Nuendo ADM Authoring incorrectly maps 5.1 "Direct Render" downmix to "Room Balance" causing CQ fails

Nuendo
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1

Issue: Nuendo ADM Authoring incorrectly maps 5.1 “Direct Render” downmix to the “Room Balance” (warping) flag, causing immediate QC failures with major music labels.
Impact: Quality Control (QC) failures with major distributors/labels (e.g., UMG)

Issue Summary:
In the Nuendo Trim and Downmix Editor, selecting the “Direct Render” option for the 5.1 downmix incorrectly maps to the Dolby metadata flag for “Direct Render with Room Balance” (warping) instead of pure “Direct Render” (normal).

When the exported ADM BWF is opened in the standalone Dolby Atmos Renderer or processed by automated label delivery gates, it registers as “Direct Render with Room Balance.” Because these two modes utilize entirely different acoustic algorithms for phantom speaker imaging, this discrepancy causes immediate QC failures for strict delivery specifications that mandate pure Direct Render.

Steps to Reproduce:

  1. Open the ADM Authoring panel in Nuendo.
  2. In the Trim and Downmix Editor, set the 5.1 downmix configuration to Direct Render.
  3. Export the project as an ADM BWF.
  4. Import the exported ADM BWF into the external Dolby Atmos Renderer or a metadata inspector.
  5. Observe that the downmix mode reads as “Direct Render with Room Balance” rather than pure “Direct Render”.

Expected Result:
Nuendo’s “Direct Render” option should write the normal (pure Direct Render) Dolby metadata flag. Alternatively, the UI should be updated to offer distinct choices for both modes so users can explicitly select the flag required by their delivery specifications.

Actual Result:
Nuendo writes the warping flag, forcing an unrequested “Room Balance” acoustic profile onto the downmix and triggering delivery compliance errors.

Requested Solution:
Please update the ADM Authoring metadata export mapping so that selecting “Direct Render” accurately flags the file as standard Direct Render (normal). If both options are intended to be supported, please provide explicit UI options for both “Direct Render” and “Direct Render with Room Balance” so engineers can remain fully compliant with strict commercial delivery contracts.

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