How many channels of Dubber are required for the Dolby Atmos System?

[Masato Takasawa]

Hi,

How many channels of Dubber machines do I need to build a Dolby Atmos system?

What kind of stems will be recorded?
Content will be produced movies and Netflix.

[its2loud]

There is no simple answer to this question.
The number of channels is determined by how many beds and object you have for any particular project.

You should design you dubber to allow the maximum amount of channels the Dolby Renderer can handle which would be up to 128 channels. Unless you’re planning on recording other live re-renders to your dubber as well. In which case you’re going to want to have more.

[Masato Takasawa]

Hi,

Is it common for the Dubber machine to record not only each 7.1.4 stem and rerenders returning from the Renderer, but also the objects sent from each machine to the Renderer?

[its2loud]

Yes, the Dubber records all beds and objects prior to going to the Renderer. The Dubber feeds the beds and objects to the Renderer for monitoring while mixing and then eventually recording into the Renderer.

The usual style for mixing with a Dubber is to use PEC/DIR.

[Steven1145]

Start at 128 channels, just for recording what could be going into the RMU. I say could because some Atmos mixes will be simpler than others and won't use all the channels. On a crazy action or animation movie on the other hand...
Then if you need to record re-renders in the same pass as the main mix, then add another 64 channels (basically a PT HDX3 setup).