Exercise 5 – Combine Select Tracks from ADM BWF Files, Assign Tracks to Groups and VCAs

Exercise Objectives 

This exercise is designed to reinforce concepts covered in Modules 7, 8, and 9. The objective for this exercise is to combine tracks from three ADM BWF files to create a multi-language source master Pro Tools session, and to establish groups and VCA assignments to facilitate mastering operations. 

This exercise show screen grabs from using Option 1 in the previous exercise.   If Option 2 was used some Bed and Object assignments will need to be made manually. 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Launch the Renderer.  Set as per Exercise 4. 

Pro Tools 

Open the saved session named A_Sound_Proposal_Exercise. 

Before importing additional tracks and creating duplicate track names, it is helpful to label existing tracks and audio files to differentiate them. 

The ADM BWF file imported in the Exercise 4 was A_Sound_Proposal_German_AltMusic.wav. 

Rename track and audio files: 

Beds 

• DX Bed to German DX Bed 
• MX Bed to AltMX Bed 

Objects 

• DX Object 1 to German DX Object 1 
• DX Object 2 to German DX Object 2 

Importing the English Language tracks: 

Open the Import Session Data dialog box. 

• Choose File > Import >Session Data. 

Browse to the location of the supplied “A_Sound_Proposal_English.wav” ADM BWF file and click Open. 

The Tracks pane of the Import Session Data window will show you the tracks available for import. 

In the destination field, select New Track for: 

• DX Bed (7.1.2 audio) – This will be English. 
• MX Bed (7.1.2 audio) – This will be the original Music Bed. 
• DX Object 1 (Mono audio) – This will be English. 
• DX Object 2 (Mono audio) – This will be English. 

In the original German_AltMusic file, the tracks below were silent. In the destination field, select to replace: 

• MX Object 41 (Mono audio) with MX Object 41  
• MX Object 42 (Mono audio) with MX Object 42 
• MX Object 43 (Mono audio) with MX Object 43 
• MX Object 44 (Mono audio) with MX Object 44 

In the Custom Data panel, select: 

• Import 
  • Object Pan Data 
  • Object Output Assignment 

Click OK. 

 

In the Edit window, rename the newly imported track and audio files: 

• DX Bed to English DX Bed 
• DX Object 1 to English DX Object 1 
• DX Object 2 to English DX Object 2 

English DX Bed will be assigned to the DX 7.1.2 Bed. 

English DX Object 1 will be assigned to Object bus DX Object 1 with the Object Control Mode Off. 

English DX Object 2 will be assigned to Object bus DX Object 2  with the Object Control Mode Off. 

Drag the new Bed and Objects tracks to align with the other Bed track in the session. 

• Example – English DX Bed next to German DX Bed, etc.  

Importing the French Language tracks: 

Open the Import Session Data window: 

• Choose File > Import > Session Data. 

Browse to the location of the supplied “A_Sound_Proposal_French.wav” ADM BWF file and click Open. 

The Tracks pane of the Import Session Data window will show you the tracks available for import. 

In the Destination field, select New Track for: 

• DX Bed (7.1.2 audio) – This will be French. 
• DX Object 1 (Mono audio) – This will be French. 
• DX Object 2 (Mono audio) – This will be French. 

In the Custom Data pane check: 

• Import 
  • Object Output Assignment 
  • Object Pan Data 

Click OK. 

As in Exercise 4, a Sessions Notes dialog will show the bus paths were already in use. 

Click No. 

In the Edit window, rename the newly imported tracks and audio files: 

• DX Bed to French DX Bed. 
• DX Object 1 to French DX Object 1. 
• DX Object 2 to French DX Object 2. 

French DX Bed will be assigned to the DX 7.1.2 Bed. 

French DX Object 1 will be assigned to Object bus DX Object 1 with the Object Control Mode Off. 

French DX Object 2 will be assigned to Object bus DX Object 2  with the Object Control Mode Off. 

Drag the new Bed and Objects tracks to align with the other Bed track in the session. 

• Example – French DX Bed next to German DX Bed, etc.  

As the dialog Objects share panning, set the Object Control Mode to Master for English DX Object 1 and 2 by first setting the Object Control Mode to Off for German Dialog Object 1 and 2. 

This should appear as follows in the Edit window: 

Select the last track in your session, and add 8 VCA Master tracks: 

• From the menu bar, navigate to Track > New or press Shift+Cmd+N. 

Name the VCAs: 

• Master 
• Eng DX Master 
• Ger DX Master 
• Frch DX Master 
• FX Master 
• BG Master 
• MX Master 
• AltMX Master 

From the Group pane in the Edit window, create the following groups with the bulleted membership via the drop-down or type Command+G. 

Use Add>> and <<Remove to populate the Groups (or double-click on a track name). 

Create the following groups: 

• Name the English DX Group, English DX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as Eng DX Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • English DX Bed 
  • English DX Object 1 
  • English DX Object 2 

• Name the German DX Group, German DX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as German DX Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • German DX Bed 
  • German DX Object 1 
  • German DX Object 2 
• Name the Frch DX Group, French DX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as Frch DX Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • French DX Bed 
  • French DX Object 1 
  • English DX Object 2 
• Name the FX Group, FX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as FXMaster and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • FX Bed 
  • FX Object 3 thru FX Object 17 
• Name the BG Group, BG Group. 
• Assign the VCA as BG Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • BG Bed 
  • BG Object 18 thru BG Object 40 
• Name the MX Group, MX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as MX Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • MX Bed 
  • MX Object 41 thru MX Object 44 
• Name the AltMX Group, AltMX Group. 
• Assign the VCA as AltMX Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • AltMX Bed 
  • AltMX Object 45 
  • AltMX Object 46 
• Name the Master Group, Master Group. 
• Assign the VCA as Master and ensure the following are part of that group: 
  • Eng DX Master 
  • Ger DX Master 
    • Frch DX Master 
  • FX Master 
  • BG Master 
  • MX Master 
  • AltMX Master 
  • Assign the Master as VCA 

They should appear as follows in the Edit window: 

Optional Additional Steps: 

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 A Sound Proposal 1920x1080 23.mp4 in the unzipped Exercise Content 4-7 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 

Using color coding for Stem tracks (VCAs, Bed, Objects) and Clips in the Edit window can make it easier to navigate the session. You can do this by choosing Window > Color Palette. 

Saving Your Work 

Be sure to save this session. 

Navigation 

Next: Exercise 6 – Using VCAs to Mix to a Target Loudness Level   

Previous: Exercise 4 – Configuring Pro Tools and the Renderer for Multiple Bed Workflow