From Pro Tools HDX to 5.1 .ac3

[1m1]

I know, you're right... why would a person want to release this format? But you don't know this client, haha. I could probably talk him into 96k as a sample rate. He is definitely interested in the audiophile aspect, so Dolby 5.1 is out of the question. I don't think he cares if he sells very many, it doesn't seem to really be about that. He released the album last year as a CD, but has always wanted to also do a 5.1 release of it as well and is talking about doing it this year.

I did a little research on it awhile ago, but I've never done a Blu-Ray release for a client and you sound like you know what you're talking about so I figured I'd get some info while you're around :)

[Darryl Ramm]

Hey I'm an "audiophile", have a very high-end Mark Levinson audio stack at home. If they wanted to sell to me it would be LPCM only, and I could only decode 2 channels @ 96kHz from my Blu-Ray player into that rack. If it was Dolby Digital I'd just never buy the the disc.

I expect the only somewhat wide markets you can count on are LCPM stereo (44.1kHz, 48kHz, maybe 96 kHz and very few 198 kHz.. and the number where 198 kHz will make any audible difference... zero.) and Dolby Digital 5.1 (but often played in 2, 2.1, 3, 3.1,...). And which means you are at best at 48kHz sample rate per track and that all has to be compressed into a 640kHz raw signal rate.

If its a vanity surround project hell go LPCM with 5.1/6 channels and provide good stereo down mix. And hopefully the customer is prepared to sell/give away very limited quantities.

I am clueless on best Dolby Digital or LCPM workflows for Blu-Ray maybe others here can help you.

[nst7]

1m1, you may want to talk to a disc manufacturer that does Blu Ray authoring, as you can get a better idea of what's recommended, and also what the minimum amount of discs need to be ordered to make it a reasonable price per disc so they can be sold for profit.

Discmakers is a good company for this.

[peter5992]

To the original poster: I did this a couple of years ago using Sony Vegas. From memory you can import the individual stereo or mono tracks into Vegas, assign them to speakers in the mixing panel, import the video as well, and then create a disc burning image which you can use in a separate Sony program to burn DVDs.

This is a nifty low budget solution ($100 give or take). Bear in mind that Vegas only works on PC. Vegas is a super user friendly video editing program, by the way, infinitely more intuitive than Avid. Not going to make any friends here, and I love Marianne, but it is true.

The tricky part is figuring out the "best" setting for rendering video, the options are mind boggling, depending on what you want to achieve.

I tested the DVD on my home entertainment surround system (5.1, now 7.1), seemed to work well.