Disabling center channel

[RecRoom]

I'm mixing a show for Nat Geo and I want to make absolutely sure I don't accidentally send any sfx or music to the center channel as per their delivery requirements. Is there a way to disable the center channel on a 5.1 buss? Or perhaps a way to lock the automation control for the %center control?

I looked through the manual and haven't been able to find an answer.

[Meads]

I'm doing Justin a solid, and throw in "Spanner".
That's a great plugin, that amongst other things makes it possible, to have access to the single channels of a multichannel track in terms of volume for example. So you could mute out the C, if you want to.

[minister]

The center % is automatable. Feed your FX to a 5.1 Bus, then group the FX including pan controls. Open one of the panning/volume controls on any one of the tracks. ctl-cmd click on the "Center Percentage" parameter to reveal the control in the Edit Window. Select your entire timeline. Trim the value to 0%. Set the breakpoints with cmd-opt-/.

Delete the group.

[RecRoom]

I plan on purchasing spanner soon. A quick workaround I found is to put a multi-mono trim plugin on both my music and effects busses, unlink the channels, select the center channel, and mute. Easy as pie.

[minister]

One thing to be mindful of in your solution is that you have just muted anything that is panned center -- no chance of phantom if the channel's center is set to 100%. The channel would send a mono track to the center, and your trim mute will turn it off. I would fix the center % on every channel to 0 so a mono center sound will play equally out the left and right.

[RecRoom]

Originally Posted by minister

One thing to be mindful of in your solution is that you have just muted anything that is panned center -- no chance of phantom if the channel's center is set to 100%. The channel would send a mono track to the center, and your trim mute will turn it off. I would fix the center % on every channel to 0 so a mono center sound will play equally out the left and right.

Hmmm that's true. The problem with that is when I am mixing, I'm getting tracks from many different editors and sometimes when I'm dragging sfx from other tracks for whatever reason the center % gets set back to 100 so I have to go back everytime and make sure it's set back to 0. Would spanner give me the same problem as my trim the center to 0 issue?

[minister]

I don't have spanner. But know justin, I am sure it is an excellent and useful plugin.

You can disable an automation parameter with....I think, cnt-cmd-click on the parameter listing on the track (I mean than place where you pull it up as a drop down menu on the track). I am not at the studio, thus the hesitation of the key command. IOW, you can disable the "reading" of any center percentage value change. So the value can stay at 0. You won't have to worry about any new tracks or regions.

If you switch off Automation Follows Edit, you lose your volume from the editor, but maybe that is not an issue..

This way is free. But I am sure spanner is worth what is charged.

[Meads]

Simply switch off "automation follows edit", when you import new stuff and place it on existing tracks. Once everything sits where it should, switch it back on again.

[JKD99]

Can't you just assign the tracks to a Quad (ie, no Center) sub-path of your 5.1 FX buss? Or just a Quad path with an LFE send on each track?
That way you'd still have access to the LFE but anything in the front would be using a phantom center
Seems that would work just as well

[RecRoom]

Originally Posted by JKD99

Can't you just assign the tracks to a Quad (ie, no Center) sub-path of your 5.1 FX buss? Or just a Quad path with an LFE send on each track?
That way you'd still have access to the LFE but anything in the front would be using a phantom center
Seems that would work just as well

You Sir, are a genius! I knew there was an easy way to do this. Thanks!