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Atmos must be enabled by going into Preferences > Video and Audio I/O > Immersive Audio panel and turning on Enable Dolby Atmos. When enabled, the Change Track Type contextual menu when right- clicking on a track will then include the additional Atmos track types.
The Components of a Dolby Atmos Mix
Mixes created in Atmos have several specifically identified components. These work together to create an immersive mix, but each element allows the Dolby Atmos system to fit the sound specifically to the space and speaker configuration during playback.
These consist of:
— The Bed track: Contains the bulk of mixed audio, including dialog, ambient sound effects, and music. These sorts of sounds will contain panning information, but the panning will be general. Wind, traffic in the distance, room tones, and sync dialog would all most likely fall within the bounds of a standard bed track of 7.1.2 or 5.1.
— Object tracks: Pinpoint the placement of sounds moving specifically across the immersive space. Users can use these specific tracks to create panning anywhere in the room. Sounds can fly through space, around a room from height channels, to side and back back channels, mimicking the motion of objects on the screen. Object tracks use the Atmos metadata to do the calculations discussed in the last example. ADM files are Atmos exports used with the IMF file type as master deliverables, which are in the broadcast wave file format.
It’s up to users to define which tracks are Bed tracks, and which are Object tracks; these track designations, are descriptions of what the tracks you create are going to be used for. Ultimately, it’s up to the mixer which audio is organized on Bed tracks, and which is organized on Object tracks.
Theoretically, users can create a mix consisting entirely of Object tracks if desired, but typically the mix would be split into beds consisting of generally panned sounds, and Object tracks for sounds requiring specific room placement.
Object tracks and height channels open up possibilities that were never possible prior to Atmos. Imagine a scene where a man is hiding from Police while a helicopter circles overhead, or a scene where kids are in a basement and are startled to hear loud footsteps above them. With Atmos, the audience can now experience these immersive sounds along with the characters.
These are real-world examples, but sound in animation, science fiction, and fantasy can explore space in ways that are only limited by the creator’s imagination. Flying fairies or creatures can move about the space front to back, high and low. Perhaps there’s a scene with a ship moving full speed ahead underwater, breaking up and out into the sky, flying and dodging weapons coming from all sides.
NOTE: Buses feeding the Atmos master become beds, and Tracks feeding the Atmos master become objects.
NOTE: Buses feeding the Atmos master become beds, and Tracks feeding the Atmos master become objects.
NOTE: Buses feeding the Atmos master become beds, and Tracks feeding the Atmos master become objects.
Object tracks are ideal to pinpoint sound effects requiring spatial specificity, but more importantly, Atmos assures the re-recording mixer that the final choices made in the mix will be faithfully recreated from theatre to theatre, and from room to room.