Sound Mixing Technology got its new era when Dolby Atmos sound engineering came to a movie in 2012. This sound technology changed the way people used to watch a film or show. It became a sensation that people were experiencing and sounded more real than ever before.
Dolby Atom was above them, behind them, and in front of them with such a balance that supported the 3-dimensional balance of the audio technology. The listening experience of Dolby Atmos is pretty crazy and it’s a making process too. It’s not like our regular audio experiences. The making process takes extreme care and precision to ensure the quality of the final product.
Dolby Atoms has set new standards for sound technology. Most importantly our moviemakers are more & more interested in Dolby Atmos technology to improve the audience experience. The new sound technology captures each small or big, important or unimportant sound, and carves them into the final product to use them with the right impact to make them feel realistic.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is the 21st-era sound technology that first appeared in 2012. This technology uses sounds to give more immersive and realistic effects to the listener. Headphones & other devices equipped with Dolby Atmos make it seem realistic to the user, allowing sound to originate from behind & around at the right impact. The technology includes the sounds least important to most important, from car tires, and scratching road sounds to monologue, and places them in front, beyond, and surround as per their need. Dolby Atmos devices use several speakers to release the 3-dimensional sound texture. Dolby sets up the sound in such a way that creates a balance between distracting sounds & subject sounds. This balance helps the listeners to enjoy the most realistic sound till now.
What is Dolby Atmos Mixing?
Dolby Atmos mixing is next generation mixing engineering accompanied by a special Dolby Atmos metadata file. This file places all the spatial audio pieces on the final product of the production. The audio engineer’s motive is to place all the sound recorded during the production such as they support the scene and feel more personalised to the audience. This whole process needs special mixing software that enhances the listening experience. The metadata file replicates all the sound present in the file to be used as a key component in Dolby Atmos Mix software.
Audio mixing is a very tedious job that requires hundreds of hours of work. The director, sound engineer, and cinematographer all sit in a room for arranging the audio track spaces for the final product. This is where the majority of the work is done. A sound final product will have a balance between several audio sources with none of them causing turbulence in the experience.
The mixing process needs audio mixing console hardware. This device controls the input, output, and gain of all the sound. You can do it manually or with software. This is where the audio engineer uses the Dolby Atmos software program to mix it.
Dolby Atmos mix features several sound channels.
– Front Left
– Front Right
– Centre
– Left Surround
– Right Surround
– Back left
– Back Right
What is Dolby Atmos Mastering?
Once the Dolby Atmos mixing is complete, the audio engineer sends the final file to a mastering engineer. The engineer will take the file and process it further to make it industry ready. The mastering of the sound also needs the metadata to make it perfectly ready for all speakers. This replicates the sound data and processes it. The mastered audio creates a final mix of the track ready to be played on any device. This is also elegant work and can take hours if not days. Weakly mastered audio will be frustrating & irritating to people listening. Dolby Atmos has created a standard mastering that has made the process easier.
5.1 VS 7.1 Sound Channel Differences:
Dolby Atoms has two distinguished channels 5.1 and 7.1. Both the channels sound similar but differ in 1 feature. A 5.1 mix channel does not have a left & right surround. 7.1 channel offers these sound features. With 2 extra dedicated surround channels, the 7.1 channel gives more realistic surrounding sound effects to listeners. A professional audio engineer will set up the mix with the raw audio tracks, set them up with the right soundtracks, and transfer it to the mastering engineer. The mastering engineer then masters the final mixing product and adds metadata to complete the process.
Challenges of Dolby Atmos Sound Engineering!
With each technology upgrade, all industry insiders face some challenges while adopting it. The same is true for the Dolby Atmos sound mixing & mastering system. The technology is pretty new and has its own challenges.
– You can’t record Dolby Atmos sound from old microphones. Earlier you needed only a few mics but Dolby needs more mics to capture the 3-dimensional audio effect.
– Dolby Atmos needs new advanced equipment to complete the process. You have to buy devices compatible with the new technology to go full in.
– Mixing of Dolby Atmos sounds is comparably more complex than present-day technology.
– Not all people have access to Dolby Atmos Sound technology that would support your project.
– It needs more investment than traditional sound mixing & mastering. Hence it will lay a weight on your pockets.
Future of Dolby Atmos Mixing & Mastering?
Dolby Atmos is showing a promising future for the sound industry. As more creators are coming in support of this technology, we will soon see a huge transformation in the complete technology & entertainment industry. Not only films but music, you-tube creators, and podcasting platforms will start using it very soon. The rapidly increasing tools are also going to support the complete process with AI & VR integration. This will create more advanced spatial audio plugins and improved microphone arrays for 3-dimensional sound effects. As the technology grows, we may see simplification of the process, cost-effectiveness, and easier tutorials for this technology. (Main Types of Microphones & Their Application and Uses You Should Know)
Conclusion:
Dolby Atmos is a next-generation audio editing process that gives a 3-dimensional experience to its audience. The viewers/listeners can feel the sounds coming from back, surround, and above, and front according to the importance & placement of the sound effect. Though there are challenges in adopting the new era of technology the future looks promising. As industry experts are expecting we may see a huge change in the entertainment & content creation industry.
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