{"id":602,"date":"2024-11-05T15:33:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T06:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/?p=602"},"modified":"2024-11-05T15:33:16","modified_gmt":"2024-11-05T06:33:16","slug":"how-to-manage-a-sound-effects-library%ef%bd%9cthe-universal-category-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/sounds\/how-to-manage-a-sound-effects-library%ef%bd%9cthe-universal-category-system\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Manage a Sound Effects Library\uff5cThe Universal Category System"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>There is currently an effort to standardize the classification of audio data that\u2019s flooding the world. Here, we will explain <strong>the Universal Category System (UCS)<\/strong>, which is also used by major sound effects vendors, and show how to use it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212;&#8211;<br><strong>INDEX<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong><a href=\"#UCS-01\" title=\"\">About The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/a><\/strong><br>Download The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong><a href=\"#UCS-02\" title=\"\">How to Use The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/a><\/strong><br>About the Category System\uff5cTHE CATEGORY LIST<br>How to Name Files\uff5cTHE FILENAME STRUCTURE<br>Tools for Category Search and File Creation\uff5cAVAILABLE TOOLS<br>Organizing by Folder<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"UCS-01\">About The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post01.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-608 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post01.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post01-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post01-768x432.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/576;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/strong> is a system that categorizes and organizes a wide variety of audio data used in video and music production. Organized sound data is easy to search and can be shared with others under a common understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Currently, UCS is at its final version, Version 8.2, with <strong>82 main categories<\/strong> and <strong>753 subcategories<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>UCS was designed with the support of numerous sound librarians, vendors, and users worldwide, including Tim Nielsen, Justin Drury, and Kai Paquin. As a public domain resource, it\u2019s available for anyone to use. By providing <strong>a framework for categorizing sound effects<\/strong> and <strong>a standardized file-naming structure<\/strong>, UCS reduces the complexity of managing a sound library that can easily become cluttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Download The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>You can download UCS from Dropbox by clicking <strong>&#8220;ACCESS NOW&#8221;<\/strong> on the following URL:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/universalcategorysystem.com\/\">The Universal Category System<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post02.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-609 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post02.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post02-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post02-768x432.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/576;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"UCS-02\">How to Use The Universal Category System (UCS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Category System\uff5cTHE CATEGORY LIST<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The UCS category system is organized into <strong>82 main<\/strong> categories and <strong>753 total subcategories.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the downloaded data from the UCS website, you\u2019ll find three types of category lists:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UCS v8.2 Full List.xlsx<\/strong> \u2013 All categories<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UCS v8.2 Full Translations List.xlsx<\/strong> \u2013 All categories translated into 20 languages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UCS v8.2 Top Level Categories.xlsx<\/strong> \u2013 Main categories only<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The UCS v8.2 Full Translations List.xlsx<\/strong> includes translations into 20 languages, making it usable in Japanese as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How to Name Files\uff5cTHE FILENAME STRUCTURE<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key points of UCS is managing metadata through a standardized file-naming structure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A simple naming rule involves attaching the category ID from UCS to the beginning of the file name and separating it with an underscore, followed by other necessary details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><strong>CatID_Whatever Else You Want Here<\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>The official UCS naming format is as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><strong>CatID_FXName_CreatorID_SourceID<\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>CatID<\/strong>: The category ID specified by UCS<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>FXName<\/strong>: A short description of the sound effect<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>CreatorID<\/strong>: Name of the creator, such as the recordist or sound designer, or company name<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>SourceID<\/strong>: Name of the sound library or project for which the sound was created<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, the file name for a recorded sound of a &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.bandcamp.com\/album\/dry-ice-using-various-types-of-microphones\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Dry Ice Using Various Types of Microphones sound library<\/a>&#8221; might be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><strong>WATRBubl_Dryice, Water, Pour, Bubble, Fog, Glass Tea Pot, Clink_BGDS_LOM basicUcho, 192\u200b-\u200b32_01_Dry Ice Using Various Types of Microphones<\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, <strong>WATRBubl<\/strong> is the category ID for the <strong>&#8220;BUBBLES&#8221; subcategory<\/strong> within <strong>&#8220;WATER&#8221;<\/strong>. This is followed by a short description of the effect (&#8220;<strong>Water, Pour, Bubble, Fog,<\/strong>&#8230;.&#8221;), the creator\u2019s name or abbreviation (&#8220;BGDS&#8221; for barbe_generative_diary_SOUNDS), and the library name (&#8220;Dry Ice Using Various Types of Microphones&#8221;).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Optionally, the naming structure can be expanded as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<pre class=\"wp-block-code\"><code><strong>CatID-(UserCategory)_(VendorCategory)FXName_CreatorID_SourceID_UserData<\/strong><\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UserCategory<\/strong>: A third user-defined category (optional)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>VendorCategory<\/strong>: A third vendor\/manufacturer-defined category (optional)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UserData<\/strong>: Additional information, such as location, microphone type, or unique ID (optional)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tools for Category Search and File Creation\uff5cAVAILABLE TOOLS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the App file, there is a program called <strong>AudioCategoryClipper<\/strong>. When opening on Mac, you may be asked if you trust the app.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This program helps search for the correct category and generates a file name by entering the following text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When you open <strong>AudioCategoryClipper<\/strong>, there are two tabs (Category and Filename).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the <strong>Category<\/strong> tab, the program finds the appropriate category for the keyword entered and copies it to the clipboard.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"513\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post03.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-611 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post03.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post03-300x150.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post03-768x385.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/513;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In the <strong>Filename<\/strong> tab, you can generate a file name by entering the required information, such as category ID, sound effect summary, creator, and source ID, then clicking the copy button.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post04.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-612 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post04.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post04-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post04-768x432.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/576;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Organizing by Folder<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>UCS provides three types of folder structures for organizing files, all available as zipped downloads under &#8220;Category Folders&#8221;:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>UCS Category Only v8.2<\/strong>: Folders for top-level categories only<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UCS Category SubCategory v8.2<\/strong>: Folders with subcategories nested under top-level categories<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>UCS Category Full v8.2<\/strong>: Folders that list both top-level and subcategories together<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>You can choose a folder structure that best suits your needs and store files with the clearly labeled data accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post05.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-613 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post05.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post05-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/231017-USC-post05-768x432.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/576;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Equipment for Field Recording<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/h1-zoom.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-596 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/h1-zoom.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/h1-zoom-300x169.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/h1-zoom-768x432.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/576;\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ca5BQe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Zoom H1essential Stereo Handy Recorder<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For beginners looking to get into field recording with ease, &#8220;<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ca5BQe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Zoom H1essential Stereo Handy Recorder<\/a><\/strong>&#8221; is a great option. It\u2019s affordable, compact, and portable, and it supports 32-bit float recording, making it an excellent choice for starting out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"tips-and-techniques-BGDsound\">BGD_SOUNDS (barbe_generative_diary SOUNDS)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>At BGD_SOUNDS, we have started sharing and selling a collection of field recordings stocked for use in sound visualization experiments. Nearly all recordings are captured in 192kHz-32bit float quality and are royalty-free, allowing for unrestricted use. New releases are added regularly, so if you\u2019re looking for sound sources, consider following us to stay updated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<iframe scrolling=\"no\" style=\"border: 0;width: 100%;height: 50px;\" data-src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/band_follow_button_deluxe\/2360270932\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" class=\"lazyload\" data-load-mode=\"1\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"731\" data-src=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/240801_bandcamp-top-BGD_SOUNDS.webp\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-554 lazyload\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/240801_bandcamp-top-BGD_SOUNDS.webp 1024w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/240801_bandcamp-top-BGD_SOUNDS-300x214.webp 300w, https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/240801_bandcamp-top-BGD_SOUNDS-768x548.webp 768w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/731;\" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For those who gather sounds through field recording, as well as those who use sounds in music and video production, managing audio data is essential. This article introduces a convenient tool for organizing a large amount of sound data: The Universal Category System (UCS).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-recording","category-sounds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=602"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":615,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/602\/revisions\/615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbegenerativediary.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}