Right. And so since there is a difference there’s value to the Mastering Suite. That was my point.
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No I do not think so. As far as I understand it doesn’t support a full Atmos setup with speak RX, calibration etc. If it does then yes it could be useful but if it only provides a technical intermediate to create downmixed from the actual Atmos mix data then no.
I mean seriously, are there really a substantial amount of home cinema installs with more than 11.1 monitoring and true Atmos object based panned playback?
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Ok, well if it hinges upon the home market, which is what I understand the “.atmos” master files from the mastering suite are for, then I suppose it’s up for debate whether it is or will be a significant market.
From my perspective in the US it seems that companies are pushing soundbars with Atmos capability to consumers. In addition streaming services are starting to provide that format to consumers (at least Vudu and Netflix, and soon if not already Amazon).
As far as whether or not it will take hold in the market place I really think it boils down to convenience and choice more than “objective” sound quality and other benefits. What I mean by that is that large companies are now pushing for more ways to get paid for content, which is hard these days. Added value would be 3D in theaters as well as Atmos. While I agree that a lot of movies sort of don’t take advantage of either very well - for example Star Trek Into Darkness was to me underwhelming on both, with subpar 3D (converted I think) and such a heavy handed mix Atmos didn’t really matter - there are some that do (Gravity for example). So we could argue that 3D visual and audio is in a sense still getting settled aesthetically, just as stereo had to “settle”, as well as surround. So the objective quality might get there.
While we’re waiting the question is what consumers are getting whether they want it or not. If HDR requires a higher bandwidth/storage requirement and automatically bundles audio such as Atmos, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine that regardless of whether or not consumers wanted it to get Atmos they got it anyway. And once they have it, the question really is should we produce audio for it?
But I think it will extend beyond that, and I think that’s what Dolby is betting on. In the past, uhm, say 20 years, we’ve gone from candy bar phones to smartphones, laptops, tablets, desktops, TVs with built-in streaming services connected to the web, game consoles that stream, etc. I think the future probably is either automatic format conversion when consuming or automated format conversion during production. Because if you’re a gamer you’ll be annoyed when your home theater setup plays back (crappy) Atmos using the soundbar but when you switch to headphones ('cause you don’t want to wake people up) you lose that experience. But if your content is produced with more playback formats in mind you can adjust for that. I.e. mixing for both home-atmos and VR “simultaneously”.
So it’s to me not so much a matter of if there already is enough people consuming Atmos, it’s more about whether or not we want to be on edge of this development and drive it in the ‘right’ direction. If we are in the future asked to provide multiple “3d audio” formats it’d be better to be able to do so rather than say that we have to wait until development catches up. It seems to me that these are two technologies where Steinberg could/should be on the forefront. VR “3d audio” is already picking up in the market place and Atmos is already mostly incorporated and there is a relationship with Dolby…
That was too much text… I apologize…
God Jul btw…
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Snart är det Julafton och bara tomten är vaken.
Merry Christmas!
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Do any of you have setting for a Lenovo Laptop with JBL Dolby Atmos speakers?
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For those that are curious, a Dolby representative answered in post #93 over here:
A pretty clear answer I think, and I think I stand corrected on what’s needed for separate outputs.
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Thanks for posting. Indeed a clear answer.
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Bump for maybe new information:
– Production Suite Updates
Whilst the Production suite remains a Mac only application the addition of the Dolby Audio Bridge and Core audio support means content creation is also no longer the exclusive preserve of Pro Tools users. A message compounded by the addition of support for panning in Nuendo via the VST Multi-Panner. The Core audio support also makes QC’ing and deliverable creation possible without booting Pro Tools.
More here
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Binaural is a VERY important part of any surround sound experience in general. Gamers often use headphones for an immersive experience for example. And since Nuendo 11 does not have a downmix for binaural and Atmos has arguably the best downmix capability for it, we are left to search for a solution and at this point it looks like the Mastering Suite may be it.
Is binaural downmix officially on the upgrade roadmap? VERY needed to get closer to a complete Atmos production capability in Nuendo.
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