Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1277927
C A S Q U A R T E R L Y I S U M M E R 2 0 2 0 69 On each track inside the Facebook Spatial Workstation, I place a Spatialiser plugin if I want to move that sound around within the sound field. Inside the plugin, you can also load a video file so you can pan the audio source on top of the video source for the Y and Z axes. With another pass, you can change the distance (X axis) or use volume or clip gain to simulate distance. In many cases, you can also use ambisonic reverb to help with localization and sense of the space and distance. However, for this series, they were in the middle of an open quarry, so little to no reverb was used. Using automation to record the panning, I would take a full pass of the episode with soloing each lavaliere channel, and then another pass with both to adjust levels for distance. This was very tedious and took a lot of time, but vital for the viewer to feel like they are standing in the middle of the quarry with Gavin and Dan. Next, I would take the slowed-down SFX from the editor and spatialize them during the 3D Phantom footage, which played as a picture-in-picture (PIP) within the 180-degree frame. The talent would sometimes be in a small PIP and would pan their audio respectively. If the talent PIP went away or was simply VO without picture, I would send that audio to the stereo head-locked track so it wouldn't move in the space even if you turn your head. Music was another element that was sent to the stereo head-locked master channel. Some of the ordinal recordings were FOA and SOA tracks. In order to be able to use them, they need to be converted from raw A-format to B-format. Once in B-format, the ambisonic recordings are now in a spherical image and able to be manipulated in a lot of very powerful and creative ways. Next, I would go through the 180-degree footage and add sound design like splashes, explosions, footsteps, etc., to sweeten the original recordings. Another pass to balance and fix anything I missed before printing and sending off for approval. The final prints that I send the editor are a master TOA AmbiX 16-channel 3D stem with a head- locked stereo stem. The approval process is much different than traditional media because you must watch the final product using the delivery platform. There are many platforms in VR, and they all have different specs and often I will have to remix for each platform. For this project, the editor, director, and client all needed to have Oculus headsets. The editor took the master TOA mix and the stereo head-locked stem into the FB360 encoder to mux the audio and video together and add proper metadata. The resulting file is then sent to the director and client to side-load into their headsets. I would do this process on my end as well to check my work. If all the steps are done properly, then playback will be smooth and audio will be in sync and have the proper spatialization. After the first episode, we got into a nice rhythm and the director and client were able to review easily from the comfort of their own homes with their own headsets. In late March, I delivered the final mix for episode eight and the next day, the series went up on the homepage of Oculus TV. So, where is virtual reality going? Is it a fad or the next big thing? Whether it's called VR, AR, MR, or XR, the future of immersive content is on the rise. I have done many VR concerts, athletic events, livestreams, festivals, music videos, travel series, and art installations that utilize spatial audio. The gaming industry is leading the way with VR games. Experiences are created in game engines like Unreal and Unity where you have six degrees of freedom (6DoF) movement within the scene and interactive spatial audio. Some content gets shown in a headset, or in a dome, or in a haptic chair like the Positron. The "8D audio" viral sensation of music moving around your head is proof that people want to be entertained in new ways and spatial audio can be very captivating even when gimmicky. After working primarily in VR for the past five to six years, it's hard to say the exact direction immersive media is going, but there is no denying the creative freedom, the power of the technical tools, and the emotional connection to the content. " THE BATHTUB EPISODE PUSHED ME TO THE LIMITS OF MY SKILLS AS A LOCATION SOUND MIXER. IN ADDITION TO THE CONSTRAINTS OF SHOOTING FOR VR, WE WERE ALSO IN AN EMPTY ROCK QUARRY IN THE MIDDLE OF TEXAS WITH MAJOR WIND."