Surround to ATMOS

If you wanted to do an ATMOS mix of a project that was originally a 5.1 surround format, would there be ANY advantage in doing so over an original stereo project? I would think there should be. But I don’t know. ATMOS is clearly an “ENTIRELY different animal!”

I’m going from 5.1 to 5.1.4. Staying in surround mode is a joy in 5.1.4. But, so far, trying anything in ATMOS is just a total jungle of confusion! Trying to follow tutorials from Dolby is almost futile because all of them are using Pro Tools. The few tutorials that Ashly put out for Nuage doing ATMOS are clearly so dated as to be equally unhelpful.

So far, my feeble attempts in learning ATMOS have been with previous Stereo projects to try and get a feel for it. Total nightmare. So I was wondering if the transition was any easier with starting from surround.

Actually, it is very simple.

Just add a second layer to you 5.1 mix.
That layer is a few meters above your regular 5.1 mix.
So the Front (, maybe sides) & surround speakers are duplicated a fair distance above your normal 5.1 monitoring system.

That’s it.

That’s an AURO 3D graphics, Fredo, isn’t it? ;-D … ATMOS upper layer is at 45°, and there’s no VOG, as far as I know.

What the client is referring to (I think) is that Dolby obscures the issue of “3D audio” beyond recognition. Compared to the straightforward, channel-based approach of e.g. AURO 3D (which is indeed “only” a second surround layer plus maybe a top layer aka Voice of God), ATMOS is really no pleasure to work in - especially when doing music and working with real recordings from real halls.

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Oh F%?$%

Misread the whole thing.
Just ignore me please.

Fredo

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Another concern I have is HOW can we check our work? We can’t just burn a DVD like you can with normal surround.

What’s the app/software needed for that?

Hi Keyplayer,

the addition of the 3rd sound dimension (height) is an addition to creativity. Most commonly it is then called “Immersive Audio”.

It is not just a technical addition or growth of parameters, like going from 2.0 (Stereo) to 5.1 (Surround) to 7.1.4 (Immersive) or even higher.

It is far more than that. Exploring it more from a creative aspect does disclose many extra grades of freedom, that you can do with “Immersive Audio”.

Dolby Atmos is one technical variant, and so are Auro3d and DTS:X other ones.

LG, Juergi

The Dolby Atmos Renderer will allow you to export an mp4 for QC-ing your Atmos mix.

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