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Logic Pro Exercise 4 – Loudness and Exports

  • Updated

Exercise Objectives: 

This exercise is designed to reinforce concepts covered in modules 7, 8, and 9. The objective of this exercise is to use VCAs within Logic to mix to a target loudness level, as well as to create a variety of exports/deliverables. You will be using the pre-mixed Logic project ‘Dolby Atmos Music Loudness Exercise_Logic.logicx’. 

Note: With the release of Logic Pro v10.7, Logic now supports a fully-integrated Dolby Atmos workflow. This workflow is covered in Module 5.10 as well as Logic Pro Exercise 1a. For more information on the new features and how to use the new Dolby Atmos tools within Logic, check out the new Quick Start video and the Logic Pro section of the Knowledge Base. 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

  • Close any open master file 
  • Set up the Renderer as per exercise 1  

Logic Pro 

  • Open the pre-mixed Logic project 
  • Push play in Logic and verify that Logic is communicating with the Renderer at that the Renderer is chasing LTC 
  • Create VCAs of groups of tracks 
    • For this exercise create the following VCAs: 
      • Drums 
      • Perc 
      • Bass 
      • Synth 
      • Vox 
    • In the Mixer view, Shift+click to select multiple tracks; Right click > Create New VCA 

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    •  Ensure that Master/VCA tracks are un-hidden  

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    • Rename the VCAs 
  • Start playback from the beginning of the track

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

  • While the track is playing, make a note of the loudness values present in the Renderer’s loudness section 

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  • Let the track play all the way through and make a note of the integrated loudness value. 
  • Click the reset button in the loudness section to reset the values for your next loudness pass  

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  • For the purposes of this exercise, you want to aim for a target loudness of -18LKFS  

Logic Pro 

  • Make adjustments to the VCAs to achieve an integrated loudness measurement of -18LKFS while keeping the True peak value at or below -0.5 
  • When you are done with level adjustments, create and record a Dolby Atmos master 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

  • With your master file open, open the Loudness analysis window (Window > Loudness analysis or Cmd+L) 
    • Click the Analyze loudness button 
    • Verify that the values in the offline loudness analysis meet your desired specifications 
    • Click Export Dolby Atmos loudness report and select summary 
    • View the loudness report 
    • Close the Loudness analysis window 
  • Open the Export ADM BWF window (File > Export Audio > ADM BWF or Cmd+A) 
    • Choose a directory and filename 
    • Export the entire master 

 

MP4 Export 

  • Export an mp4 for playback on an Atmos-enabled device: 
    • Navigate to the mp4 export dialog (File > Export Audio > MP4 or Shift+Cmd+M) 
    • Choose a directory and a filename 
    • Set the Encoding Mode to Music 
    • Set the Export In/Out to Entire master (you can also set manual in/out points) 
    • Set Video to Black Video 
    • Click Export 

 

Creating and Exporting Re-renders 

The second part of this exercise will illustrate creating groups in the Dolby Atmos Render input configuration window and can be useful when generating re-rendered stems for future mastering workflows. Below are groups useful for this exercise. Instrument grouping for other music projects will vary. The default groups (Dialog, Music etc. commonly used in post-production workflows cannot be deleted or changed, but groups specific to music workflows can be added. This example will create stereo re-renders, however, re-renders of any channel width can be performed if desired. 

  • In the Dolby Atmos Renderer navigate to Window > Input Configuration 
    • In the bottom left corner select Groups 
    • Type in the name of the new group and click on Add Group.  Repeat for the following groups 
      • Drums 
      • Perc  
      • Bass 
      • Synth 
      • Vox 
    • Assign the appropriate Objects to the appropriate Group from the Group drop down menu.  Multiple Object inputs can be selected and assigned using Shift Click. 
      • Drums – Objects 11-20 
      • Perc – Objects 21/22 
      • Bass – Object 23 
      • Synth – Objects 24-27 
      • Vox – Object 28 

Exporting re-renders 

  •  
    • Define the re-renders 
        • Navigate to Preferences > Re-renders 
        • Ensure Re-render processing is active 
        • Navigate to Window > Re-renders or type Command + R 
        • Delete any default Re-renders by checking the X on each box 
        • Under Layout, select 2.0 from the drop-down menu and click Add 
        • Select Properties > Custom > Drums 
        • With Properties open type Drums in the Name file 
        • Click Accept 
        • Repeat these steps to create Re-renders for the Bass, Percussion, Bells, and FX tracks. 
    • Export the Re-Renders
        • Navigate to File>Export Audio>Re-renders or type Command + E 
        • Enter a base file name (usually the song title) 
        • Choose the output directory
        • Deselect any defined re-renders that aren’t needed 
        • For Stereo re-renders leave the File type as Multichannel Interleaved 
        • If the Master file has pre or post roll this can be trimmed from the re-render by check Set Manually in the Export in/out section. 


Navigation

Next:  Module 10.1 – QC for Dolby Atmos

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