Post Magazine

October 2013

Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/202179

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 25 of 51

What's the difference between Barco Auro-3D and Dolby Atmos? Having zero experience with either, and being very intrigued, I asked the engineers who've worked with these fun new formats to enlighten me on the subject. Here's a brief description: Dolby Atmos uses a single surround layer on the walls, as well as overhead channels. In addition to playing a standard 5.1 or 7.1 mix using arrays, it can support up to 64 unique speaker feeds, in a 62.2 configuration. This allows the mixer to precisely pan a sound (object panning), or put a sound in one speaker discretely. All the speakers are full-range, so there is no shift in sound as objects move around the room. The Barco Auro-3D 11.1 system uses two layers of surround speakers in a 5.1 configuration, plus the addition of a ceiling channel. The lower layer is positioned where the surrounds would be in a typical 5.1 setup. The upper layer surrounds, or height surrounds, are parallel to the lower surrounds only positioned higher. On the ceiling is the "Voice of God" speaker. With Auro, you can spread or split sounds across the vertical plane. Auro plays back using an array, so there are 11.1 channels no matter how many speakers you have in your setup. Auro is also a recording format. You can record sounds in the Auro format using a special mic setup explained in the Turbo section of this article, and then play that back natively on an Auro system. The engineers that follow discuss their 3D audio setups, as well as how they used these new formats to create an immersive film experience. Metallica: Through the Never was mixed in 5.1, 7.1, IMAX and Atmos. 24 Post • July 2013 www.postmagazine.com

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Post Magazine - October 2013