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

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Exercise Objectives 

This exercise is designed to reinforce concepts covered in Modules 2 through 6. The objective for this exercise is to validate Pro Tools and Renderer configurations. Refer back to the previous Modules if needed. Options for achieving some exercise objectives are presented. Become familiar with all of the options presented.   

When creating a session with a template vs creating a session manually, it is important to realize that a template will start Object numbering at 11, as the first ten Renderer inputs are reserved for a Bed audio. When creating a session manually the numbering for Objects will start at 1. This numerical offset can be confusing at first. Be sure to become familiar with the multiple ways routing can be achieved. 

 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Follow these steps in the Renderer: 

  • Launch the Renderer 
    • If you see alerts for “Audio Driver Error,” click OK. You will change these settings in preferences later. 
  • If using an external Renderer, also launch the Renderer Remote application from the Pro Tools workstation and establish communication by entering the hostname or IP address in the Server Window 
  • Verify the connection status is green. 
  • Close any open master files. 
  • Open the Dolby Atmos Renderer Settings/Preferences window and verify that the Renderer I/O and synchronization configuration are set correctly for the configuration in use. 
  • Set frame rate to 24 fps. (If using a Windows-based MADI RMW, verify the correct frame rate is set in the Hammerfall DSP Settings Control Panel TCO tab.  This must be done on the RMW) 
  • Open the Renderer Input Configuration window.  
      • Click Use Default 
      • Click Accept 
  • In the main Renderer window: 
    • Set the Source Input/Master toggle to Input. 
    • Enable the Synchronization button (clock icon). 
    • Verify that no mute or attenuation is applied in the Renderer. 

 

Pro Tools 

Follow these steps in Pro Tools: 

  • Launch Pro Tools if closed. 
  • Click Cancel from the Dashboard 
  • If using an external Renderer, establish synchronization in:  
    • Setup > Peripherals > Synchronization. 
    • Enable Gen LTC if using a SYNC HD. 
  • If using an internal Renderer with MTC:  
    • Setup > Peripherals > Synchronization. 
    • Set the MIDI Time Code Generator to the appropriate device and enable Gen MTC. 
  • If using an internal Renderer with the LTC plug-in and Dolby Audio Bridge:  
    • This is addressed when creating tracks in the session below.  
  • Establish Connection with the Renderer in Setup > Peripherals > Atmos. 
    • Use localhost for an internal Renderer. 
    • Use hostname or IP address if an external Renderer is being used. 
    • Verify the connection status is solid green. 
    • Ensure the Link Object and Audio Recording box is not checked. This will be covered later. 
  • Set or verify the correct Playback Engine is use in Setup > Playback Engine. 
    • Dolby Audio Bridge for running the Renderer internally. 
    • HDX for using an external Renderer. 
  • Create a new session by choosing File>Create New or by pressing CMD+N saving and closing any already open session.  You can create a session for this exercise in one of two ways. 

 

The following provides two options: to create an I/O setup from a template, or manually. Both options should be explored to better understand how to build and customize an I/O setup and route to the Renderer.  

For the purposes of Exercises 2-5, option 1 will be used as the template for future exercises. 

  • Option 1 – Create a Session from 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 Stereo 
    • Name the session Exercise 1 
    • In the I/O Settings drop-down menu select Dolby Atmos Renderer Dolby Audio Bridge Stereo 
    • Set the File Type to BWF (.WAV) 
    • Set the Sample Rate to 48kHz 
    • Set the Bit Depth to 24-Bit 
    • Click Create 
    • 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 Stereo 
      • Verify “Apply to all tabs” is Checked 
      • Click Yes when presented with the Delete unused busses dialog 
      • Click the 7.1.2 Bed Mapping to Output checkbox to assign the Bed to Input 1-1 
  • Configure Setup>I/O  
    • In the Bus tab, mapping of all Object busses will be displayed in the Mapping to Renderer column 
    • In the Bus tab, click on 7.1.2 Bed so that it is highlighted, and check the box to the right to Map to Renderer.  
      • Click New Path and create two new paths below the 7.1.2 Bed 
          • 1 x 7.1.2 path labeled “Reverb Bus” 
          • 1 x Mono path labeled “LFE Bus” 
          • Neither bus should be mapped to the Renderer 

 

  • Configure Session>Setup or press Cmd+2
    • Set the timecode rate to 24 
    • Set the session start to 00:59:50:00 
  • Click on the 7.1.2 Bed Track so it is highlighted (to create tracks below) and add two new Aux tracks below the 7.1.2 Bed Track.  
    • Create one 7.1.2 Aux Track labeled “Reverb Bus”  
    • Create one Mono Aux Track labeled “LFE Bus” 
    • Set the input to the Reverb Bus Aux track to “Reverb Bus” and the output to “7.1.2 Bed output” 
    • Set the input to the LFE Bus Aux track to “LFE Bus” and the output to the subpath output for the 7.1.2 Bed “7.1.2.Bed.LFE” 
      • Note: The mono LFE Bus Aux track will not be assigned to an Object 
    • On the LFE Bus Aux Input, insert a 7 band EQ3 with the following settings to create a controlled bandpass for the LFE 
      • HPF – High Pass Filter 
        • Slope – 24db per octave 
        • Freq – 20 Hz 
      • LPF – Low Pass Filter 
        • Slope – 24db per octave 
        • Freq – 120 Hz 
  • Open ProTools Preferences. From the menu bar Setup->Preferences 
    • In the Mixing tab>Setup, check the boxes for Sends Default to “-INF”, and Sends Pans Default to Follow Main Pan 
  • Reveal the Sends View in the Edit Window (if not already visible) 
    • Shift+click to select all Object tracks 11-128 
    • Option+Shift+Send A and place a send to the Mono LFE Bus for all tracks. The output will be revealed under Bus/LFE Bus (Mono) 
  • Shift + Click to select all Object tracks. Option+Shift to set the output for all Object tracks to the 7.1.2 Bed Bus. 
  • Add an additional mono aux input or audio track for the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in (if necessary) 
    • Name the Aux or track LTC Gen 
    • Insert the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in and set the track output to the LTC Gen bus (typically LTC 129 or 130). 

– Or –  

  • Option 2 – Create a Session and manually configure the I/O and tracks: 
  • From the Dashboard  
    • Name the session Exercise 1 
    • Uncheck Create from Template 
    • 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 and Bus paths from the Output and Bus tabs. 
    • In the Output tab:  
      • Set the Default Format to 7.1.2 and set the Path Order to SMPTE. 
      • Select new path and create: 
        • 1 x 7.1.2 output for the Bed.  
            • Check Add default channel assignments 
            • Name the path 7.1.2 Bed 
        • 12 x stereo outputs for the Objects (exercise option 2 will not utilize the full 128 objects paths). Name these Object. (Pro Tools will default assign Object outputs) 
        • 1 x mono output for the LTC Generator (if needed).  Name this “LTC Gen”.  
        • Click Create 
        • Move the LTC Gen output on 35 to 129. 
      • Rename the Object Output Paths. Object 1 renamed to “Object 11 – 12”,  Object 2 to “Object 13 – 14”, etc. 
    • In the Bus tab:  
      • Click the 7.1.2 Bed Mapping to Renderer checkbox to assign the Bed to Input 1-10 
      • Map the mono Object busses 11 to 34 to Renderer Inputs 11 to 34 
        • Shift + Click to select Objects 11 -34. 
        • Option + Click the fold down triangle to reveal the subpaths for all Objects.  
        • Cmd + Option + Shift  click any subpath box to map the Object outputs to the Renderer. 
          • This will sequentially cascade Object metadata assignments to the same Renderer inputs as the Object audio paths across all Object busses. 
      • Create the Reverb and LFE Bus paths (Click the 7.1.2 path to create paths below) 
        • Select New Path and create 
          • 1 x 7.1.2 path labeled “Reverb Bus” 
          • 1 x Mono path labeled “LFE Bus” 
      • Verify mapping to Object assignments have been set correctly; then click OK. 
  • Reveal the Object column in the Edit window (if not already visible). 
  • Choose Track>New or press Cmd+Shift+N 
    • Add 1 x 7.1.2 Audio Track for the Bed. Name this 7.1.2 Bed 
    • Add 1 x 7.1.2 Aux Track. Name this “Reverb Bus” 
    • Add 1 x mono Aux Track. Name this “LFE Bus” 
    • Add 12 x stereo audio tracks for the Objects. Name this “Object”. Pro Tools will label these Object 1 through Object Output 34 automatically. 
    • Click Create 
  • Rename Object tracks to match renderer Inputs ie.Object 1 renamed to Object 11-12, Object 2 renamed to 13-14, etc. 
  • Shift-Click to select all stereo Object tracks, then using Cmd+Option+Shift assign Object Track 1 to Object 11 - 12.  This will cascade the Object assignments to the remaining tracks sequentially. 
  • Configure the Reverb bus 
    • Set the input to the Reverb bus to Reverb bus 7.1.2 
    • Set the output of the Reverb bus to the 7.1.2 Bed. 
  • Configure the LFE bus 
    • Set the input to the LFE bus to LFE bus 
    • Set the output of the LFE bus to the 7.1.2 subpath 7.1.2.Bed.LFE. 
    • On the LFE Bus Aux Input, insert a 1 band EQ3 with the following settings 
      • Type – Low Pass 
      • Filter – 24db per octave 
      • Freq – 80Hz 
  • Add an additional mono aux input or audio track for the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in (if necessary) and route to the correct output LTC Gen bus. 
    • Insert the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in and set the track output to the LTC Gen bus. 
  • Open ProTools Preferences 
    • Select the Mixing tab, and under Setup check the boxes for Sends Default to “-INF”, and Sends Pans Default to Follow Main Pan 
  • Reveal the Sends View in the Edit Window (if not already visible) 
    • Shift+click to select all Object tracks 11-34 
    • Option+Shift+Send A and place a send to the Mono LFE Bus for all Object tracks. 
  • Shift + Click to select all Object tracks. Option+Shift to set all object tracks to the 7.1.2 Bed Bus. 

Once Option 1 or 2 are complete, create a mono track to use the signal generator to verify output mapping.  

  • Select Object Track 11-12 and make the track inactive (this will free up Object 11 to use for signal generation) 
  • Create 1 x Mono Audio track 
    • Name this track Generator 
    • Click Create 
    • Mute the track 
  • Insert the signal generator and select pink noise 
  • Route the track to Object 11 

 

Pro Tools and The Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Pro Tools 

Dolby Atmos Renderer 

Click the Output Window button (fader icon) on the mono track with the signal generator inserted to bring up the Panner. Unmute the track, and ensure that the panner is outputting to the C channel (click the C speaker icon in the panner). 

 

Ensure that the Bus/Object button is set to Bus (grey) on the mono track with the signal generator inserted. 

 

 

Audio should now be reaching the Renderer. Verify the input is on Input 3 (Center) as displayed in the Input Status window and Center speaker meter. 

Click on each speaker icon within the Pro Tools panner in order to send signal to each Renderer input. (Note that LFE cannot be directly panned to using the Pro Tools panner; instead use the LFE send fader in the panner window to send to the LFE in addition to another speaker channel.)  Click on the left speaker icon and bring the height value to 100. Click on the right speaker icon and bring height value to 100. Grab the panner puck and manually move it around while the height value is 100. 

 

 

Verify that the input signal indicator moves correctly around the first 10 inputs (7.1.2 Bed – purple-bounded box). If I/O has not been configured in SMPTE order, this will become evident here. Note: Since Bus/Object toggle is set to Bus, you will only be able to pan between the .2 Lts and Rts bed height channels even if your Physical ceiling speaker configuration is .4 or greater. 

Toggle the Bus/Object toggle to Object (orange) and verify the Object Control Mode is Master (green play icon). Note: Now that the Bus/Object toggle is set to Object, you will be able to pan between all ceiling speakers in your configuration, not just the Lts and Rts bed height channels. 

 

 

Verify the input on Input 11and 12 as displayed in the Input Status window.  The Input Status ring is active with a mapped metadata source (colored teal), and the pan/size metadata is displayed as a green ball in the Object View. 

Click within the Panner and manually pan with the puck or knobs on the stereo track with the signal generator inserted. 

 

 

Verify the input stays on Input 11 and 12 and the pan/size metadata and Speaker Output meters reflect the panning position, including the ability to pan to the overhead corners. 

Start the transport with the Play button or spacebar. 

 

 

Verify LTC input is being received in the Timecode Display. 

 

Verify audio and input status, speaker meters, Object View activity (green ball when chasing a moving transport). 

  

Saving Your Work 

Both options for I/O setup should have been explored, however, Option 1 should be saved for future exercises to ensure I/O setup matches the exercises.  

  • Complete the steps in Option 1. 
  • Choose Setup>I/O 
  • Choose Export Settings 
  • Navigate to Documents>ProTools>IO Settings  
  • Name the I/O setup “Dolby Atmos Music Exercise.pio” 
  • Click Save 

Troubleshooting 

Issue 

Signal Generator output, panned center and bussed to the 7.1.2 Bed, appears as Input 67 on the Renderer, and/or Signal Generator output panned center and toggled to output as Object 1 appears as Input 76 on the Renderer. 

Possible Cause 

With a Windows RMW using MADI, this usually indicates that the MADI cables are cross-patched or that the RME MADI cards are installed in the wrong order. If this is the case, the signal panned center bussed to the 7.1.2 bed will light up the signal indicator on the Renderer Input 67. 

Solution 

Check the MADI cable. If needed: 

Swap the cables. 

Have your Dolby reseller change the card order in the global tab of the RME Hammerfall DSP application. 

Have your Dolby reseller change the order of the cards in the Dell 7920. 

 

Issue 

Signal generator output, panned center and bussed to the 7.1.2 Bed, appears as Input 2 instead of Input 3 on the Renderer. 

Possible Cause 

Channel order in I/O Setup is not set correctly in SMPTE order. 

Solution 

Update this to be in the order L, R, C, Lfe, Lss, Rss, Lrs, Rrs, Lts, Rts. 

 

 

Navigation 

Next:  ProTools Exercise 2 – Pro Tools and Renderer Monitoring Operations  

Previous:  Module 6.6 – Offline Loudness Analysis