# Sound on the peak, not the start

Edit / Sound / Hook and effects. Checked 2026-11-13.

Picture and sound feel like one event.

- Use when: Every effect placed on a movement or a cut.
- Phrase: the impact lands on the exact frame where the logo stops moving
- Page: https://directorchair.ai/sound/sfx-on-the-peak
- JSON: https://directorchair.ai/api/sound/sfx-on-the-peak.json

## Watch out

- Place the sound so its loudest moment falls on the frame where the motion peaks or the cut happens: a riser ends on its hit, an impact starts on it. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)
- A whoosh into an impact on a hard cut reads as one hit. Five cues on one frame do not. (practitioner; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)
- Measured in our renderer on 26 Oct 2026: with the newer audio tag an MP3 cue starts 25 milliseconds late where a WAV cue is exact. (measured; Director Chair field notes on motion graphics)

## Prompts

### Any chat model

```
Give me a sound brief: what to record or pick, where it sits on the timeline, the levels, and what to check before export, for a short video about [your product], for [your audience]. The technique is sound on the peak, not the start: picture and sound feel like one event. How it works: the impact lands on the exact frame where the logo stops moving. It is right for: every effect placed on a movement or a cut. Place the sound so its loudest moment falls on the frame where the motion peaks or the cut happens: a riser ends on its hit, an impact starts on it. A whoosh into an impact on a hard cut reads as one hit. Be concrete: numbers, seconds and settings, no theory. Ask me one question first if something you need is missing.
```

## Goes well with

- Which sound for which event: https://directorchair.ai/sound/sfx-vocabulary
- Zoom through: https://directorchair.ai/transition/zoom-through
- Cut on the beat: https://directorchair.ai/sound/cut-on-the-beat

## Source

Own words from Director Chair field notes on motion graphics

Text CC BY 4.0, Director Chair (directorchair.ai). Reference clips and their card texts belong to their makers.