Bouncing Objects from within Pro Tools

[PhiltheGreek1]

Hi!

When bouncing Dolby Atmos mixes within Pro Tools Ultimate of objects they don't sound right. I can hear them in the distance
What am I doing wrong?
I'm trying to find the best way to flatten the session..
Thanks for any help.

[its2loud]

Can you be a bit more specific here and lead us through the steps you’re taking that don’t sound “right”.

1. What are you bouncing to?
2. What you listening on?
3. Is this a binaural mix you’re listening to?
Etc, etc.

[PhiltheGreek1]

Thanks for your message.

I finished a mix in Pro Tools 22.9 audio-bridging to the Dolby Renderer (3.7).

I monitor through the Dolby Renderer on headphones, in binaural mostly - The full mix is a binaural re-render (which I make from the renderer) , but I'm working in Atmos too; so I bounce the Atmos master file from Pro Tools first.

This all works great. I usually open the master file in the renderer and output my binaural re-render from there.

Everything works great the mix is good - - I now just want to 'flatten' the Pro Tools session, so that only the audio is left to play...



When flattening the session;

Bouncing straight beds; stems and tracks seems ok.


but..
If I bounce the OBJECT tracks in the group they are in (i.e. SFX group) then I hear the objects are very far in the distance, like it is just the 3D verb or something.

- - I can't convert objects to beds to bounce them as beds, because if 1 object is locked in stereo to another, the bed doesn't account for this movement and it sounds quite different.

If I bounce tracks (either as a track bounce or a full mix and solo'd) that are OBJECTS I get 2 outputs (output 1 and output 0) one is 7.1.2 the other a mono file. Not sure what to do with these.

Attempting to flatten in another way - If I reimport session data from the Dolby master file it doesn't play audio in the correct places - for example an LCR vocal track is panned to the right. This might be because it's interleaved.

I'm currently reading through Dolby Renderer manual and thinking perhaps I need to record tracks through there but this seems to complicated to me (putting in timecodes for each track etc etc..).

Any links to latest Pro Tools info on how to do this would be great too.

Cheers
Phil





-

[its2loud]

When flattening the session;

Bouncing straight beds; stems and tracks seems ok. -

For what purpose are you trying to “flatten” the session?

If I bounce the OBJECT tracks in the group they are in (i.e. SFX group) then I hear the objects are very far in the distance, like it is just the 3D verb or something. -

This might be bussing issue or routing issue. Hard to know without seeing the session. When you say “bounce”. What exactly do you mean? Track bounce? Commit? Freeze?

- - I can't convert objects to beds to bounce them as beds, because if 1 object is locked in stereo to another, the bed doesn't account for this movement and it sounds quite different. -

You can’t convert Objects to Beds. You can automate whether audio is sent to a Bed or Object but once it’s chosen as one or the other, you can’t convert it.

If I bounce tracks (either as a track bounce or a full mix and solo'd) that are OBJECTS I get 2 outputs (output 1 and output 0) one is 7.1.2 the other a mono file. Not sure what to do with these. -

The only way to bounce an Atmos mix in Pro Tools is to do a full ADM Wav bounce. It’s not clear what you’re trying to do here.

Attempting to flatten in another way - If I reimport session data from the Dolby master file it doesn't play audio in the correct places - for example an LCR vocal track is panned to the right. This might be because it's interleaved. -

You need to make sure you’re importing all the IO and routing metadata from the ADM file. Your session needs to match that of the file. That LCR vocal track should be assigned to a Bed output.

I'm currently reading through Dolby Renderer manual and thinking perhaps I need to record tracks through there but this seems to complicated to me (putting in timecodes for each track etc etc..). -

Timecode for each track? No. It’s just timecode for the session so the Renderer can play and record in sync. Also, this isn’t necessary with offline bounces of ADM files.

Any links to latest Pro Tools info on how to do this would be great too. -

https://professional.dolby.com/conte...l-series/#gref

https://youtu.be/neONSwTnpvQ

[PhiltheGreek1]

Hey - Thanks again for responding.

"This might be bussing issue or routing issue. Hard to know without seeing the session. When you say “bounce”. What exactly do you mean? Track bounce? Commit? Freeze?"

It's the first time I've done this - so I am not sure of the best way - I just want to pass a session on, with just the audio playing. It doesn't even need to sound exact.
So in the case of Objects I want them in a 7.1.2 audio file, with its FX sends included.


"You can’t convert Objects to Beds. You can automate whether audio is sent to a Bed or Object but once it’s chosen as one or the other, you can’t convert it."

I meant 'convert' them in the sense of turning the 'object' off and thus it outputs as a bed. It didn't matter that it sounds slightly different to me, until the case of objects locked to follow others then it sounds very wrong.

"The only way to bounce an Atmos mix in Pro Tools is to do a full ADM Wav bounce. It’s not clear what you’re trying to do here."

here I just meant to track bounce an OBJECT as a 7.1.2 audio file.


"You need to make sure you’re importing all the IO and routing metadata from the ADM file. Your session needs to match that of the file. That LCR vocal track should be assigned to a Bed output."

Does this mean I have to make the ADM Wav from the Dolby software? I imported the ADM wav made from Pro Tools..

Thanks so much for those links !!

[its2loud]

It's the first time I've done this - so I am not sure of the best way - I just want to pass a session on, with just the audio playing. It doesn't even need to sound exact.
So in the case of Objects I want them in a 7.1.2 audio file, with its FX sends included.

Pass on to who/what? Generally, this is not how this is done. Beds and Object are all contained in one type of file which is typically an ADM bwav file. Although, sometimes a .Atmos file is delivered which is the native file format of the Dolby Renderer.

I meant 'convert' them in the sense of turning the 'object' off and thus it outputs as a bed. It didn't matter that it sounds slightly different to me, until the case of objects locked to follow others then it sounds very wrong.

If you change the output of a track from object to Bed, you need to change any other tracks that are output to the same object. Just changing one tracks Object output won’t change any others going to the same object.

here I just meant to track bounce an OBJECT as a 7.1.2 audio file.

Even if you only have one track being sent to the Renderer as an Object, it still needs to be properly bounced as an ADM file. Are you trying to create a 7.1.2 file internally within Pro Tools from a group of Objects? This cannot be done in this way.

Does this mean I have to make the ADM Wav from the Dolby software? I imported the ADM wav made from Pro Tools..

No, it means you need to make sure you import all the settings from the Import Session Data dialog box. Not just the audio.


This might help in general.
https://amerecords.com/how-to-delive...-in-pro-tools/

[PhiltheGreek1]

"Pass on to who/what? Generally, this is not how this is done. Beds and Object are all contained in one type of file which is typically an ADM bwav file. Although, sometimes a .Atmos file is delivered which is the native file format of the Dolby Renderer."

Sometimes someone asks for what they ask for - in this case its a Pro Tools session with all the audio flattened.

I missed the importing session data part I only imported the tracks - I think this is the way.

"If you change the output of a track from object to Bed, you need to change any other tracks that are output to the same object. Just changing one tracks Object output won’t change any others going to the same object."

Think I did do this - but if one object was previously locked to another as object then movement didn't seem to correspond when they are all bounced as a bed.

"Even if you only have one track being sent to the Renderer as an Object, it still needs to be properly bounced as an ADM file. Are you trying to create a 7.1.2 file internally within Pro Tools from a group of Objects? This cannot be done in this way."

I am not sure what I was doing here - attempting to bounce them as a bed I think, because they were in a group named 'sfx', I got confused.

Thanks again for patiently helping me - the reading material is much appreciated.

[EdwardWilliam]

Perhaps what the op wants is a stereo PT session, if that’s what flat means. If so, he could move or copy the audio clips from each Atmos track (objects and beds) to standard mono or stereo tracks. Then, he could stop using the Atmos renderer and return to a standard playback engine. The op would then need to re-pan the object’s previous actions in stereo. This is the first method of “flattening”that I can think of.

Alternatively, the Atmos render will output a 2.0 file. So the op could try to solo an object track in Atmos, render it, then import that into a new flat PT session. Keep repeating for each object track, and re-assign the bed sends to stereo.

I haven’t tried this, and it doesn’t sound like a fun day, so take it with salt. Hopefully someone has better ideas.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by PhiltheGreek1

Sometimes someone asks for what they ask for - in this case its a Pro Tools session with all the audio flattened.

What they probably want is all plugins and effects rendered and processed for each track. And all audio clips on the track consolidated. In this case, importing the ADM File into a new Pro Tools session will give them exactly this. If not, then just commit each track up to the last plug-in on the track leaving any other automation and routing as is.

Think I did do this - but if one object was previously locked to another as object then movement didn't seem to correspond when they are all bounced as a bed.

If you unlink an Object that has other tracks bussed to that same Object, all the linked tracks will lose their pan data since it was all tied to the original Object. You would need to copy all pan data to the remaining Master Object or reassign the other tracks to their own objects and copy the pan data to those tracks.

I am not sure what I was doing here - attempting to bounce them as a bed I think, because they were in a group named 'sfx', I got confused.

Ok

Thanks again for patiently helping me - the reading material is much appreciated.[/QUOTE]

It’s difficult to know if this is something for film/tv or music based on your descriptions. I’m going to go with film/tv since you keep using SFX. But you also used the term Vox, which indicates music.

[PhiltheGreek1]

I think what I need is a session that plays as close to the original mix, that sounds the best, and doesn't involve a third party renderer.

Importing ADM WAV into a fresh session (as session data) does work if you use the renderer still; if I assign outputs as 'normal', the crash down of channels doesn't sound correct.

I'll experiment with some of the ways suggested included to get to the best outcome.

Cheers.