Bouncing down 5.1 to stereo

[gmccann]

Want to bounce 5.1 Tracks to stereo interleaved for CD reference. How? Currently splitting 5.1 tracks to mono, selecting LCR and LsRs panned in stereo adjusting levels, and bouncing from there, but is there a direct way from a 5.1 track? Probably missing something obvious, but...

[ekuehnl]

Give each of the original tracks an additional stereo output destination (control + click). Then simply bounce with the stereo output as the source.

[gmccann]

Thanks ekuehnl , but although I have stereo outputs set up in my I/O set-up (I'm on PT HD 5.3.1), the only output options from my 5.1 track are the mono legs - the stereos don't appear as an option - any ideas??

[CO2]

Hello gmccann:

I recall a few occasions where 5.1 tracks were folded down to stereo following this procedure:

Using a 1 KHz reference tone on your 5.1 stems;

• Pan the Center stem to Center and set to -23 dbFS
• Pan the Left Front stem to hard Left and set to -20 dbFS
• Pan the Right Front stem to hard Right and set to -20 dbFS
• Pan the Left Surround to hard Left and set to -23 dbFS
• Pan the Right Surround to hard Right and set to -23 dbFS
• Mute the Sub (Boom) stem

Then audition the mix and make any adjustments you feel are necessary to the level of the Center, Left Surround and Right Surround stems (possibly lowering each an additional 3 db) to get a reasonable stereo mix.

I have never liked folded down 5.1 mixes to stereo, but I have heard this done on a few occasions with reasonably acceptable results.

Best Regards

[ppine]

Kinda Loud's "Tweetie" Has a "Downmix" feature that lets you hear how your 5.1 mix collapses to stereo, LCR, and mono. You can bounce with this feature on.

With a little EQ tweeking and a bit of level adjustment a usable stereo bounce can be coaxed from your 5.1 mix.

[poldo]

... or you can try Waves 360 tools, with its powerfull mixdown features...
I use the simplest technique, just using PT mixer volume in this way:
L=0 DbFS
C= -3 DbFS
R=0 DbFS
Ls=-5 DbFS
Rs=-5 DbFS
LFE muted
The biggest matter is to check the resultant phase coherence between L-Ls and R-Rs
In a well engineered 5.1 mix, this is generally working well
Another way to do the trick is using Dolby Surround tools template that let you obtain a Lt-Rt mixdown from a 5.1 mix just in one bounce! And it will be surround compatible!

AJP

[ekuehnl]

I didn't realize you only had the 5.1 stems. My suggestion would only pertain to a session which had all of the original (mono, stereo, etc.) source tracks.

I've always done it like this:

L = 0dBfs
C = -3dBfs
R = 0dBfs
Ls = -6dBfs
Rs = -6dBfs
LFE = MUTE

I'm sure you can get solid results with any of the above mentioned methods.

-Eric

[gmccann]

Thank you all - very helpful. I'll chase up some of the software you mention.

[houser]

Just another voice for the Waves 360 stuff.
The mixdown plugin in th is package allows you to save different setups for different situations, and does a great job in the time
it takes to open a plugin and choose a preset.
FWIW, YMMV

regards
Janne A.

[bpedigree]

Hey Ekuehnl,

Am I understanding that once you bounce down your mix to stems, you then allocate each stem to a mono track, adjust levels accordingly, and THEN bounce to a stereo mix? I tried that and it didn't work out so well; everything was peaked, it was VERY right side heavy. I checked my levels and pans and everything was set to a level comparable to those in this post but it still sounded awful. Any ideas?