music clips that I've used more than once. You want music that is evocative. That word means that the music will bring strong emotions or memories to mind.

Of course you can use any music that fits your tastes and which goes with the video, but as you are researching choices, I highly recommend that you look at music which has been used in movies, or which is the actual score from a movie. These scores have been written to elicit emotion and feelings, and usually work well with videos of your own creation.

Here are some of my music videos:

Music Videos

 

[HueJorgan]

I use music from epidemic sound, great value and royalty free

When I edit I start the edit with a couple or three clips and then choose a Bit of music I like then edit to the music like you ask.

Epidemic has a very good search function for music type and genre

 

[Irvine]

Hi all where can I get free music downloads all us there an app I can use to animate still photos. Thanks Irvine

 

[pmshop]

I put music to the videos on how I feel most of the time.
Sometimes it is planned.

Here is the kicker...use stuff you can lift from YouTube.
They have gotten lenient over the years and allow copyrighted music to be used in creator's videos.
Only thing is you cannot monetize the video.
The copyright owner receives the monies.
This is unless there is a copyright dispute between the owner, recording studio or other parties.
Then you just get a warning that it cannot be viewed in 248 countries -no strikes.
That is when I delete and rework the music selection.

In 4.5 years since I started producing drone videos, I have only had 6 248 country block and zero strikes.
Feel free to check my catalog in my signature.

 

[Dakarenduro]

Since i have a monetized youtube channel i cant or wont do the copyrighted songs.

I use 'artlist.io' for royalty free music. Excellent service but maybe more of a product for professional/commercial projects. Cost is about $130/year which gives you unlimited downloads from their catalog. Copyright/usage permission is for eternity whether you are still a current member or not. They also provide stock video footage for projects as well, sister website and similar pricing plans. Again, more for a commercial operation.

NCS music is a good source for royalty free stuff.

 

[Mav.phant.inspire]

I use music from epidemic sound, great value and royalty free

When I edit I start the edit with a couple or three clips and then choose a Bit of music I like then edit to the music like you ask.

Epidemic has a very good search function for music type and genre

Thanks for suggestion. I’ve been looking! I’ll try epidemic.

 

[Thomas B]

I’ll be honest... on this forum I always mute video playback.
Music or narrative soundtrack may well be useful for other uses of your videos.

 

[LenSavage]

I’ll be honest... on this forum I always mute video playback.
Music or narrative soundtrack may well be useful for other uses of your videos.

I will NEVER understand how someone could arbitrarily MUTE the audio - especially when the thread is about matching music to video.
Welcome to the 21st century. Silent films are dead.
If the 'Moderator' doesn't think audio is important, maybe its time for me to bail on MavicPilots.

 

[LenSavage]

I agree with those above; select and cut to the 'sweet-spot' on each clip, lay in the music track, then cut the clips to the beat and finally, edit each end of the music to cover intro & outro.
Example:

Speakers ON - obviously.

 

[SINDORF]

I agree for the most part of this thread. My process is once you have the selects....I then choose the music. I hope at this point I understand the "vibe" and story I am trying to tell and choose my track accordingly.

In After Effects I make markers on the timeline to make sure to edit to those major "hits" in the music track I have selected. It is way too time consuming to try to edit to every beat and some shots deserve longer time on screen...this is an organic process.

The last process is color correction. I generally apply an overall LUT or give a specific overall color grading, and then go to each shot and adjust as needed.

As a commercial artist I have to be totally above board for music rights and in no way be flagged in any way for copyright violations. I typically use:

Royalty Free Music & Audio from AudioJungle

A major advantage of this is you can transfer the rights of the music to your client.

 

[MavicManic]

Hey guys,

So I've a question about how to choose and when to apply the right music for your footage. I know that it depends on the mood, atmosphere etc and that

My process is:
1 - shoot drone footage
2 - edit footage to trim clips, add speed tramps, order clips a certain way etc
3 - do my color grading or apply LUT
4 - add the music

I want the beats of the music to time properly with the transitions but by the time I get to #4 it feels too late if you know what I mean

Do you guys choose the music first?

Thanks Ro

I have been using the free MS Photos App native to my Dell laptop. CLICK on a video file and choose “photos” as the app with which to view the clip. At the top of the playback screen CLICK on “edit.” from the menu, CLICK on EDIT WITH MUSIC AND TEXT. When the timeline opens you may click “+” to add clips. Once in the timeline, you may trip clips, superimpose titles and rearrange them. Once done, add free music and choose “edit to the beat.”

The app does a nice job of automatically syncing the cuts to the beat! Then click “finishl” and choose low, medium or high file size. I use high. The only downside is that there are no fades, dissolves, etc. and the project cannot be saved midway. COMPLETE IT AND CLICK FINISH or you will loose partially edited work! Best of all, its stable, handles 4K video on a midrange PC without stuttering and it’s FREE!