Introducing The Well

The Well is sound effects librarian software.  It was designed for feature and episodic picture editors and assistant editors to offer a free yet complete tool to find and export temp sound effects, whenever the creative whim strikes.  The idea is to avoid ingesting a large library into the editing system and instead use this external reservoir.  You need a better jail door slam? Go back to The Well.

The Well allows you to 1) search for sounds based on description, 2) mark the ones you want, and 3) export them to a folder:

  1. Search is Google-like.  Type multiple words to perform an "AND" search (descriptions containing all the words are displayed:  "this" and "that").  Or you can lead words with a slash "/" to perform an "OR" search (to find both /this OR /that).  Lead a word with a minus "-" to exclude that -word.  Use quotes to find that whole "word" only (no partial matches), or around a phrase to find "that phrase" (instead of the words that make up that phrase).  Or use any combination of the above techniques.
  2. Play back the sounds you find and place a checkmark next the ones you want to export.  The Well is able to play back many file types, and will search for the correct file type if the wrong one was set:  just hit Play.  The Well figures it out.
  3. Export the sound effects to any folder.  Exported audio files will have names that tell you which personal or commercial library the files came from.  In addition, you can add a custom text label to the beginning of the file names in an exported set.  Licensing information tags can be added to the ends of file names, as well.  These options are on by default and can be disabled by toggling the respective options in the export section.

The Well is unlike most (all?) commercial sound effects librarians in that it does not use or need embedded tags in the audio files to do its work.  This makes it especially appropriate where tags are missing – or unruly.

The Well has been built over the years using FileMaker Pro, with heavy use of custom scripts to make it behave as a proper stand-alone application.  The stand-alone version available below does not require you to have a copy of FileMaker.

The original FileMaker file is also available here for courageous tinkerers.  Now that FileMaker has phased out the feature allowing creation of stand-alone apps like the one downloadable below, this "source" file will also allow The Well to live on into the future (provided you have a copy of FileMaker).

The Well is specialized, a little ugly, and requires some setup before it becomes useful.  But once sound effects have been successfully integrated, it is quick and flexible to search, and it has some unique features aimed at feature & episodic picture editors and their assistants who need to get their temp work done efficiently and under time pressure.

Choose which version to download:


Download the stand-alone application (v0.4.2.0):

The Well (for macOS 10.13-12.6)

  • Self-contained .DMG:  simply drag the application folder to Applications to install
  • Works in macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) through at least 12.6 (Monterey)
  • Works on Apple Silicon M1/M2 (via Rosetta 2)

See release notes.


Important:

The Well stand-alone application and/or FileMaker Pro file are provided as-is and without any guarantee of functionality – use at your own risk.  No support is provided for The Well, other than the documentation on this website and in the application itself.

Notes:

  • For the stand-alone (.app) version of The Well, no additional software should be necessary.  Any required command line utilities and FileMaker plugins are included.  Starting with version 0.3.9.5, The Well uses the open source command line utilities ffplay, ffmpeg, and BWFMetaEdit for media functions like playback, conversion, and tagging.  Starting with version 0.3.9.9, these are included inside the .app package so as not to interfere with other versions you may already have installed.
  • The FileMaker Pro file version of the software requires you to add the BaseElements plugin from Goya Pty Ltd. to your FileMaker Pro installation.  This adds new functions to FileMaker Pro.  Note that certain versions of the BaseElements plugin, starting with v4.1.0, are NOT compatible with The Well due to a change in how the ExecuteSystemCommand function is handled;  use v3.3.8 or lower instead (the version included with The Well is v3.3.8).  When starting The Well for the first time, the command line utilities are installed to a new folder called "Helper Apps" alongside your FileMaker Pro application.  If you allow it, the BaseElements plugin is automatically installed to the default FileMaker plugin location.
Help is available...
There is a Quick Start Guide for The Well, as well as a Help Page. Possibly the best resource is the Help pop-ups within the application itself. PLEASE NOTE:  tech support is not offered. But you can create an account here to ensure that you are informed of any developments concerning The Well.

Why this app and not something else?

Consider the following features:

  • It's free, which means a team can use it without asking the post producer for funds.
  • It has been created by a working motion picture & episodic editor for use alongside Media Composer and other picture editing systems.  It has what we need and is focussed on the task.
  • Audio files can live on a network share (it works well on Avid Unity/ISIS/Nexis, for example).
  • No Internet access is needed, meaning it can be used on secure productions.
  • Folders full of audio files can be imported, organized, and renamed automatically without much prep work.
  • Tracks in The Well are part of a consistent hierarchy, starting with Groups > Folders > Tracks > Indexes (equivalent to collection > CD > track > index).
  • You can optionally import with conversion to .mp3, and optionally import using the files' parent-folder names as Folder names in The Well, to make organizing sound files into your Library that much quicker (starting v0.3.9.5+).
  • You can collect your most-used sound effects in Favorites Lists, which themselves are organized hierarchically by Favorites Group > Favorites Project > Favorites List.  Just create a List and add and subtract sound effects from it with the plus and minus buttons visible in each sound effect record.  Then, call up any Favorites List to display just those sound effects.
  • by default, the file names of exported sound effects reflect the Group/Folder/Track/Index of the sound effect, so your post-production sound team can see what you used to build your temp tracks.
  • An optional prefix can be added to the exported file name to help you stay organized (e.g.:  "swamp fight" or "Sc.3 saloon atmos").
  • A licensing code can be appended at the end of the exported file name indicating whether the sound has yet to be licensed, which allows post-production sound teams to keep or discard your temp work based on what you, or they, own (defaults to "Not Licensed" to protect you).
  • Duplicate detection, based on various criteria, can be used to eliminate redundant sound effect entries.
  • Tab-separated value lists of sound effects can be imported:  you can collect effects or commercial libraries and integrate them into your library easily.
  • Tab-separated value lists of sound effects records can be exported:  share effects that you recorded in an open format with good organization that works like most commercial libraries.
  • You can make backups of the entire Library – or just individual Groups or Folders – including time-stamps to determine the most recent version of any given record (you can keep older records or newer records when restoring from a backup, or allow duplicates if that's your thing);  this allows you to manage a growing set of effects for a full team (e.g.:  use the Restore feature on each workstation and keep newer records).
  • The app supports sound libraries that use indexes; additionally:
    • if you have indexes in your metadata, but your audio file for a certain Track is a mashup of all of the Track's Indexes, The Well will simply play the one audio file (i.e.:  the app has failover from Indexes greater than 1 back to Index 1 for playback)
    • if you have no indexes in your metadata, but your sound files on disk are split into several Indexes per Track, there is a Find Missing Indexes function to bring those missing audio files into the database as new records (the audio files only have to be in the proper folder and correctly named in order to be detected)
  • Durations and formats are automatically detected when a sound is played (with fail-over from, say, .mp3 when the file on disk is really .WAV).
  • The app never deletes or renames audio files; it can only add, not take away (helpful in networked environments!).
  • External applications can be triggered to edit a sound effect, etc. (by default The Well can open an audio file in Quicktime Player and iTunes); Ocen Audio and Audacity are among several free audio editing applications that can be very handy.
  • Quickly switch from search mode to a special maintenance mode to fix descriptions and other issues in your Library, then switch back without losing your place.
  • ...and a few more things I'm forgetting about but managed to put in the app!

But also consider the following disadvantages:

  • As a working editor, I don't supply tech support:  you are on your own.
  • The app may be free, but your time isn't free:  it's another environment to learn.
  • The app requires careful batch-renaming of your commercial libraries' sound effects files, using a third-party utility that is probably not free.  See A Better Finder Rename for one example.
  • Changes in future versions of macOS may break something fundamental, such as installation or sound playback, rendering the stand-alone version of the app clunky or even useless (so be sure to export or back up your Library in case you need to migrate to another platform in the future!).  That said, I have managed to maintain it through Catalina's introduction of notarization.
  • FileMaker will be removing the ability to create stand-alone applications in an upcoming version, meaning there is a finite life span to The Well as a free macOS application.  It will likely live on as a FileMaker file, but that will only be useful to those of us who have access to FileMaker on our projects.
  • There are no visual audio waveforms, and I don't intend to add that feature (in practice and from a creative standpoint, I've found that visual waveforms aren't necessary when searching for temp sounds in picture editorial).

How do I get started?

If you decide to try The Well, be sure to read any instructions, both on this site and in the app itself.

Starting with v0.4.0.0, the best way to learn The Well is via its Help pop-ups, available in each view.

Alternatively, the beginnings of a Help page are here.

Also take the time to explore the free sound effects and associated metadata files on The Well's Resources page.

IMPORTANT:  there is no tech support of any kind, and normally I won't have time to communicate with you about The Well, although any feedback or feature requests are welcome. Bug reports are especially useful, but please don't expect a fix, especially on any timetable useful to you personally.

Consider creating an account to keep up with any developments about The Well, in case a new release addresses your concerns.

Remember: you are allowed to freely copy, give away, and modify The Well.  The scripts contained within the FileMaker Pro file are authored by me and are published under a Creative Commons license (CC-BY-SA), meaning you are free to share the application as much as you like, provided you give credit to me for the portions I authored and share the resulting derivative works in the same way. The BaseElements plugin and helper apps / command line utilities are each licensed under their own terms, but generally appear to be free to use.  Credits appear in the app's About screen.

Why no support?

I am not a software developer.  While I think The Well is useful and want to share it with the community, I'm not willing to support it technically for the public.  If this feels uncomfortable in your situation, there are many commercially available apps that do much the same, do it faster and maybe better, and with tech support.  Now you have options!

Some suggested alternatives, in alphabetical order (I have not used these – at least not yet):

Soundly looks particularly interesting and comes as a free download.

Why re-invent the wheel?

Good question.

I developed my first sound library database purely for my own use in 2001, at that time using Microsoft Access.  When I went Mac-only a few years later, I ported it to FileMaker.  Meanwhile, industry providers were charging $1,000 for similar software that had more functions than I would ever need.  So I kept refining the sailboat I had rather than investing in an aircraft carrier.

When my career shifted from assistant editing to editing, I wanted my assistants to be able to use my library, but it was wonky, geeky, and a little unwieldy (OK, maybe it still is?).  So I decided once and for all to "harden" the app for more general use by non-FileMaker users.  While I admit it may have been a crazy thing to do in a world in which there are now very reasonably-priced alternatives, hopefully the effort will benefit the wider community.  Maybe.  Somehow.

Use it in good health!