Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/908245
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y F A L L 2 0 1 7 55 How is your stage set up? My room was originally built in 2011 and updated to Dolby Atmos two years ago. It is a mid-sized studio, measuring 6.5m wide, 11m deep, and 4.5m high. It has three front speakers (L, C, R) and two front subwoofers. There are 2 x 6 side surrounds, with a corresponding number of top surround speakers. There are four rear surrounds for a total of twenty-eight boxes. There are also two rear subwoofers. I am monitoring through the RMU and feeding it with the Avid HD MADI interfaces. All the speaker management is done via BSS Soundweb units: formats, input selection, levels, EQ, and delays. We built a custom interface and are operating it from a touch screen. Has your workflow changed since you started mixing in Dolby Atmos with 12.8? Yes. Dramatically. The most important being the structure of the session, as I'm not using dedicated tracks for Dolby Atmos anymore. When needed, I simply switch the panner from bus to object and vice versa. The arrival of the integrated panner was a big improvement—no more inserting Dolby Atmos panners (and fighting with one- year authorizations in the beginning!). It simplifies the operation and the layout of the session. When I mixed my first Dolby Atmos project on the S5 console, it was very challenging. You could not insert the Dolby Atmos panner on the same strip where your channel was, but had to create a virtual console just with dummy channels with panners. It was a nightmare. Today, I work on the S6 and I always liked the possibility of using the central touch screen for panning, and now I can extend it to Atmos as well. I love it. Any suggestions for mixers who haven't used the Dolby Atmos features in 12.8 but are thinking about it? I would suggest mixing everything in Dolby Atmos. I did a feature in Dolby Atmos and used Dolby Atmos' mixdown to 5.1 and it sounded great. This way, if anyone wants to release the film in Dolby Atmos later, it's already done. It is very simple to work with it now—just use it! WHILE RESEARCHING for this article, I also found an unusual use of Dolby Atmos. Nathaniel Reichman is a New York-based re-recording mixer with a client who was looking to create an audio-only sonic experience for a specific demographic. The caveat? The user would be listening, primarily, on headphones. Given this request, Reichman felt the immersive nature of binaural would provide the most engaging result. When deciding on how to go about providing the mixes, Reichman states, "I'm aware of the Facebook and GAudio packages that are available, but knew I'd be asked sooner or later to make a conventional Dolby Atmos mix. Honestly, I was initially a little bit of a skeptic, but decided to try mixing in Dolby Atmos while monitoring the binaural output of the renderer." And his client's response when hearing the first mix? "They were amazed. They loved it!" Some nuances he notices: "Subtle pannings across the center sound even more directional and focused. Even playing the binaural mix on loudspeakers translates pretty well—not one hundred percent, but pretty well." Nathaniel continues, "I have numerous copies of the Dolby Atmos Production Suite. I've been using it for months and it hasn't crashed—other applications have, but not that. I found the learning curve to make templates a little steep, but once you do it, you're set." IN CONCLUSION, as more nontheatrical Atmos mixes are requested, Dolby Atmos and Avid are working together to increase the ease of integration which, in the end, will lead to more fluid workflows. More information can be found, obviously, on the websites for Avid and Dolby Atmos. Be sure to reference the most recent Pro Tools release, 12.8.2, when researching further, as it fixed a couple of issues users noted and adds some very useful features. For a great, in-depth review of the initial release of 12.8 and its Dolby Atmos features, I recommend visiting www.Pro-Tools-Expert.com. Also, at press time, Avid just posted an insightful video on the topic: www .AvidBlogs.com/Dolby-Atmos-Improvements-In-Pro -Tools-hd-12-8-2 • To read more on the mixers interviewed here, visit: Tim Hoogenakker CAS www.FormosaGroup.com Branko Neskov CAS www.Loudness-Films.pt Nathaniel Reichman www.Rhumba.pro Pro Tools HD Peripherals window for connecting to the Dolby Atmos RMU or Mastering Suite