Exercise Objectives:
This exercise is designed to reinforce concepts covered in the first 6 modules of the training. The objective is to set up communication between Logic Pro and the Dolby Atmos Renderer, verify the connection, and create a new project in Logic.
Download the Logic_ExerciseContent.zip to the Logic workstation and unzip on the media drive. This zip file contains 3 Logic projects (95BPM, 146BPM, and Loudness) as well as stems, MIDI files, and a Logic template. These files will be used throughout the exercises and called out when needed.
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:
- Launch the Renderer
- If you see any errors or alerts (such as Audio driver error), click OK to dismiss, we will address these in setup.
- Open the Preferences pane by navigating to Dolby Atmos Renderer > Preferences or entering Command+,
- Set up the Driver tab:
- Set the Audio driver to Core Audio
- Set the Audio input device to Dolby Audio Bridge
- Set the Audio output device to your preferred output device
- External sync source will be set to LTC over audio
- Set LTC input channel to 129
- Set Frame rate to 24 fps
- Set Sample rate to 48 kHz
- Click Accept to save changes
- Open the Input Configuration pane by navigating to Window > Input Configuration or entering Command+I
- Verify that the Input Configuration is set to default. If necessary, click Use default and accept changes.
- Set the Source Input/Master toggle to Input
- Enable the Synchronization button
- Verify that nothing is dimmed, muted, or attenuated in the master section
Logic Pro:
- Launch Logic
- Depending on your Preferences, Logic may open an empty project, the most recent project, or prompt you to choose. For the initial setup of logic preferences, any of these options will work. If prompted, create a new empty project and track of any type (you will change this track later).
- Navigate to Preferences from the Menu bar: Logic Pro > Preferences > General
- In the Advanced tab, select Enable All
- In the Audio > Devices tab, ensure that Core Audio is enabled, the Output Device is set to Dolby Audio Bridge, and the I/O Buffer Size is set to 1024
- In the Audio > I/O Assignments tab, set the Surround format to 7.1 (3/4.1) and the output routing as shown below
- Ensure that the settings have been applied and close the Logic Preferences window
For the purposes of this exercise, you can choose to create a Logic Project manually or use the template included in the exercise content (Dolby Atmos Music Template.logicx). For the purposes of exercises 2 & 3, option 2 (the supplied template) will be used.
Note: for this training, an all-Object workflow will be used. The template includes a 7.1 bed track, but this will not be used and the first object in the session will start at output 11.
Option 1 - Create a Project Manually
- Open the New Project dialog by navigating to File > New or entering Command+Shift+N
- Select ‘Empty Project’ from the ‘New Project’ tab and click create
- If prompted, create a track of any type (you will change this track later).
- Navigate to Project Settings from the Menu bar: File > Project Settings > General
- In the Audio > General tab, set the Sample Rate to match the Renderer (48 kHz) and the Surround Format to 7.1 (3/4.1)
- In the Synchronization>General tab, set the Frame Rate to match the Renderer (generally 24 fps) and the Bar Position timecode to 00:00:00:00
- Close the project settings window
- Delete the default track. This will open the New Tracks dialog.
- Create 13 Tracks:
- There are 13 audio tracks in the 95BPM exercise content. You can make more or less than 13, and create additional tracks as needed.
- Verify the track type is Audio
- Set Audio Input to No Input
- Set Audio Output to Output > Mono > Output 11
- Select the Ascending checkbox
- Set Number of Tracks to 13
- Click Create
- In the Mixer View, shift click to select the new tracks
- Right click the first track and select ‘Rename Channel Strip’
- Type Object 11 and hit enter. This will sequentially rename the selected channel strips
- With all of the tracks still selected, add the Mono Dolby Atmos Music Panner to all tracks
- Click on the Audio FX slot for Object 11
- Navigate to Audio Units > Dolby Laboratories > Dolby Atmos Music Panner > Mono
- The Dolby Atmos Music Panner on Object 11 will open automatically
- Ensure that the Dolby Atmos Music Panner is connected to the Renderer by typing localhost (or the IP address of an external Renderer).
- The connection light will be green
- Assign the panner Object to the Object number that matches the track/output number (i.e. Object 11 for output 11)
- Repeat for all remaining object tracks
- Set the counter display mode to time by clicking the arrow next to the display
- Create a Track for LTC
- Navigate to Track > New Tracks or enter Command+Option+N
- Verify the track type is Software Instrument
- Set the Instrument to Empty Channel Strip
- Set Audio Output to Output > Output 129 + 130
- This will be changed to mono Output 129 once the plug-in has been inserted
- Uncheck the Ascending checkbox
- Set Number of Tracks to 1
- Click Create
- Rename the new track to LTC 129
- Insert the Dolby LTC Generator Plug-in in the Instrument Slot
- The Dolby LTC Generator is located at AU Generators > Dolby Laboratories > Dolby LTC Generator > Mono
- Set the output of the track to mono Output 129
- Open the plug-in window
- Set the Frame rate to 24 fps
- The Start time must be set to 00:00:00:00
- Press play and navigate to the Renderer to verify LTC sync
- As the play head in Logic moves forward, the time display in the Renderer should chase
- If the Renderer is not chasing timecode, verify the following:
- In the Renderer:
- In the main window
- Synchronization is enabled
- In Preferences
- External Sync Source is set to LTC over Audio
- LTC Input Channel is set to 129
- Frame Rate is set to 24
- In the main window
- In Logic:
- The play head is moving
- The Audio Output Device is set to Dolby Audio Bridge
- The output of the LTC track is set to Output 129
- The Dolby LTC Generator Plug-in is set up correctly
- Save the Logic Project
- Navigate to File > Save Live Set As.
- Pick a name and location
Option 2 – Create a Project using the supplied template
- Navigate to File > New From Template or enter Command + N
- Select ‘Open an existing Project…’
- Select the provided template file
- The template file is located in the exercise content within the Template folder
- Click Open
- Verify the settings in the Dolby LTC Generator plug-in
- Set the counter display mode to time by clicking the arrow next to the display
- Press play and navigate to the Renderer to verify LTC sync
- As the play head in Logic moves forward, the time display in the Renderer should chase
- If the Renderer is not chasing timecode, verify the following:
- In the Renderer:
- In the main window
- Synchronization is enabled
- In Preferences
- External Sync Source is set to LTC over Audio
- LTC Input Channel is set to 129
- Frame Rate is set to 24
- In the main window
- In Logic:
- The play head is moving
- The Audio Output Device is set to Dolby Audio Bridge
- The output of the LTC track is set to Output 129
- The Dolby LTC Generator plug-in is set up correctly
- Save the Logic Project
- Navigate to File > Save Live Set As.
- Pick a name and location
Once option 1 or 2 has been completed we will send test noise via an Object to verify audio and metadata communication between the Logic and the Renderer. For the purposes of this test, we will use the first object (object 11) and a test oscillator, as well as the Dolby Atmos Music Panner plug-in on that track.
Logic Pro:
- Add the Test Oscillator plug-in to the Audio FX slot of Object 11
- Click on the empty space in the Audio FX slot
- Navigate to Utility > Test Oscillator > Mono
- Click and drag the Test Oscillator so that it is pre (above) the Music Panner in the Audio FX slot
- Click on the Dolby Atmos Music Panner plug-in in the Audio FX slot to open the plug-in window
- The Object color should be yellow (or green depending on the level of the test oscillator)
- Navigate to the Renderer to verify that the Object position and audio signal is present
-
- In the Dolby Atmos Music Panner, create a short sequence (For more information on using the Music Panner and sequencer, refer to module 5.9):
- Enable the Sequencer toggle
- Click edit
- Draw a shape in the panner window
- Experiment with different shape tools
- Click Done
- Set the step duration to 4
- In the Dolby Atmos Music Panner, create a short sequence (For more information on using the Music Panner and sequencer, refer to module 5.9):
- Push play in Logic to start the sequence
- Navigate to the Renderer to view the Objects
- If the objects are not visible or there is no audio, verify that you have correctly set up Logic and the Renderer as per the beginning of the exercise
- If all settings are correct and there is no audio passing from the Logic to the Renderer, you may need to enable microphone permission for the Dolby Atmos Renderer. See this article.
Navigation
Next: Logic Pro Exercise 2 – Recording a Dolby Atmos Master
Previous: Logic Pro Exercise 1a – Setting up a project in Logic Pro using the integrated Dolby Atmos workflow