Thank you! I've been watching your videos for a few months trying to figure out which way to go working on Windows and FL Studio (some Cubase), figured some company would bridge the gap for us Windows users! Your video is very helpful and wanted to comment now although still watching the full video! I am also from the Philly area and residing over the bridge in NJ for the last 20 years! Ciao, Aldo
Hi, thanks for the video! Do you know how the beam plugin send audio to the composer plugin? Is it using socket? tcp/udp? Or something else? Thanks in advance!
Definitely getting this, I’m currently trying out the demo, hopefully they add the MP4 export option 😅. I was thinking of getting a Mac, then protools and the dolby package but this is a complete game changer and money saver💯👌🏼
The mp4 export is the only thing that is missing. If they are able to add that (and maybe a 3d visualization like the renderer does), everything else would be obsolete imho.
@@michaelgwagner Dolby Atmos Renderer has the option of EQ for each speaker built in the renderer. Isn´t this feature also missing from Dolby Atmos Composer ? If yes how to actually EQ all the speakers in my setup? thanks for the answer
@@o.g.willing Renderer also has variable speaker assignment, and delay, bass management, custom re-renders..quite a few extras, it really depends how involved you want to work in atmos I guess.
I have tried with the Dolby Atmos composer Essential and i don't have what you have in your video. Can you do a video with the Dolby Atmos composer Essential and Dolby Atmos Beam Essential?
The video was made before the Essentials version got released. But most of the things should work identically. I might do an Essentials video if there is broader interest.
Thank you for running through this! I am incredibly excited about this plugin. I ended up purchasing the renderer and setting it up in Studio One... Now that will all be going out of the window for this workflow :) I was happy to hear that there will be at least one use for the renderer with mp4 export. I have a few questions please; 1. Can the binaural setting be altered on the object channels (off/near/mid/far) 2. When selecting a feed to be an object, can the channel number be selected? When you demonstrated it looked as though the composer selected the channels for you. Thanks for everything you do!
1) yes, you can set the binaural settings. This might be a feature of the full version though. Double check before you buy it. 2) It sets it automatically.
Thanks @@michaelgwagner. Hopefuly we can change the object number at some point too. It would be great to set groups of objects with fixed binaural settings so that multiple ADM's can live on one timeline without binaural settings being an issue between songs.
Hi. Thanks for all your videos. I hear people talking about Obect Beds a lot. Is that basically a multi Chanel aux that you send tracks to and then make that Aux track an object? Does the panning on a track going into that Aux track pan like an object would when it’s going straight to the router ? What I mean is the panning “atmos” or is it like the way a bed would work with only exact pan points to each speaker
I’m not aware of the term “object bed” but that doesn’t say much as this space is moving quite fast. The way I would interpret the term is that it likely means the portion of an object (usually the reverb) that goes into the bed. In this video this would be the reverb portion that is coming out of Spacelab.
This is great! Currently, the majority of projects I work in, demand 5.1 DCP compatible audio files. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this tool allows to do all the process, starting from a native Atmos mix, in a 'single box'.
No problem. Weird name and a strong accent don’t mix. 😂 I’ve started to add overlay text in my videos in such situations but I had not yet done that in this one.
@@michaelgwagner Ah ah, Your accent is musical! :) BTW, do You think Plogue Bidule has some advantages over DDMF Metaplugin for Ambisonic tasks? Thanks in advance.
Hi Michael - thanks one more time for another vid. Really appreciated. I just downloaded the Composer this afternoon, really hoping it would let me use Reaper for Atmos. Once I fired it up, it appears that none of the DAW channel controls work when the Beam is instantiated and routed to the Composer on the master. So, changes in a channel fader has no effect, nor does soloing, panning, etc....is this what you've found? Managing volume levels and panning, etc seems to only be controlled with the Composer plugin...
In DAWs where there are no Post-Fader Inserts, such as Reaper, panning and volume control for the audio going into the Composer has to be done in Beam. That is because the Fader comes after the plugins in the whole chain of a track.
This is a great plugin..I think the binaural rendering on it is the best I've heard. I had some problems getting it working over multi channel speakers, and Thomas was really helpful. In case anyone else find same - the source tracks that the beam plugin is on must be assigned to the same multi channel master bus that the composer plugin is placed across. Sadly because Pro Tools inserts are all pre fader, (except for master fader) the volume faders and mutes don't work in Pro Tools which makes mixing a little bit impractical. I'm currently using Pro tools and the V5 Dolby renderer via Asiolink Pro on Windows 10 and although Asiolink only gives you 64 channels, I think that's the more practical workflow for Pro Tools. Really clever software though, would work great on Cubase or anywhere you could have post fader inserts.
The binaural rendering is heavy on the cpu. If you switch that to stereo The cpu load should go down quite a bit. And because it is the binaural rendering that is creating the load, it should also not depend in the number of channels you route into the composer.
@@michaelgwagner My first try with Fiedler was to insert the Atmos Composer on a master track that has a 7.1.4 configuration...and I never used the external output option in Atmos Composer....do you say that I could just instead route my tracks to a stereo master only...and then just tick in the external outputs box?
Thank you for this! I bought it without even bother to demo it. :) I have 2 questions: - Around 39m when the object is separated from the reverb, how does the object then get panned around? Since the Beam plugin is no longer on the object track, how do we then pan it? - Any tips on exporting gapless albums/tracks in ATMOS? Like continuous orchestral content when we need to break up the album into tracks but the audio has no break. Can it be seamless? Thanks for your clear and very informative videos!
Thanks! The Spacelab reverb integration will be available with Spacelab version 1.5. I don’t think that is out yet. It will do the panning for both bed and object simultaneously. Unfortunately, I can’t answer your second question. If you hop over to our Discord, I think there are people there who might know the answer.
@@michaelgwagner Thank you - as for the gapless question, as luck would have it someone answered the same question I had posted a couple of weeks ago on the Dolby forums. Here was the reply: "“I have produced and delivered many gapless albums. My approach has been to record one long DAMF, and then use the Dolby Atmos Conversion Tool to extract ADM tracks at exact frame borders. This removes the likelihood that there will be start/stop playback variance recorded into your DAMF. This method has worked, and the album assembler is a nice place to confirm smooth gapless playback before delivery to the DSPs”" From initial appearances, the Dolby Atmos Conversion Tool appears to be free, but the album assembler is $99 I think. I have the assembler and will give this a go as soon as I'm able. Again thanks for your informative and enjoyable channel.
If you pair it with their reverb plugin will the reverb follow they spatial panning of the associated track? Example: sfx automated from back to front. Will the reverb follow? Or will I still have to write automation for the reverb?
Not sure I can make the jump based on this. What about automation, sequencier and speaker calibration. I didn't really see anything more feature rich than the original renderer, actually it looks like it has less.
Well, it’s main draw is that it adds Atmos capabilities to DAWs that otherwise don’t allow that. The new version also has a master channel which you can use for masterbus processing.
hey Michael. I've been trying this out with Logic Pro but it seems that with the beam plugins on each channel you can no longer control the channel volumes in the usual way or is that just me?
In DAWs that do not have post fader inserts you will need to do some additional routing if you want to control the audio through the fader. One way could be to put the beam plugin in a bus that you are routing into.
I wonder if it would be possible to place surround plugins such as Skydust 3d on a track before the Beam plugin in a 2-channel DAW such as Ableton and if it would send multichannel audio to the Composer plugin?
You’ve already set the bar high but this is one of your very best presentations … running Digital Performer and highly relieved to finally have this plugin!
i dont know if this is good luck but i was trying to download a cubase 12 trial but thier having some type of issue right now then i saw this. i have no desire to leave windows and mainly work in studio one or reaper so this is very very intriguing.
Arg! I finally got the Dolby Atmos Renderer and Nuendo to work together on the same Windows machine (which was what mathematicians call "non-trivial"😀), and the very next day I see this video. Timing has never been my strong suit.
@@michaelgwagner I used a (free) application called AsioLinkPro, which basically mimics the Dolby Audio Bridge (it also does pretty much any other kind of asio routing and/or mixing things you can tnink of). Two issues...1) it's very klunky to set up and configure and 2) it only "bridges" 64 channels which limits you to 54 objects. I got it to show the activity on all the bed and object channels, and the panning from the Nuendo panner carries over into the renderer in realtime (way cool!). The last step will be to figure out the output mapping so I can send from the renderer into my 7.1.4 monitor setup correctly. I get audio out, but the channels are scrambled 🙄. Let me know if you want more information.
FL Studio does not have post fader inserts. If you want to work with the faders you can put the Beam plugin on a bus and route the track into the bus first before sending it to the composer via Beam.
This video has brought me back to excitement after learnning that I could not do this without a ton of money and gear, So, Thank You Michael!!! I have Studio One, I have bought Dolby Composer, I have all of my speakers for 7.1.4 and I have a Presonus 1824c. I have only 8 outs for speakers but wonder if I can use the ADAT I/O with another piece of gear? Can I sell this and get a presonus Quantum with plenty of outputs? Im confused and need someone to help me understand what I can or can not do or what I need to get to make this work?? Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. This video is Awesome and and Thank You Michael for sharing!! I have hope that even I can do this on a budget. Thanks
Thanks! You need something to convert ADAT to analog. The cheapest option I am aware of is the Behringer ADA8200. I believe you could also daisy chain two 1824c units but I am not completely sure about that. You usually need two pieces of gear as audio interfaces with 12 analog outs are very rare.
I have the essential version installed and I'm using Reaper. I'm using a 7.1 wav file of a 3 minute music video. When insert the beam vst all seems well but the Dolby Composer ... that plugin starts up but all I see is a long PR message about the Dolby Atmos Composer. I don't see anything like I see in your videos ... Can anybody help to get it working ... Thank you ... Gary
@@michaelgwagner Great, just bought 😀 and even at an introductory price 👍 Of course the big version. Speaking of which, Fiedler also published another tutorial on this today.
@@michaelgwagner Unfortunately, the registration/activation does not work if the virtualization function is activated in the BIOS (I also had problems with Spacelab). So I immediately asked Mr. Fiedler for help. But I am confident that help will come.
Hi all, probably something I'm doing wrong but I am testing out composer essential. I have made a simple 2 track FL studio project each with an audio clip, track 1 the word "YES" and track 2 the word "NO". Both are objects with track 1 on the monitoring section of the output settings only coming through RRS and track 2 only through LRS (I have a Sony HT-A7000 atmos system with the additional rear speakers). I have the ADM/BWF button highlighted and only export that one file. The export says successful so all good so far. However, when I then put my .wav file on a USB stick and put it into the surround system and play it 1)the system does not go into ATMOS mode (it normally does if it detects ATMOS sound). 2) It does not play anything through the rear speakers as I thought it should based on the monitor display, I can actually hear it through the centre speakers. 3) I notice that I can play the file in Windows media player which I would have 'thought' would not support the file type (I know it's a wav but it has the extra surrund sound/object info within too). Any ideas what might be wrong/what I am doing wrong please? I did wonder if it's because I have read ATMOS can only be transmitted through HDMI but it would be odd to offer a USB slot and then not be able to do anything with the contents of the USB stick in ATMOS?
What you are exporting is an ADM file. You can’t play that on your surround system, that file is for submitting to distribution services. Ideally you want to play a quality control deliverable, but for that you need the Dolby Atmos renderer. Another option is to just render the Atmos in the surround format your surround system supports.
Thanks for the video Michael. This plugin is pretty dope! In Dolby Atmos Renderer we have options for binaural playback distance: OFF, NEAR, MID, FAR. Does Fiedler Composer have the same options? Are they necessary for proper binaural reproduction? Also, as far as I understand it, the above-mentioned options does not affect speaker reproduction. In your estimation, does producing/mixing/mastering on headphones with those binaural settings make sense at all for translation to other systems? I really want to get into this whole Atmos thing but don’t have the budget for a proper speaker setup. But I have an excellent headphone system with which I achieve great stereo mixes. I wonder if mixing for Atmos using headphones is something feasible at this point in time in terms of "real world" translation... Thanks!
I sent an Atmos mix to majormix and they said I needed the ADM BWF file, not the large .WAV file from my Composer render. I reloaded my Atmos mix in composer and heard/saw my 7.1.2 mix. Any help would be great. Thank you.
Not sure what they mean. The wav file exported by the composer is an ADM BWF file. Make sure you use the ADM export and not the multichannel export. If you used composites with channel counts above 7.1.2, make sure to check the “force 7.1.2” checkbox.
@@michaelgwagner Hi Michael, i did not have multi channel checked, just headphone binaural. I watched the Feidler audio tutorial and its output was a .WAV, just like my Atmos mix. This is the reply from Majormixing "We’ve already made a lot of releases in Dolby Atmos, and you need to upload ADM bwf file format to get the Dolby Atmos. So we need exactly ADM bwf, not a wav file"
Just an update for those who come accross this discussion. We continued the conversation on our Discord (follow the invite 😉) and it appears that the problem was that everything was mixed into the Atmos bed and the publisher apparently required Atmos objects to be present in the deliverable.
@@SkatingDog true but I'm always so busy and so need to save time by doing it all in the one session if possible which is what I do now in Logic Pro Dolby Atmos
@@dannykirsch Well I am sure it takes only 10 add. minutes. And it is definitely worth it. If you master the binaural and compare it to the stuff out there you ... We DAC users will rule soon!
if I understand correct, Dolby Atmos by design doesn't support reverb (and any other fx) panning correct? even if it's Spacelab, it's basically Bed type reverb, not Object type reverb, "unlinked" from actual (dry) source (-Object, which is automated by metadata included in Atmos rendered multitrack)
An object is just an audio source at a specific location. A Dolby playback device does not automatically add reverb, you have to “bake” that into the audio.
@@michaelgwagner true, but reverb being reflection of object in space can't be "baked" before moving the object in space, even if reverb was a Bed, and source was Object, Bed would be baked prior to object movement, it's a big flaw of Atmos I'm afraid...
Hey, if you get a multi-channel reverb aux and you send it to your bed, and your signal is post-sending to that aux, then you do have a 7.1.2 or higher space for your signal! The reflections happen in all these channels!
Do you think there is any point in logic users getting this plug-in considering logic has Dolby atmos built in? Is it just as quick to use as the built in logic version and does it sound exactly the same? The only reason I’m considering getting this is because when I try to use 3d object tracks in logic the tuning often goes weird even though bed tracks are fine.
Very good question. Logic is tricky because Logic does have advantages no other DAW has, like integrated headtracking. I might do a video about what is better in the near future.
@@michaelgwagner thanks for your quick reply Michael. Think I might just stick with Logic Pro in that case and just hope they sort out the 3d objects bug. Also I accidentally typed that the tuning is affected but I actually meant timing. Don’t know whether you can help with this issue at all michael as apple weren’t able to help?
I’ll likely do a comparison with Cubase/Nuendo next week. That a straightforward one as the Composer has clear advantages. I’ll put Logic on my todo list as this is something that actually interests myself quite a bit.
Great news and great video for:) Wow 9.1.6 bed :) i am sold lol Do you know if you can use the Sound particles Energy Panner or Brightness panner? Great review and the spacelab is cool and being able to separate the,
Thanks! On cubase you could use energy and brightness panners to route into a multichannel track and then the beam plugin to route that multichannel audio into thr composer. But you can’t toute inyo yhe composer directly for obvious reasons.
@@michaelgwagner Hmm thats strange the only way i have been able to energy panner /Brightness panner to work in Cubase/Nuendo is by using it on the desired channel as a replacement panner :( Mind i always use the control room for my atmos work flow..
Can you create a bigger-than-stereo track and make it object like Nuendo does? (e.g. Quadraphonic or above)? to me this is what makes Nuendo the #1 in Dolby Atmos productions...
I have used the composer together with Ableton in a couple of my videos but I did not make a dedicated tutorial. With Ableton the composer works very well. There are no special settings you need to consider. Just put the composer on the master and the beams on all objects and bed tracks and you are good to go.
@@michaelgwagner so how does one prevent clipping when rendering in stereo? Maybe an export in ableton 32 bit will do? I hear 32bit prevents clipping when exporting haven’t texted this yet
The Beam plugin takes the audio pre-fader so there's no mixer or paning control by default. Will depend on your DAW though how you get Beam to work post-fader. e.g. put into a group/parent track etc, post-fader inserts etc.
@@SamHocking good to know but my question is about using the reverb send plugin instead of the beam plugin like in video where he explains that you can't use both . so how would you position the sounds before sending to the reverb ? I'm assuming the reverb plugin only control where the reverb return are coming from in space.
The Spacelab reverb controls position of the object as well as the reverb. Both. As said in the video, Spacelab will need an update that has not yet been released. Should be available soon.
@@michaelgwagner danke 😉, im asking since im trying to find a way to tune a Dolby Atmos Theater Home Cinema by using real time objects in 3D space. I guess this seems the first affordable way to do this. Na mal sehen.
3 things I see missing in the demo so far. - no speaker delay settings, nor routing options for monitoring speakers - no mp4 export - the plugins tend to be prefader, so it is best to use premixed steam or you will need to create a lot of bus channels.
I did ask about delay and eq setting and response was: "Speaker EQ and Delay is not currently on our plan. If many request it, it might come in an update." also i did ask about mp4 export and response was "we are looking into the MP4 export possibility but the ball is currently on Dolby's side. It is definitely on our agenda."
Question: The idea seems to be that the Atmos is not fundamentally "channel based" and it "works with anything". Yet, it's the very "channel layout at the core of the Dolby Atmos bed" that "allows the system to downgrade gracefully." This is confusing. I would think that it's the "3 dimensional objects in 3 dimensional space" in theory taking coordinate in an imaginary cartesian space that allows the flexibility to down/up mix to any imaginable speaker layout. My question is why or how? What's the actual theory that makes this fundamentally different than explicitly channel based systems like 5.1 that can also be down-mixed to stereo? Atmos has to either be totally disregarding - or - making certain very real assumptions about all the actual speaker layouts it will potentially work with. Does Atmos just assume everything is on a sphere? 5.1 assumes a 2D circle... Stereo assumes the same circle (the main difference being the number of available point sources) - what is the actual process or theory that makes this work?
Fiedler Audio have a video about how to set delay compensation manually in PT but that is probably a bit of a hassle if you would work with it on a regular basis.
That depends on the DAW. Ableton does not have post fader inserts if I remember correctly, so you have to work around that. What you can do is put a track into a group and put the beam onto the groups’s parent. That way the beam plugin sits after the fader and you can use the fader to control the audio going into the composer.
@@frederikgroborsch3367 So long as you Beam plugin is accepting the channel audio post fader, the fader will still work. You can also map Beam and Composer paramaters to Ableton / midi controllers too I would think?
@@frederikgroborsch3367 I run Bitwig as my main DAW. I found just putting the track with Beam in a group track is a workaround. I don't entirely understand why beam is running as a pre-fader vst when its not possible to run pre-fader fx unless they exist in FX Sends.
Arg! I got excited and purchased without trying the demo first. Bummer. On windows it seems you cannot configure multi speaker monitoring. Also appears to not support asio. Hope im missing something.
@@michaelgwagner I downloaded the update and can now enable ASIO and multi monitor output. Very cool. I hope the ability to configure/route channels becomes available one day. Cheers!
I have started my trial yesterday to find out that Dolby Atmos Composer is NOT working for monitoring with loudspeakers on stereo only DAWs - it is headphones only with Ableton Live, Bitwig....
Strange, no issues here either with Ableton or Bitwig, Windows or Mac. Set speakers to stereo, headphones to off and external output to off. If you turn external output on, you need to disable DAW output.
This plugin looks great, but it's the same price as Logic Pro which is a full Atmos daw and so much more. With apple renderer and head tracking built in. Better value just buying Logic.
@@NoQualmsTheArtist More a US and commercial Atmos thing to use Apple in studios to be honest simply because Dolby made the software in a weird way (supposedly because before the unions got involved, Atmos was going to be only possible by paying Dolby to mix the ADM for the studios and they rejected the proposal so wy we have this odd Dolby Audio Bridge mess on Apple). Both Silicon and X86 have their merits, but for spatial audio PC/X86 seems the better option as has a lot more DSP and GPU processing power available than Apple currently provide.
@@SamHocking I'm actually in Australia. The problem with PC's is they are made up of hundreds of components made by many different companies from all over the world, and they were never designed to specifically work together. While Apple computers were designed with all the components in mind to perfectly work together for decades with no problems. I have Mac's that are over 10 years old that still work perfectly. If your business relies on your computer you buy a Mac it's that simple. They are more expensive and are not as powerful as a gaming PC, but they just work and keep on working. I don't know a single professional Sound Engineer, Movie Editor, Graphic Designer etc who uses a PC for this reason. I'm sure in developing countries and through Asia many people use PC's, but in the UK, US, Australia etc Mac's rule the professional landscape.
finally, someone is talking about this plug in!
I’m not going to be the last one talking about it. :)
Thank you! I've been watching your videos for a few months trying to figure out which way to go working on Windows and FL Studio (some Cubase), figured some company would bridge the gap for us Windows users! Your video is very helpful and wanted to comment now although still watching the full video! I am also from the Philly area and residing over the bridge in NJ for the last 20 years! Ciao, Aldo
Thanks! I’m also residing in the state nobody seems to like. 😂
Hi, thanks for the video! Do you know how the beam plugin send audio to the composer plugin? Is it using socket? tcp/udp? Or something else? Thanks in advance!
I honestly don't know. Thomas Fiedler is on our Discord. Not sure if he would disclose that info, but you can certainly ask him. ;)
I might consider getting Dolby Atmos Renderer. I do have Blackmagic Davinci Resolve and I do love editing sound effects!
Great news for me I'm a PC user and Studio One is my DAW of choice so this is much more simple than sending audio to a Mac laptop with the renderer
I agree. I also use Studio One a lot, btw.
@@michaelgwagner One Question how to deal with the mp4 situation
You can either use the Dolby Atmos Renderer or you can use AWS Mediaconvert to convert an Atmos masterfile yo DD+JOC. I have a video about the latter.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer much appreciated.
This is AWESOME! Definitely a game changer! Thanks!
I agree!
Definitely getting this, I’m currently trying out the demo, hopefully they add the MP4 export option 😅. I was thinking of getting a Mac, then protools and the dolby package but this is a complete game changer and money saver💯👌🏼
The mp4 export is the only thing that is missing. If they are able to add that (and maybe a 3d visualization like the renderer does), everything else would be obsolete imho.
@@michaelgwagner Dolby Atmos Renderer has the option of EQ for each speaker built in the renderer. Isn´t this feature also missing from Dolby Atmos Composer ? If yes how to actually EQ all the speakers in my setup? thanks for the answer
This is not part of the Composer, that is correct. You could simply use Sonarworks Multichannel to correct your speaker setup.
@@o.g.willing Renderer also has variable speaker assignment, and delay, bass management, custom re-renders..quite a few extras, it really depends how involved you want to work in atmos I guess.
I have tried with the Dolby Atmos composer Essential and i don't have what you have in your video. Can you do a video with the Dolby Atmos composer Essential and Dolby Atmos Beam Essential?
The video was made before the Essentials version got released. But most of the things should work identically. I might do an Essentials video if there is broader interest.
@@michaelgwagner cool thank you.
listen to only one video to understand it all. thank you, that's nice
Thanks!
Thank you for running through this! I am incredibly excited about this plugin. I ended up purchasing the renderer and setting it up in Studio One... Now that will all be going out of the window for this workflow :) I was happy to hear that there will be at least one use for the renderer with mp4 export.
I have a few questions please;
1. Can the binaural setting be altered on the object channels (off/near/mid/far)
2. When selecting a feed to be an object, can the channel number be selected? When you demonstrated it looked as though the composer selected the channels for you.
Thanks for everything you do!
1) yes, you can set the binaural settings. This might be a feature of the full version though. Double check before you buy it. 2) It sets it automatically.
Thanks @@michaelgwagner. Hopefuly we can change the object number at some point too. It would be great to set groups of objects with fixed binaural settings so that multiple ADM's can live on one timeline without binaural settings being an issue between songs.
That’s an interesting point, thanks!
Hi. Thanks for all your videos.
I hear people talking about Obect Beds a lot. Is that basically a multi Chanel aux that you send tracks to and then make that Aux track an object? Does the panning on a track going into that Aux track pan like an object would when it’s going straight to the router ? What I mean is the panning “atmos” or is it like the way a bed would work with only exact pan points to each speaker
I’m not aware of the term “object bed” but that doesn’t say much as this space is moving quite fast. The way I would interpret the term is that it likely means the portion of an object (usually the reverb) that goes into the bed. In this video this would be the reverb portion that is coming out of Spacelab.
This is great! Currently, the majority of projects I work in, demand 5.1 DCP compatible audio files. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this tool allows to do all the process, starting from a native Atmos mix, in a 'single box'.
With the exception if the mp4 in DD+ JOC encoding.
Prof. Wagner, sorry for my silly question: at 3:36 you say "something like..." but I can't understand the name of the ambisonic app...
Plogue Bidule
@@michaelgwagner Many thanks!
No problem. Weird name and a strong accent don’t mix. 😂 I’ve started to add overlay text in my videos in such situations but I had not yet done that in this one.
@@michaelgwagner Ah ah, Your accent is musical! :) BTW, do You think Plogue Bidule has some advantages over DDMF Metaplugin for Ambisonic tasks? Thanks in advance.
Hi Michael - thanks one more time for another vid. Really appreciated. I just downloaded the Composer this afternoon, really hoping it would let me use Reaper for Atmos. Once I fired it up, it appears that none of the DAW channel controls work when the Beam is instantiated and routed to the Composer on the master. So, changes in a channel fader has no effect, nor does soloing, panning, etc....is this what you've found? Managing volume levels and panning, etc seems to only be controlled with the Composer plugin...
In DAWs where there are no Post-Fader Inserts, such as Reaper, panning and volume control for the audio going into the Composer has to be done in Beam. That is because the Fader comes after the plugins in the whole chain of a track.
This is a great plugin..I think the binaural rendering on it is the best I've heard. I had some problems getting it working over multi channel speakers, and Thomas was really helpful. In case anyone else find same - the source tracks that the beam plugin is on must be assigned to the same multi channel master bus that the composer plugin is placed across. Sadly because Pro Tools inserts are all pre fader, (except for master fader) the volume faders and mutes don't work in Pro Tools which makes mixing a little bit impractical. I'm currently using Pro tools and the V5 Dolby renderer via Asiolink Pro on Windows 10 and although Asiolink only gives you 64 channels, I think that's the more practical workflow for Pro Tools. Really clever software though, would work great on Cubase or anywhere you could have post fader inserts.
I'm also aware you could send each channel to an aux then the aux to the object or bed, but that's an awful lot of auxes
Yes, if you have a DAW with postfader inserts, this is certainly an advantage here.
Thanks for all the information. I have a MacBook Pro 2016 and is so heavy on the cpu that I can barely open 2 channels on live before stop to work 😂
The binaural rendering is heavy on the cpu. If you switch that to stereo The cpu load should go down quite a bit. And because it is the binaural rendering that is creating the load, it should also not depend in the number of channels you route into the composer.
@@michaelgwagner thanks for the reply I will check
Are these vst plugins?
Yes
Thanks you so much do more video on Fl Studio
That’s a definite possibility.
Hi.What are the external outputs box for?
I use a full 7.1.4 speaker layout.
It allows you to use a 7.1.4 speaker layout in a DAW that can only work with stereo output.
@@michaelgwagner My first try with Fiedler was to insert the Atmos Composer on a master track that has a 7.1.4 configuration...and I never used the external output option in Atmos Composer....do you say that I could just instead route my tracks to a stereo master only...and then just tick in the external outputs box?
@clarrebarre65 If you have a DAW that has 7.1.4 tracks then you would not use the external out in the composer.
What headphones are you using?
Usually the Neuman NDH30. When I shoot videos I always use my Focal Eligia because of their closed back construction.
@@michaelgwagner they are good for atmos? I have beyerdynamic 1990 dt pro!
Is it possible mix dolby atmos with headphones?
I would not do it without head tracking, but in principle, yes.
Thank you for this! I bought it without even bother to demo it. :) I have 2 questions:
- Around 39m when the object is separated from the reverb, how does the object then get panned around? Since the Beam plugin is no longer on the object track, how do we then pan it?
- Any tips on exporting gapless albums/tracks in ATMOS? Like continuous orchestral content when we need to break up the album into tracks but the audio has no break. Can it be seamless?
Thanks for your clear and very informative videos!
Thanks! The Spacelab reverb integration will be available with Spacelab version 1.5. I don’t think that is out yet. It will do the panning for both bed and object simultaneously. Unfortunately, I can’t answer your second question. If you hop over to our Discord, I think there are people there who might know the answer.
@@michaelgwagner Thank you - as for the gapless question, as luck would have it someone answered the same question I had posted a couple of weeks ago on the Dolby forums. Here was the reply:
"“I have produced and delivered many gapless albums. My approach has been to record one long DAMF, and then use the Dolby Atmos Conversion Tool to extract ADM tracks at exact frame borders. This removes the likelihood that there will be start/stop playback variance recorded into your DAMF. This method has worked, and the album assembler is a nice place to confirm smooth gapless playback before delivery to the DSPs”"
From initial appearances, the Dolby Atmos Conversion Tool appears to be free, but the album assembler is $99 I think. I have the assembler and will give this a go as soon as I'm able.
Again thanks for your informative and enjoyable channel.
If you pair it with their reverb plugin will the reverb follow they spatial panning of the associated track?
Example: sfx automated from back to front.
Will the reverb follow? Or will I still have to write automation for the reverb?
The reverb will follow.
Amazing plugins 🎉
Does the reverb input follow the object positioning?
For Spacelab, yes.
Excellent
Not sure I can make the jump based on this. What about automation, sequencier and speaker calibration. I didn't really see anything more feature rich than the original renderer, actually it looks like it has less.
Well, it’s main draw is that it adds Atmos capabilities to DAWs that otherwise don’t allow that. The new version also has a master channel which you can use for masterbus processing.
hey Michael. I've been trying this out with Logic Pro but it seems that with the beam plugins on each channel you can no longer control the channel volumes in the usual way or is that just me?
In DAWs that do not have post fader inserts you will need to do some additional routing if you want to control the audio through the fader. One way could be to put the beam plugin in a bus that you are routing into.
@@michaelgwagner thanks Michael. That makes sense 🙏
I wonder if it would be possible to place surround plugins such as Skydust 3d on a track before the Beam plugin in a 2-channel DAW such as Ableton and if it would send multichannel audio to the Composer plugin?
No, but you can put surround plugins together with the Beam plugin into an instance of Plogue Bidule. This works just fine.
@@michaelgwagner wow, that's a great idea, thanks Michael!
You’ve already set the bar high but this is one of your very best presentations … running Digital Performer and highly relieved to finally have this plugin!
Thanks! Digital Performer is on my list, btw.
i dont know if this is good luck but i was trying to download a cubase 12 trial but thier having some type of issue right now then i saw this. i have no desire to leave windows and mainly work in studio one or reaper so this is very very intriguing.
This is a good alternative to the Cubase workflow. Especially on a DAW like Reaper.
Arg! I finally got the Dolby Atmos Renderer and Nuendo to work together on the same Windows machine (which was what mathematicians call "non-trivial"😀), and the very next day I see this video. Timing has never been my strong suit.
You need to tell me how you did that though. Interested! 😉
@@michaelgwagner I used a (free) application called AsioLinkPro, which basically mimics the Dolby Audio Bridge (it also does pretty much any other kind of asio routing and/or mixing things you can tnink of). Two issues...1) it's very klunky to set up and configure and 2) it only "bridges" 64 channels which limits you to 54 objects. I got it to show the activity on all the bed and object channels, and the panning from the Nuendo panner carries over into the renderer in realtime (way cool!). The last step will be to figure out the output mapping so I can send from the renderer into my 7.1.4 monitor setup correctly. I get audio out, but the channels are scrambled 🙄. Let me know if you want more information.
Thanks! I recently played around with Asiolink, but it is indeed clunky.
Also does this use a lot of cpu?
Another very good question. I don’t notice it but I just built a new system and it is admittedly a bit overspec’ed.
Wow! This is awesome! Is there any set up for head tracked binaural?
No. That’s one thing Logic still does best.
Sorry, but how the heck do I make the faders work in FL STUDIO when the Dolby Atmos Beam sits in one of the insert slots??? I'm confused!!
FL Studio does not have post fader inserts. If you want to work with the faders you can put the Beam plugin on a bus and route the track into the bus first before sending it to the composer via Beam.
This video has brought me back to excitement after learnning that I could not do this without a ton of money and gear, So, Thank You Michael!!! I have Studio One, I have bought Dolby Composer, I have all of my speakers for 7.1.4 and I have a Presonus 1824c. I have only 8 outs for speakers but wonder if I can use the ADAT I/O with another piece of gear? Can I sell this and get a presonus Quantum with plenty of outputs? Im confused and need someone to help me understand what I can or can not do or what I need to get to make this work?? Any advice from anyone would be greatly appreciated. This video is Awesome and and Thank You Michael for sharing!! I have hope that even I can do this on a budget. Thanks
Thanks! You need something to convert ADAT to analog. The cheapest option I am aware of is the Behringer ADA8200. I believe you could also daisy chain two 1824c units but I am not completely sure about that. You usually need two pieces of gear as audio interfaces with 12 analog outs are very rare.
@@michaelgwagner cool thank you very much
do you know if mp4 export is coming, or if DAR will be another required purchase if we want that capability?
I don’t, unfortunately.
I have the essential version installed and I'm using Reaper. I'm using a 7.1 wav file of a 3 minute music video. When insert the beam vst all seems well but the Dolby Composer ... that plugin starts up but all I see is a long PR message about the Dolby Atmos Composer. I don't see anything like I see in your videos ... Can anybody help to get it working ... Thank you ... Gary
I got the same problem.
Thank you for this great video. 👍 I'm looking forward to the day when I can buy this program.
Which is today, right now. ;)
@@michaelgwagner Great, just bought 😀 and even at an introductory price 👍 Of course the big version. Speaking of which, Fiedler also published another tutorial on this today.
I think they have like half a dozen or so. Definitely worth checking out!
@@michaelgwagner Unfortunately, the registration/activation does not work if the virtualization function is activated in the BIOS (I also had problems with Spacelab). So I immediately asked Mr. Fiedler for help. But I am confident that help will come.
and help was there 👍
Hi all, probably something I'm doing wrong but I am testing out composer essential. I have made a simple 2 track FL studio project each with an audio clip, track 1 the word "YES" and track 2 the word "NO". Both are objects with track 1 on the monitoring section of the output settings only coming through RRS and track 2 only through LRS (I have a Sony HT-A7000 atmos system with the additional rear speakers). I have the ADM/BWF button highlighted and only export that one file. The export says successful so all good so far. However, when I then put my .wav file on a USB stick and put it into the surround system and play it 1)the system does not go into ATMOS mode (it normally does if it detects ATMOS sound). 2) It does not play anything through the rear speakers as I thought it should based on the monitor display, I can actually hear it through the centre speakers. 3) I notice that I can play the file in Windows media player which I would have 'thought' would not support the file type (I know it's a wav but it has the extra surrund sound/object info within too).
Any ideas what might be wrong/what I am doing wrong please?
I did wonder if it's because I have read ATMOS can only be transmitted through HDMI but it would be odd to offer a USB slot and then not be able to do anything with the contents of the USB stick in ATMOS?
What you are exporting is an ADM file. You can’t play that on your surround system, that file is for submitting to distribution services. Ideally you want to play a quality control deliverable, but for that you need the Dolby Atmos renderer. Another option is to just render the Atmos in the surround format your surround system supports.
Thanks for the video Michael. This plugin is pretty dope!
In Dolby Atmos Renderer we have options for binaural playback distance: OFF, NEAR, MID, FAR. Does Fiedler Composer have the same options? Are they necessary for proper binaural reproduction?
Also, as far as I understand it, the above-mentioned options does not affect speaker reproduction. In your estimation, does producing/mixing/mastering on headphones with those binaural settings make sense at all for translation to other systems?
I really want to get into this whole Atmos thing but don’t have the budget for a proper speaker setup. But I have an excellent headphone system with which I achieve great stereo mixes. I wonder if mixing for Atmos using headphones is something feasible at this point in time in terms of "real world" translation...
Thanks!
Yes, you can set the binaural option, but I think you need to full version for that. And Virtuoso is another one on my “video to-do” list.
@@michaelgwagner You can set binaural options for each channel in both versions. Cheers!
Ok, thanks, sorry for that.
I sent an Atmos mix to majormix and they said I needed the ADM BWF file, not the large .WAV file from my Composer render. I reloaded my Atmos mix in composer and heard/saw my 7.1.2 mix. Any help would be great. Thank you.
Not sure what they mean. The wav file exported by the composer is an ADM BWF file. Make sure you use the ADM export and not the multichannel export. If you used composites with channel counts above 7.1.2, make sure to check the “force 7.1.2” checkbox.
@@michaelgwagner Hi Michael, i did not have multi channel checked, just headphone binaural. I watched the Feidler audio tutorial and its output was a .WAV, just like my Atmos mix. This is the reply from Majormixing "We’ve already made a lot of releases in Dolby Atmos, and you need to upload ADM bwf file format to get the Dolby Atmos. So we need exactly ADM bwf, not a wav file"
Just an update for those who come accross this discussion. We continued the conversation on our Discord (follow the invite 😉) and it appears that the problem was that everything was mixed into the Atmos bed and the publisher apparently required Atmos objects to be present in the deliverable.
Sorry third question. Can you export a binaural fold down with additional mastering plugins such as a limiter on like you can in Logic Pro?
No, you can’t load plugins into the composer.
@@michaelgwagner ah ok. I might leave it then as in Logic Pro I can bounced mastered binaural fold downs
but you can take the binaural stereo file into logic and do full mastering afterwards. which gets you amazing results
@@SkatingDog true but I'm always so busy and so need to save time by doing it all in the one session if possible which is what I do now in Logic Pro Dolby Atmos
@@dannykirsch Well I am sure it takes only 10 add. minutes. And it is definitely worth it. If you master the binaural and compare it to the stuff out there you ... We DAC users will rule soon!
if I understand correct, Dolby Atmos by design doesn't support reverb (and any other fx) panning correct? even if it's Spacelab, it's basically Bed type reverb, not Object type reverb, "unlinked" from actual (dry) source (-Object, which is automated by metadata included in Atmos rendered multitrack)
An object is just an audio source at a specific location. A Dolby playback device does not automatically add reverb, you have to “bake” that into the audio.
@@michaelgwagner true, but reverb being reflection of object in space can't be "baked" before moving the object in space,
even if reverb was a Bed, and source was Object, Bed would be baked prior to object movement, it's a big flaw of Atmos I'm afraid...
Hey, if you get a multi-channel reverb aux and you send it to your bed, and your signal is post-sending to that aux, then you do have a 7.1.2 or higher space for your signal! The reflections happen in all these channels!
It can, because the way objects move is “baked in” as well.
WaveArts Panorama has something called "Reflections", a type of reverb, albeit limited.
Do you think there is any point in logic users getting this plug-in considering logic has Dolby atmos built in? Is it just as quick to use as the built in logic version and does it sound exactly the same? The only reason I’m considering getting this is because when I try to use 3d object tracks in logic the tuning often goes weird even though bed tracks are fine.
Very good question. Logic is tricky because Logic does have advantages no other DAW has, like integrated headtracking. I might do a video about what is better in the near future.
@@michaelgwagner thanks for your quick reply Michael. Think I might just stick with Logic Pro in that case and just hope they sort out the 3d objects bug. Also I accidentally typed that the tuning is affected but I actually meant timing. Don’t know whether you can help with this issue at all michael as apple weren’t able to help?
@@michaelgwagner I'd love to see a video about which is better please Michael
I’ll likely do a comparison with Cubase/Nuendo next week. That a straightforward one as the Composer has clear advantages. I’ll put Logic on my todo list as this is something that actually interests myself quite a bit.
Great news and great video for:) Wow 9.1.6 bed :) i am sold lol Do you know if you can use the Sound particles Energy Panner or Brightness panner? Great review and the spacelab is cool and being able to separate the,
Thanks! On cubase you could use energy and brightness panners to route into a multichannel track and then the beam plugin to route that multichannel audio into thr composer. But you can’t toute inyo yhe composer directly for obvious reasons.
@@michaelgwagner Hmm thats strange the only way i have been able to energy panner /Brightness panner to work in Cubase/Nuendo is by using it on the desired channel as a replacement panner :( Mind i always use the control room for my atmos work flow..
You could still do that though. Just route the track into another one that holds the beam plugin.
@@michaelgwagner Ok Cool will give it a try :) Thanks for the help and advice and great content :)
Can you create a bigger-than-stereo track and make it object like Nuendo does? (e.g. Quadraphonic or above)? to me this is what makes Nuendo the #1 in Dolby Atmos productions...
By bigger-than-stereo you mean multi-channel?
Yes
Amazing
Is this plugin compatible with 32bit DAW?
I doubt that.
What is this truly for? Someone help me 😫
You mean the Dolby Atmos Composer or Atmos itself? The Composer allows you to create Dolby Atmos and that simply is a common spatial audio standard.
Do you have an ableton tutorial for this ?
I have used the composer together with Ableton in a couple of my videos but I did not make a dedicated tutorial. With Ableton the composer works very well. There are no special settings you need to consider. Just put the composer on the master and the beams on all objects and bed tracks and you are good to go.
@@michaelgwagner thank you so much sir. Too kind!
@@michaelgwagner forgot to ask. How would you add third party master buss plugins? Before composer? And does it have to be multichannel.
@hunnidyard There are no master bus devices in Atmos. You therefore can’t add them.
@@michaelgwagner so how does one prevent clipping when rendering in stereo? Maybe an export in ableton 32 bit will do? I hear 32bit prevents clipping when exporting haven’t texted this yet
Do you have video on best way to do re renders in Cubase?
Not yet. Next week.
once you add the plugin that send the audio to the reverb you can't do panning for that sound ?
The Beam plugin takes the audio pre-fader so there's no mixer or paning control by default. Will depend on your DAW though how you get Beam to work post-fader. e.g. put into a group/parent track etc, post-fader inserts etc.
@@SamHocking
good to know but my question is about using the reverb send plugin instead of the beam plugin like in video where he explains that you can't use both .
so how would you position the sounds before sending to the reverb ?
I'm assuming the reverb plugin only control where the reverb return are coming from in space.
The Spacelab reverb controls position of the object as well as the reverb. Both. As said in the video, Spacelab will need an update that has not yet been released. Should be available soon.
Thank you
You’re welcome!
Can you monitor moving objects in 3D in realtime via 7.1.4 homecinema setup?
That is a very specific question. :) You can hook up any 7.1.4 output device, if that helps.
@@michaelgwagner danke 😉, im asking since im trying to find a way to tune a Dolby Atmos Theater Home Cinema by using real time objects in 3D space. I guess this seems the first affordable way to do this. Na mal sehen.
Keep us posted!
3 things I see missing in the demo so far.
- no speaker delay settings, nor routing options for monitoring speakers
- no mp4 export
- the plugins tend to be prefader, so it is best to use premixed steam or you will need to create a lot of bus channels.
I did ask about delay and eq setting and response was: "Speaker EQ and Delay is not currently on our plan. If many request it,
it might come in an update." also i did ask about mp4 export and response was "we are looking into the MP4 export possibility but the ball is currently
on Dolby's side. It is definitely on our agenda."
@@Heke97 if their goal is to give atmos to the masses speaker calibration must be a priority, not needing a separate monitor controller would be huge
You can always use Sonarworks multichannel.
@@michaelgwagner can I import the sonarworks profile into dolby atmos composer?
No, but you should be able to use it systemwide.
Comes built in with Cubase Pro 12, the Steinberg version that is, not this exact plugin.
Cubase uses the Dolby Atmos renderer. I did a number of videos about that.
great, thanks
What is "Dolby Atmos Composer Esssential" useful for?
It provides you with the basic framework to create Atmos.
@@michaelgwagner and to create a binaural downmix?
from below I understood that both versions can?
In the options you can select to export a headphone mix which can either be stereo or binaural.
@@michaelgwagner well, seems that it requires full license.
Im trying with the Akai mpc software.
Interesting! Let us know how it goes!
Question: The idea seems to be that the Atmos is not fundamentally "channel based" and it "works with anything". Yet, it's the very "channel layout at the core of the Dolby Atmos bed" that "allows the system to downgrade gracefully." This is confusing.
I would think that it's the "3 dimensional objects in 3 dimensional space" in theory taking coordinate in an imaginary cartesian space that allows the flexibility to down/up mix to any imaginable speaker layout. My question is why or how? What's the actual theory that makes this fundamentally different than explicitly channel based systems like 5.1 that can also be down-mixed to stereo? Atmos has to either be totally disregarding - or - making certain very real assumptions about all the actual speaker layouts it will potentially work with.
Does Atmos just assume everything is on a sphere? 5.1 assumes a 2D circle... Stereo assumes the same circle (the main difference being the number of available point sources) - what is the actual process or theory that makes this work?
Too bad about it really not working with Pro Tools because of improper delay compensation implementation by Avid.
Fiedler Audio have a video about how to set delay compensation manually in PT but that is probably a bit of a hassle if you would work with it on a regular basis.
I tested it in ableton. Is it true, that volume changes can only be made in beam and not in my ableton mixer?
That depends on the DAW. Ableton does not have post fader inserts if I remember correctly, so you have to work around that. What you can do is put a track into a group and put the beam onto the groups’s parent. That way the beam plugin sits after the fader and you can use the fader to control the audio going into the composer.
@@michaelgwagner Oh no, that is a bummer :(
@@frederikgroborsch3367 So long as you Beam plugin is accepting the channel audio post fader, the fader will still work. You can also map Beam and Composer paramaters to Ableton / midi controllers too I would think?
@@SamHocking if you use a bus return or aux channel with a beam on it, you can use the volume sliders of the channels that go to this bus or aux
@@frederikgroborsch3367 I run Bitwig as my main DAW. I found just putting the track with Beam in a group track is a workaround. I don't entirely understand why beam is running as a pre-fader vst when its not possible to run pre-fader fx unless they exist in FX Sends.
Grazie!
You’re very welcome!
Arg! I got excited and purchased without trying the demo first. Bummer. On windows it seems you cannot configure multi speaker monitoring. Also appears to not support asio. Hope im missing something.
This was a bug in the release version. It’s already working in a beta version. You should get access to that soon.
@@michaelgwagner I downloaded the update and can now enable ASIO and multi monitor output. Very cool. I hope the ability to configure/route channels becomes available one day. Cheers!
Great! Not quite sure why the order of objects is important though. It does not have relevance anywhere as far as I understand it.
@@michaelgwagner yeah, you’re right. I just needed to use RME TotalMix to get the routing from soft outs to hard outs. Duh
I have started my trial yesterday to find out that Dolby Atmos Composer is NOT working for monitoring with loudspeakers on stereo only DAWs - it is headphones only with Ableton Live, Bitwig....
Strange, no issues here either with Ableton or Bitwig, Windows or Mac. Set speakers to stereo, headphones to off and external output to off. If you turn external output on, you need to disable DAW output.
Thank you, yes, Composer does send signal to main stereo speakers, but No, not to surround speakers (only the first 2 of 9.1.6) (Windows)
Ah, ok, makes sense. Somebody mentioned that this is a bug in the initial release.
This plugin looks great, but it's the same price as Logic Pro which is a full Atmos daw and so much more. With apple renderer and head tracking built in. Better value just buying Logic.
If you are on a Mac, which not everyone is. 😉
@@michaelgwagner you're right. I forget about PC people, as I know no professionals that use them 🤷🏾♂️
😂 Both have their merit tbh.
@@NoQualmsTheArtist More a US and commercial Atmos thing to use Apple in studios to be honest simply because Dolby made the software in a weird way (supposedly because before the unions got involved, Atmos was going to be only possible by paying Dolby to mix the ADM for the studios and they rejected the proposal so wy we have this odd Dolby Audio Bridge mess on Apple). Both Silicon and X86 have their merits, but for spatial audio PC/X86 seems the better option as has a lot more DSP and GPU processing power available than Apple currently provide.
@@SamHocking I'm actually in Australia. The problem with PC's is they are made up of hundreds of components made by many different companies from all over the world, and they were never designed to specifically work together. While Apple computers were designed with all the components in mind to perfectly work together for decades with no problems. I have Mac's that are over 10 years old that still work perfectly. If your business relies on your computer you buy a Mac it's that simple. They are more expensive and are not as powerful as a gaming PC, but they just work and keep on working. I don't know a single professional Sound Engineer, Movie Editor, Graphic Designer etc who uses a PC for this reason. I'm sure in developing countries and through Asia many people use PC's, but in the UK, US, Australia etc Mac's rule the professional landscape.
400th like
Thanks! 🙏🏿
Can you monitor through 16 speaker setup with this while mixing?
Works on Mac, the Windows version of the external out has a bug which is already fixed in the beta version. Bugfix should be released soon.