Setting up a Dolby Atmos Project Manually

This example illustrates how to manually set up a Dolby Atmos project that contains a channel-based 7.1.2 bed for music and effects and 4 mono objects for dialogue. It uses the Renderer for Dolby Atmos plug-in as a renderer.

Note

Alternatively, you can use the Setup Assistant for Dolby Atmos to set up a project that is fully compliant with Dolby Atmos® specifications.

Prerequisite

  • You have created a new project.

  • Your audio system is set to an ASIO buffer size of 512 samples and to a sample rate of 48 kHz.

Procedure

  1. In the Audio Connections window, on the Outputs tab, add an output bus in a channel configuration that matches your speaker setup as the Main Mix.
    Note

    The Renderer for Dolby Atmos plug-in supports the following output channel configurations: 2.0, 5.1, 7.1, 5.1.4, and 7.1.4.

  2. In the main mix channel, add Renderer for Dolby Atmos as an insert plug-in.
  3. In the ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos window, select the Renderer for Dolby Atmos plug-in from the Renderer pop-up menu.
  4. In the main mix channel, Alt/Opt-click Solo to activate solo defeat. This avoids unintentional muting of the main mix when soloing channels in your project.
  5. In the Project window, add a group track named Bed in 7.1.2 channel configuration, and route it to the main mix output bus.

    This group serves as bed in your Dolby Atmos project.

  6. Route all tracks with music or effects that you want to use as bed audio to the Bed group track.
  7. Add 4 mono audio tracks named DIA 1 to DIA 4 to your project, and route them to the Bed group track.
  8. In the ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos window, click Add Bed.

    A bed is added to the list of audio objects.

  9. For this bed, select Bed as the Source Track.

    You have now established a bed in the object structure of your Dolby Atmos project. The signal of this bed is automatically routed through the Renderer for Dolby Atmos plug-in via side-chaining.

    Note

    Make sure that the 4 mono tracks, the main mix channel, and the bed channel all use VST MultiPanner as the channel panner.

  10. In your project, select the audio tracks DIA 1 to DIA 4.
  11. In the ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos window, select Create Objects from Selected Tracks from the Functions pop-up menu.

    Four objects are added to the list of audio objects and automatically connected to the corresponding source tracks.

Result

The object structure of your Dolby Atmos project is shown in the ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos window as follows:

  • All audio that is routed to the Bed group track serves as the premix for the 7.1.2 bed.

  • The mono tracks DIA 1 to DIA 4 have become objects, using VST MultiPanner as the channel panner in Object Mode.

  • All items in the object structure, bed and objects, automatically received object IDs.

  • On playback, you can hear the output signal of the Renderer for Dolby Atmos plug-in.

  • Pan automation of all object audio is passed on to the renderer as dynamic metadata.

After Completing This Task

Add audio events to music, effect, and dialogue tracks, as well as the source tracks of your objects, and create your Dolby Atmos mix using VST MultiPanner for panning.

When you have finished your mix, you can click Export ADM File in the ADM Authoring for Dolby Atmos window to export it as an ADM Broadcast Wave file, including the complete object structure and all panning automation as dynamic metadata.