Students can import video, write music, and flex their sound design skills to tell a story. It's one more way for students to show what they know, and for teachers to see (and hear) their progress.
Free for 30 days. No card required. On a plan? It's there today!
The feature
Students can choose from one of our built-in clips or bring their own straight into their session to score their story.
One of our built-in clips, or their own footage — File, Import, Import video.
Loops, instruments, or their own playing, all locked to the picture's timeline.
Comments land on the bar they're about, so the feedback is specific enough to act on.
A finished video file, ready to hand in, share, or put in a portfolio.
Screen-ready loops
We've hand-picked our favorites for video scoring below. Listen for inspiration or open one straight into the studio to start scoring.
Lesson plans
Book trailers in ELA. Documentary clips in history. Explainers in science. PSAs in media arts. Video scoring is for any teacher who wants students to make something instead of writing about it.
Not sure where to start? Six lessons are already written.
Start here
One class period, no production required. The quickest way to see how your students respond before you give a whole unit to it.
01 · Descriptions
Learn the words for sound and mood, then use them to paint a feeling.
Ditch "happy" and "sad." Pick up the vocabulary pros use, then hunt the sound library and build a Mood Palette, treating sound like color the way filmmakers use orange and teal.
2 class periods
Open the lesson02 · Sound design
Take a single everyday sound and turn it into four things it's not.
Record one everyday sound and use effects to transform it into four brand-new ones. It's the exact trick behind the lightsaber and Chewbacca.
2–3 class periods
Open the lesson03 · Storytelling
Prove that sound controls emotion with the same video, twice.
Learn the creator toolkit of ambience, whooshes, risers, and stingers, then sound-design one clip two completely different ways. Same footage, opposite feelings.
Up to 4 class periods
Open the lesson04 · Listening
Learn to hear what the composer wants you to feel.
Two famous cues, one class period, no production required. Students pull apart instrumentation, repeating melody, and dynamics, then argue about which cue does its job better.
1 class period
Open the lesson05 · Composing
Compose a theme so recognizable, we know who's coming before they arrive.
A leitmotif is a musical name tag. Students give a character theirs in 4 to 8 bars, then test it on a classmate: can they describe the character from the music alone?
Builds on the cues from Decode the score
1 class period (+1 extension)
Open the lesson06 · Capstone
Everything you've learned, one trailer, full soundtrack.
The capstone. Map the cuts, bring back the motif, build the ramp, land the sync points, layer SFX and ambience, then mix it. Portfolio-worthy, and it ends in a class screening.
Uses student motifs from The musical name tag
2–3 class periods
Open the lessonSwipe for the other five lessons
Print them for pencil-to-paper planning, or have students record their responses directly in the Studio.
When a student picks tension over triumph for a scene, they’re demonstrating their comprehension, interpretation, and intent, while sharing a built-in record of their creative process. At Arleta High School in LAUSD, a student’s film score became portfolio work.
To show what they've learned, give them the full picture.
Questions
Plans, video import, collaboration and publishing. All answered here, so you don't have to go looking.
Is video scoring included in our plan?
Yes. Every Soundtrap for Education plan includes video scoring at no extra cost. You also get the six lesson plans, the handouts and the shared rubric. On a free trial, students score the stock videos in the video library. To import your own video, you need a paid plan. Compare the plans to see which one fits your school.
How does video import work?
Teachers and students on a paid Classroom, School or District plan can import MP4 files up to five minutes long. Soundtrap puts the video's audio on its own track. Students can split it, mix it and add effects, just as they do with any other audio. Each user gets 1GB of storage on Classroom and School plans, and 2GB on District. To free up space, delete a video track from the project. If you can't see the import option, ask an account administrator to turn on Video import in your account settings.
Can students edit audio with the interactive transcript?
Yes. The video's audio sits on its own track, so students can use Soundtrap's podcasting tools on it. When they edit the words in the interactive transcript, the audio changes to match. This is where a video project becomes literacy work too.
How do students and classes publish their work?
Students export the project as a video file. They can hand it in, share it, or add it to a portfolio. Classroom and School plans export at SD (480p). District plans also export at Full HD (1080p). A free trial gets one SD export.
Does real-time collaboration work on video scoring projects?
Yes. Students can work on the same score at the same time, or on their own, just as they do in an audio project. Each comment attaches to the bar it belongs to. That makes the feedback specific enough to act on.
Can students work on a phone or tablet?
Yes, in a mobile web browser. The Soundtrap mobile app does not support video scoring. Open the Studio in a mobile browser instead.
Still stuck on something?
Visit the Soundtrap Help CenterGet started
Video scoring is included with every Soundtrap for Education plan, along with the six projects, the handouts and the shared rubric. If you already teach with Soundtrap, it's waiting for you.
Included on every plan, at no extra cost
Works with the classes and groups you already have
Lesson plans, handouts and the rubric are free to use, no login needed
Start a free 30-day trial and try video scoring with one of your classes.
Start a 30-day free trialThe trial includes video scoring along with the six lesson plans, the handouts and the shared rubric. To import your own video, you need a paid plan.
Our District Partnerships team brings Soundtrap for Education to schools and districts. They can talk you through seats, pricing and getting teachers started.
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