Track order?

[Scott G]

The broadcaster I work for often gets master videos to play out with sometimes up to 16 audio tracks. Is there a track order convention? Tracks 1-2 are the stereo mix and I assume that 3-8 are 5.1 and I'm guessing that the rest are stems.

when I import them into PT they are just numbered.

We also get some with 10 tracks, againe 1-2 stereo and not sure about the rest.

Thanks

[Cheesehead]

Are they from HDCam SR backup tapes for films?

Although they have 12 tracks so that wouldn't make sense.
You'd think they'd be labelled or at least have a track sheet or something.

A common track order is 1+2 LtRt Stereo Mix, 2+3 Stereo M&E, 4/5/6/7/8/9
5.1 Mix. I don't know what the other tracks would be, maybe 5.1 M&E?
That would total 16 tracks.

[Scott G]

I believe they are the broadcast master video files.

Scott

[trakbytes]

I work with many networks and cable broadcasters here in the US, and I can say there is no standard for track layout. Every broadcaster has their own spec, and they vary widely. However, each broadcaster should be able to provide you with their spec sheet with things like peak levels and LKFS standards, so I suggest you ask for that info in advance. If you are pulling audio files from a Pro Res video you can often tell what the tracks are by looking at the waveform, but that of course introduces another margin for error. Best to ask.

[dr sound]

What I see most of the time is..
1-6 is 5.1
7&8 Stereo or Lt/Rt
9-12 M&E

[reichman]

The HDCAM-SR layout that I often send Pro Tools sessions to is (12) tracks like this:

ch.1
Stereo Left (Lt)
ch.2
Stereo Right (Rt)
ch.3
Dialogue Left (Lt)
ch.4
Dialogue Right (Rt)
ch.5
Surround Left
ch.6
Surround Right
ch.7
Surround Center
ch.8
Surround Low Frequency Effects (LFE)
ch.9
Surround Left Rear
ch.10
Surround Right Rear
ch.11
Music & Effects Left (Lt)
ch.12
Music & Effects Right (Rt)

...but there are two things here that are quickly going away (or gone):

-tape-based laybacks
-LtRt encoding

[trakbytes]

Originally Posted by dr sound

What I see most of the time is..
1-6 is 5.1
7&8 Stereo or Lt/Rt
9-12 M&E

Yes, this is pretty common in my experience. For NBC shows, the layout is typically 1-6=5.1, 7&8=LTRT, 9-DX mono, 10=FX mono, and 11-12 are MX stereo.

Tape based laybacks are indeed going away. We still do a "layback" pass for file delivery shows though. Clients usually like to give it one more listen with fresh ears and a different stage for any last minute tweaks. Then we format the files for delivery to be wrapped with the final picture.

reichman, I'm curious, is the file naming convention in your example typical for NY studios? Most here in LA would find it pretty confusing to have "surround" on all the 6 track files. Pro Tools wouldn't like it either. We still encode an LTRT, but it is not actually broadcast as the set-top box does the downmix. Still has to meet specs though.

[reichman]

reichman, I'm curious, is the file naming convention in your example typical for NY studios? Most here in LA would find it pretty confusing to have "surround" on all the 6 track files. Pro Tools wouldn't like it either. We still encode an LTRT, but it is not actually broadcast as the set-top box does the downmix. Still has to meet specs though.

Those aren't the filenames. What I posted is just copied from a PDF that Viacom would send out as part of their spec. Track names and filenames were written with the particulars of the show, and in a much more PT-friendly way.