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Exercise 2 – ADM BWF Import to Pro Tools and Renderer Monitoring Operations  

  • Updated

Exercise Objectives 

This exercise is designed to reinforce concepts covered in Modules 2 through 6. The objectives for this exercise are to import an ADM BWF, connect to and play back via the Renderer, and switch metering and measurement options. Refer back to the previous Modules if needed.  Options for achieving some exercise objectives are presented.   Become familiar with all of options presented.   

Download the Exercise Content 2-3.zip to the Pro Tools workstation and unzip on the media drive. 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Follow these steps in the Renderer: 

  • Launch the Renderer.  Set as per Exercise 1 

 

Pro Tools 

Follow these steps in Pro Tools: 

  • Launch Pro Tools if closed.  Set as per Exercise 1 

 

Prepare the session for ADM BWF import using one of the five options below.  The first four prepare the I/O Setup for the ADM Import.  The fourth will use the ADM import to create the I/O Setup.    

 

Option 1 – Create session using I/O Setup from Exercise 1 

  • From the Dashboard 
    • Name the session Exercise 2 
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Last Used 
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
    • Click Create
  • Configure Session>Setup or press Cmd+2 
    • Set the timecode rate to 24
    • Set the session start to 00:59:50:00 

 

– Or – 

 

Option 2 – Create a session using one of the supplied templates 

  • From the Dashboard 
    • Check Create from Template 
    • From the Template Group drop-down menu select Dolby Atmos Production Suite  
    • Select Dolby Atmos Renderer Dolby Audio Bridge Mono 
    • Name the session Exercise 2 
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Dolby Atmos Renderer Dolby Audio Bridge Mono 
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
    • Click Create 
  • Configure Session>Setup or press Cmd+2 
    • Set the timecode rate to 24
    • Set the session start to 00:59:50:00 
  • Alternatively, if the session is created from the Dashboard with the I/O setting set to “Last Used” the I/O setting file (.pio) can be subsequently imported. 
    • Go to Setup>I/O 
    • Click Import Settings and select Dolby Atmos Renderer Dolby Audio Bridge Mono 
    • Click Ok 
    • Click Yes when presented with the Delete unused busses dialog 
  • In the Bus tab, click the 7.1.2 Bed Mapping to Renderer checkbox to assign the Bed to Input 1-10 
  • In the Bus tab, mapping of all Object busses will be displayed in the Mapping to Renderer column 
  • In the Edit window Option Click on a track name to select all tracks 
  • Delete all tracks Tracks>Delete.   Your ADM BWF import will create the tracks in a later step.

 

– Or – 

 

Option 3 - Create a new session and set up the I/O manually: 

  • From the Dashboard  
    • Name the session Exercise 2 
    • Uncheck Create from Template if checked 
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Last Used 
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
    • Click Create 
  • Configure Session>Setup or press Cmd+2 
    • Set the timecode rate to 24
    • Set the session start to 00:59:50:00 
  • Go to Setup > I/O 
  • Delete all existing Output paths from the Output tab. 
  • In the Output tab, set the Default Format to 7.1.2, and set the Path Order to SMPTE. 
  • Add new Output paths: 
    • 1 x 7.1.2 output for the Bed. Name this 7.1.2 Bed. 
    • Check Add default channel assignments 
    • 118 x mono outputs for the Object.  Name these Object. (Pro Tools will label these Object1 through Object 118 automatically.) 
    • 1 x mono output for the LTC Generator (if needed).  Name this LTC Gen.   This will be automatically assigned to the next available output 129. 
  • In the Bus tab, click the 7.1.2 Bed Mapping to Renderer checkbox to assign the Bed to Input 1-10 
  • In the Bus tab, map the mono Object busses 1 to 118 to Renderer Inputs 11 to 128  
    • Shift-click from Object 1 to 118 to select all Object busses, then hold Cmd+Option+Shift and click the Object 1 Mapping to Renderer field check box. This will sequentially cascade Object metadata assignments to the same Renderer inputs as the Object audio paths across all Object busses. 
  • Verify mapping to Object assignments have been set correctly; then click OK. 

 

– Or – 

 

Option 4 – Create a new session and use the Dolby Atmos Renderer as Default to create the I/O Setup  

  • From the Dashboard  
    • Name the session Exercise 2 
    • Uncheck Create from Template if checked 
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Last Used 
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
    • Click Create 
  • Configure Session>Setup or press Cmd+2 
    • Set the timecode rate to 24
    • Set the session start to 00:59:50:00 
  • Go to Setup > I/O 
  • Delete all existing Output paths from the Output tab 
  • In the Bus tab select Use Dolby Atmos Renderer from the Default drop-down menu  
  • Click Default 
  • In the Output tab 
    • From the Dashboard  
      • Name the session Exercise 2 
      • Uncheck Create from Template if checked 
      • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Last Used 
      • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
      • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
      • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
      • Click Create 
  • Go to Setup > I/O 
  • Delete all existing Output paths from the Output tab 
  • Click OK

- O5 -

Option 5 – Create a new session and use the ADM BWF import process to create the I/O setup

  • From the Dashboard
    • Name the session Exercise 2
    • Uncheck Create from Template if checked
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Last Used
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV)
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit
    • Click Create
  • Go to Setup > I/O
  • Delete all existing Output paths from the Output tab
  • Click OK

Import the ADM BWF 

  • Import the supplied NaturesFuryADM.wav using Import File > Import > Session Data. 
    • In the Tracks pane, Option Click on one of Source track names to set all to New Track
    • In the Custom Data pane, check Import Bed/Object Output Assignment and Object Pan Data
    • In the Custom Data Pane, check Add Bed/Object Group Name to I/O Setup if available.
    • Click OK
    • Click OK if the dialog box reports: This will change the session’s framerate to match the incoming ADM BWF file. This will not display if the framerate was set to 24 in Session Setup.
    • If using Options 1, 2, 3, or 4, scan the Session Notes Dialog to verify expected results and click No.
  • Assign the output of all tracks to the 7.1.2 Bed using Option+Shift.
  • All Object tracks should already be set to Object (orange).  If not, toggle all Object tracks to Object using Option-click while using the toggle on any Object track. 
  • If the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in is needed perform the following steps: 
    • In the Output tab of the I/O Setup page, add 1 x mono output path for LTC Generator. Name as LTC Gen and assign to output 129
    • In the Edit window, add an additional mono aux input or audio track (Track>New or press Shift+Cmd+N)  
    • insert the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in  
    • set the output to the LTC Gen bus. 

 

Optional - Import the proxy video to the Pro Tools session: 

  • Add a Video Track (Track>New or press Shift+Cmd+N) 
  • Import Video (File>Import>Video or press Option+Shift+Cmd+I)  
  • Navigate to NaturesFury.mp4 in the unzipped Exercise Content 2-3 folder.  Click Open 
  • From the Video Import Options Dialog 
    • Set Destination as Main Video Track 
    • Set Location to Spot 
    • Do not check Import audio from file 
    • Click OK 
  • From the Spot Dialog enter 01:00:00:00 
  • Enable the video device or open the video window – Window>Video or press Cmd+9 
  • Verify playback with the video device or Video window 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer (or Remote) 

Follow these steps in the Renderer or Renderer Remote: 

  • In the Dolby Atmos Renderer Preferences, enable Spatial Coding, Output Limiting, Speaker Processing, Headphone Processing, and Loudness Measurement in Preferences (Mac) or Settings (PC). 
  • Close any open master files from the File menu, or by using Cmd+Shift+W. 
  • In the Renderer Window: 
    • Under Source, set the Input/Master Toggle to Input. 
    • Enable the Synchronization button (clock icon). 
    • Verify that no mute or attenuation is applied in the Renderer. 

Pro Tools 

Start the transport with the Play button or spacebar. 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Dolby Atmos Renderer – Action 

Dolby Atmos Renderer – Result 

 

The following meters are active: 

  • Speaker Output meters 
  • Spatial Coding Limiter meter 
  • Speaker Limiting meter 
  • Headphone Output meters 
  • Headphone Limiting meter 
  • Loudness Measurement: 
  • Short/Momentary meters 
  • Atmos|Stereo (or Binaural) toggle 
  • Numeric displays 

Switch Monitor Layouts with the Monitoring drop-down menu. 

The number of Speaker Outputs will change with the selection. The default options are Physical, 7.1.4, 7.1, 5.1, and 2.0. 

Switch Monitor Layouts with the 1,2,3,4 numeric keys above the qwerty keyboard. 

The number of Speaker Outputs will change with the selection. The default options are Physical, 7.1.4, 7.1, 5.1, and 2.0. 

Expand the Object View drop-down menu (the cube icon). 

Reveals View and Show. 

Toggle the view between Theater and Person. 

Object View changes between Theater and Person. Person view brings Z-axis to ear level. 

Toggle on/off show Object number and Binaural settings. 
  • No supplemental info is displayed in the Object View. 
  • Object Numbers are displayed. 
  • Binaural distance settings per Object are displayed. 

With Headphone Processing enabled, switch the Headphone Render Mode between Stereo and Binaural in Preferences or Settings. 
  • Renderer will reinitialize. 
  • Headphone output will be changed between the Stereo and Binaural Render. 
  • The Loudness section will display Atmos|Stereo or Atmos|Binaural. 

Disable Headphone Processing. 
  • Renderer will reinitialize. 
  • Headphone output and limiting meters will go away. 
  • The Loudness section will display the Headphone Render Mode even if the output processing is not active. 

Observe Short and Momentary meters. 

Top Row of Loudness Numeric display follows meters. 

Toggle Loudness Measurement between Atmos (5.1 Re-render w/Limiting) and Stereo or Binaural (depending on selection in Headphone processing). 

Loudness Measurement will switch between the two in real time. 

Click on the Loudness Measurement Reset button. 

Loudness Measurement starts again when clicked. 

Click on the Loudness Measurement Pause button. 

Loudness Measurement Pause button turns blue and Loudness Measurement is paused until the Pause button is clicked again. 

 

Saving Your Work 

Be sure to save this session 

 

Troubleshooting 

Issue 

Unable to map all Objects. 

Possible Cause 

A master file using fewer Objects is open in the Renderer.  

Solution 

Close the master file and map Objects in the Pro Tools Bus tab. 

 

Navigation 

Next: Exercise 3 – Create and Playback a Dolby Atmos Master File   

Previous: Exercise 1  – Playback from Pro Tools and Monitoring the Renderer Input