As v10 rolls out I thought I might kick off with a few notes about approaching an Immersive / Atmos mix (Demo + Pro Tier only).
To get started here is a direct link to the Immersive section of the v10 manual
Signal Flow:
Basically the signal flow for the Atmos panner is that it splits off at the same place as the Stereo Pan (Mono CH) or Balance (Stereo CH+Mixbuses)
It is post Fader, Post EQ and Post Dynamics.
The Stereo Panner has no effect on the Immersive panner and vice versa.
There has been some discussion about being able to copy / paste stereo pans into Immersive panner.
The Immersive panner is capable of 'panning' either side of a stereo channel or bus - it is not a balance control as such.
Each Channel (mono or stereo) or Mixbus that is assigned to the Immersive panner becomes a mono or stereo 'object' going into the Dolby Renderer.
Getting started:
What I have found to be the most effective approach is to do my Stereo mix, then save and create a new snapshot.
To engage Immersive Mixing go Session / Immersive Panning and check the box.
This will then reveal the Atmos Master Bus strip and allow the Immersive panners to function.
Generally I will start by working off the Mixbusses, typically adding a bit of height to vocals as well as bringing them into the room a bit (panning towards the side / rear walls).
To get more height out of the drums I might do the same, but take the Drum Overheads out of the Mixbusses and assign them to Immersive so I can open them right up / out without taking the whole kit.
With Bass guitar or kick I might do the same but also add some size to them, giving spread across the front whilst also creating a low frequency kick for anyone using bass enhancement in their decode chain.
In some cases I have also started first up doing the Immersive mix first as the destination will be for Cinema / Streaming so the stereo mix is no longer as important.
I do however rely on using Mixbusses to combine say most of a kit or guitars etc to be able to compress as one element before then assigning to Immersive.
It is hard going back to stereo mix after you have opened up a mix in Immersive. The experience is very interesting.
The extra space allows for much more clarity of elements in a mix.
The old rules on mono and stereo mixing - in an attempt to stop muddy mixes - do not seem to apply as much with Atmos.
A few rules:
A Channel cannot be assigned to Immersive and Mix Bus 1 thru 8 at the same time.
This rule was added because it was too easy to double assign (the two paths have different delay times) to the Immersive Bus via a channel plus a Mix Bus.
The rule does not apply to Mixbus 9-12.
If you do double assign a pop-up will ask you if you want to automatically de-assign.
Exporting:
When you create an adm.wav master, every individual object (channel or bus) is rendered into the container (multichannel Broadcast wave ) as a post fader, post EQ and post Dynamics mono track.
Each object has timestamped metadata embedded that determines the static / dynamic placement within the listening space (X,Y&Z) plus size.
The Dolby spec calls for the delivery of a multichannel (object / bed) mix and a binaural in the same container... (adm.wav) .
That way the end user's replay chain determines what version will play and the decoder will determine (based on end user speakers) just how the spatial mix is translated.
A good track for testing Immersive is:
Bernard Purdie Shuffle https://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.co..._season/7/ the track is one drum kit with a lot of microphones and a good drummer.
To get started here is a direct link to the Immersive section of the v10 manual
Signal Flow:
Basically the signal flow for the Atmos panner is that it splits off at the same place as the Stereo Pan (Mono CH) or Balance (Stereo CH+Mixbuses)
It is post Fader, Post EQ and Post Dynamics.
The Stereo Panner has no effect on the Immersive panner and vice versa.
There has been some discussion about being able to copy / paste stereo pans into Immersive panner.
The Immersive panner is capable of 'panning' either side of a stereo channel or bus - it is not a balance control as such.
Each Channel (mono or stereo) or Mixbus that is assigned to the Immersive panner becomes a mono or stereo 'object' going into the Dolby Renderer.
Getting started:
What I have found to be the most effective approach is to do my Stereo mix, then save and create a new snapshot.
To engage Immersive Mixing go Session / Immersive Panning and check the box.
This will then reveal the Atmos Master Bus strip and allow the Immersive panners to function.
Generally I will start by working off the Mixbusses, typically adding a bit of height to vocals as well as bringing them into the room a bit (panning towards the side / rear walls).
To get more height out of the drums I might do the same, but take the Drum Overheads out of the Mixbusses and assign them to Immersive so I can open them right up / out without taking the whole kit.
With Bass guitar or kick I might do the same but also add some size to them, giving spread across the front whilst also creating a low frequency kick for anyone using bass enhancement in their decode chain.
In some cases I have also started first up doing the Immersive mix first as the destination will be for Cinema / Streaming so the stereo mix is no longer as important.
I do however rely on using Mixbusses to combine say most of a kit or guitars etc to be able to compress as one element before then assigning to Immersive.
It is hard going back to stereo mix after you have opened up a mix in Immersive. The experience is very interesting.
The extra space allows for much more clarity of elements in a mix.
The old rules on mono and stereo mixing - in an attempt to stop muddy mixes - do not seem to apply as much with Atmos.
A few rules:
A Channel cannot be assigned to Immersive and Mix Bus 1 thru 8 at the same time.
This rule was added because it was too easy to double assign (the two paths have different delay times) to the Immersive Bus via a channel plus a Mix Bus.
The rule does not apply to Mixbus 9-12.
If you do double assign a pop-up will ask you if you want to automatically de-assign.
Exporting:
When you create an adm.wav master, every individual object (channel or bus) is rendered into the container (multichannel Broadcast wave ) as a post fader, post EQ and post Dynamics mono track.
Each object has timestamped metadata embedded that determines the static / dynamic placement within the listening space (X,Y&Z) plus size.
The Dolby spec calls for the delivery of a multichannel (object / bed) mix and a binaural in the same container... (adm.wav) .
That way the end user's replay chain determines what version will play and the decoder will determine (based on end user speakers) just how the spatial mix is translated.
A good track for testing Immersive is:
Bernard Purdie Shuffle https://www.telefunken-elektroakustik.co..._season/7/ the track is one drum kit with a lot of microphones and a good drummer.
Macmini 8,1 | OS X 13.6.3 | 3 GHz i5 32G | Scarlett 18i20 | Mixbus 10 | PT_2024.3.1 ..... Macmini 9,1 | OS X 14.4.1 | M1 2020 | Mixbus 10 | Resolve 18.6.5
