Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/551510
62 CINEMONTAGE / SUMMER 2015 — Follow Main Pan. To move multiple tracks into Atmos Objects just takes a simple copy-and-paste sequence and a couple of button clicks; it's remarkably fast and elegant, taking just several seconds." "I'm not pretending to do Doug's job," Bender explains. "I'm just leveling things and getting them to sound the way I want. Then a talented re-recording mixer like Doug takes them to the next level and does his magic on them." Hemphill agrees, saying, "Changing the object size softens the location of a pan to create a far smoother pan because of the broadened divergence. Pro Tools panners work in a 5.1-channel horizontal plain, but now we can put an effect into one of Lon's three-dimensional Atmos Fields and that takes it up into the height plane" because of the trajectory through the pre- assigned waypoints. Bender cites his BG1 Atmos Field as an example. "That isn't designed to pan sound around the room, but to send sound through some locations with the Pro Tools pan data already written onto it. The Field is a pre-defined trajectory with the original pans and volume setting retained from sound design. It is not written as an Atmos panner but rather a Field with waypoints that carry over the automated Pro Tools panning for the duration of the track. Now, any sound rendered through BG1 will have that shape trajectory through the 3D immersive soundfield." "Because of the speed and the ease of incorporating his 'MONK' Atmos Mix CONTINUED FROM PAGE 45 automated moves, the creative possibility of what Lon has done is enormous," explains Hemphill. "Those pre-programmed fields were carried right through the project; I might have moved to a different field shape but never modified his moves. Whether I put Atmos sound elements into the bed or treated them as objects depended upon what we wanted to achieve in the final soundtrack. Lon has come up with a very simple sequence for what is normally a very complex sequence of events." "In addition to the static 9.1 bed, Atmos offers 118 objects; normally you take the next one available," Bender adds. "But I wanted to pre-organize these objects in advance of the mix. I delivered an 83-track Object Stem — 1 thru 21 were Objects we will use for effects, then Foley, then backgrounds and so on — using waypoints to make a profile. They were in groups of five because I used 5.0-channel ss and panning; Pro Tools also supports 7.1-channel sends if I wanted additional ways to generate more complex shapes. But that would have used up more objects." "The workflow during a mix is like being a kid in a candy store; I can do whatever I want," Hemphill says. "I can use 7.1; I can do this; I can do that; I can use Atmos — and it's all very fast. Lon and I were always on the same page with Joe Barnett and Jared Marshack, the mix tech, who played a huge part on the stage; he handled all of the Pro Tools assignments, and let me get on with being creative. Having a savvy mix tech on the stage is very, very important; it's the new paradigm for mixing. With Pro Tools sessions of this size and complexity, you need somebody on the stage like Jared." Hopefully, Monk Comes Down the Mountain soon will receive an American release, so domestic audiences can see — and hear — what Bender and Hemphill are taking about. f Above, Monk Comes Down the Mountain. Property of New Classics Media Pty Ltd. Top, Jarred Marshack, left, Doug Hemphill and Lon Bender.