Fairlight · Sound Library · Foley
Sound Library and Foley in Fairlight
Search external sound libraries from inside Fairlight, audition effects directly against picture, sync the right transient to the playhead and build Foley with library sounds, recording or the Studio-only Foley Sampler. This page follows the workflow Blackmagic currently documents.
Find, audition and place sound without leaving Fairlight
Blackmagic documents auditioning directly on the timeline, confirming the sound you want to keep, cancelling unwanted auditions, and syncing a chosen point in the SFX waveform to the playhead.
1. Sound Library
Browse and audition effects without leaving the audio page
Blackmagic's current Fairlight page describes direct access to external sound libraries from the Sound Library panel. Open the Sound Library from the upper-left area, search for an effect and mark the section you want to use.
The important part is auditioning in context: the Audition control lets you try the sound against your timeline. Keep testing alternatives until the effect works with picture, then Confirm to keep the auditioned clip or Cancel to remove it and try another.
Search by intent
Search for the event the viewer should hear — a step, impact, cloth movement, door, room tone — rather than browsing files at random.
Audition
Try the candidate against picture before committing it to the edit. Timing and context matter as much as the filename.
Confirm
Keep the auditioned sound once it works in the scene.
Cancel
Remove the audition and continue searching without leaving the workflow.
2. Sync
Match the important point inside the waveform to picture
Blackmagic documents a Sync button in the Sound Library workflow. It lets you align any chosen part of the sound-effect waveform to the current playhead position in the timeline.
This is particularly useful when the useful moment is not at the start of the source file: a door slam after a handle movement, the heel contact inside a longer footstep recording, or the impact inside a layered effect.
Sync Scrollers deep guide →Line up the exact transient you care about
Use the Sync button when a specific hit, footstep or other moment inside a longer effect needs to land on the current playhead position.
3. Foley
Build interaction sounds with the method that fits the scene
Blackmagic uses footsteps, clothing rustle and object handling as examples of Foley that make the soundtrack feel connected to the characters' physical world. Fairlight currently documents three routes: edit sounds from the Fairlight Sound Library, record original material directly to a track using ADR-style cues, or use Foley Sampler in DaVinci Resolve Studio.
Foley Sampler is explicitly a Studio feature. Blackmagic describes assigning sounds to a keyboard or drum pads and performing them in realtime while watching the video. The normal Sound Library and recording workflows do not require you to build the scene this way.
Foley Sampler deep guide →Fairlight gives you three practical ways to build Foley
Edit ready-made Foley directly to the timeline
Record original Foley or replacement performance to a track
Assign sounds to keys or pads and perform them in realtime
4. Scene building
Treat Foley as a layer of actions, not a pile of effects
The Blackmagic documentation tells you how to access, audition, sync and record the material. The editorial layer is your job: decide which physical events the scene needs, then place only the sounds that improve clarity, weight or realism.
A useful practical grouping is footsteps, cloth/body movement, props and environment. It keeps the timeline readable and makes later balance, EQ, routing and automation much easier.
Think in scene events, not in random sound files
The editorial principle here is practical rather than a Blackmagic UI claim: build the scene from intentional events — footsteps, cloth, props and movement — then time each event against picture.
5. Practical checklist
Before a sound effect earns a place in the mix
Picture first
Does the sound describe a visible or intentionally implied event?
Sync the useful moment
Align the actual transient or movement, not simply the beginning of the file.
Audition in context
Judge the effect with dialogue, music and picture playing together.
Keep the library organized
Use clear categories and naming so searching stays faster as the collection grows.
Continue the workflow
Record your own material or make space for it in the mix
Recording & ADR covers original capture and Track Layers; Automatic Ducking explains the current Ducker Track FX for lowering music when dialogue appears.
Current Fairlight documentation is the source for external Sound Library access, Search/Audition/Confirm/Cancel, waveform-to-playhead Sync, Fairlight Sound Library Foley, ADR-based recording and the Studio-only Foley Sampler. The Resolve 20 Fairlight training guide is used only as supplementary learning material, while version-sensitive interface facts are checked against the current Fairlight page and Resolve 21 documentation.