The market for surround mixing on low budget interfaces

[nst7]

To the experienced Post guys,

Based on a conversation I had, it got me thinking about something and I'd like to get your opinions.

With some "consumer" interfaces offering surround monitor control, like the new Mbox Pro and even the Apogee Ensemble, I'm wondering what situations those would be used in.

It seems that surround sound in general is mainly for film, broadcast, and DVD/BluRay distribution, and if the project is important enough for those categories, it seems that those involved would want to make sure it's done right, in a proper room with proper equipment, etc. In other words, if the project is important enough to have surround, it's probably important enough to have it done right. I'm not aware of any trend of "hobbyist" surround studios the way we have hobbyist music studios.

I'm not saying someone couldn't do a pretty good job this way. I guess I'm trying to understand the motivation behind adding this kind of feature to interfaces at a certain price point. Not knowing much about this part of the industry, I'm curious if there would be a stigma if a production company was considering your services and you were mixing on an Mbox. I guess my thinking is that if you can afford reasonably good monitoring, room treatment, video monitoring, and whatever else is needed, that you'd probably be looking at a higher quality of interface, monitor controller, etc.

I'd appreciate your thoughts on this. I hope I've explained myself.

[HD2]

Originally Posted by nst7

It seems that surround sound in general is mainly for film, broadcast, and DVD/BluRay distribution, and if the project is important enough for those categories, it seems that those involved would want to make sure it's done right, in a proper room with proper equipment, etc.

The BIG question here is "important enough for who?"
There are thousands and I mean thousands of filmmakers out there using iphones, cheap consumer video cameras, DSLR cameras, prosumer video cameras etc who all think their movie is going to be the next Blair witch project so it is important enough for them to have it mixed in surround sound because that is what "real movies" have. They have no idea what goes in to setting up a proper calibrated room and equipping it with gear so when they get a bid to mix their film in a professional room, it usually falls into the category of "Wow that is more than my entire film budget". So they are quite happy to go to a garage or home studio that can do a 5.1 mix for them for cheap.
When it comes down to it they really don't know the difference between a full blown HD rig and an Mbox rig. The studio owner tells them he is mixing on Pro Tools and to them, that is the same as what the big dub stage is using.
So yes there is a market for lower priced gear that allows for 5.1 mixing.

[Craig F]

I know a few people that have been doing cheap surround mixing on LE even before Paul's Mix51 plug-in

I see it as a good option for 5.1 effects editing/sound design

hell it may even get people interested in the idea of surround music

maybe the tides will turn and and high quality music will become popular again and sonically decimated mp3/4s will die off
and maybe monkeys will fly out of my ass

[idris]

Agree with both the above.

A significant proportion of my work at the moment is sound editing for entry level features. Some of those have "proper" mixes done in "proper" dubbing theatres, and as such it is useful to be able to get an idea of how any surround elements will fit together.
Other directors insist on surround without a budget, though I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing: many of these films never see anything more than a DVD/TV screening, but if the directors learn about the process then hopefully when it comes to them doing a funded feature, they know how things work a bit better.

I paid for a "grown up" PT rig because there was no other real option for surround at the time and processing power was better too. With the changes in PT9 the trade offs are different and so I think there is a real market for such interfaces. (Even if some of us might rather it wasn't being provided for.)