Mixing in stereo ProTools for years but I have a 5.1 project and doing a 5.1 movie mix sounded complicated until this video. Thanks for a good explanation of the tools and methodology!
Paul - Your video really solved the major problem I had with tons of audio files spread over 4 different external drives. Thank you so much for the education! Too bad PT had the round robin checked automatically from day one. Had I known!
I feel quite overwhelmed but more importantly, very excited to get into surround mixing. Thank you for a very informative video, Paul! There is so much more to learn though.
Thank you Paul! You always make the best post production tutorials :) Understanding Divergence and Destructive mode is really appreciated. Can't wait for your next video!
This is a real gem, such a great video. Please Paul, continue with the surround sound. It’s such a broad subject. You’re talking principles, rules and options mostly, so it’s not that important to hear the mix anyway. Again, many thanks for taking time and effort to make all these!!!
i've learned a lot from this video alone. Thank you so much Paul for sharing this valuable information. Hope you have more to come in the future. Thanks again!
Excellent video! I have some questions. I've never worked in a detailed audio project like the one in this video. - In the video for the movie section (34:22), I see that you created mixdown buses for dialogue, FX, etc. Is it recommend to create mixdown buses for every audio element? ( one for dialogue, FX, foley, ADR, ambient environment, etc) - The mixdown buses created for dialogue, FX, etc were in mono or stereo? - In other software (Audition, Fairlight, etc) is there an option to record the final stereo and surround mix like in the video? If not, would sending the tracks to buses, submaster to a final stereo and surround master work? Thank you.
Thanks Christian. The buses would typically be in the channel format of the whole mix (stereo, 5.1, 7.1 etc). There will be ways to record the full mix to a track in other software. I can't speak for Audition or Fairlight specifically as I don't use them. It's likely that it can be done though.
Hi Paul, Luke here from Tribal Get Out Alive, Manchester Filed Mixer... Wow what a video! I've been asked to create a pre mix for an indi feature film, specifically the foley design. They want me on Tools for it which is fine, quick question regarding mixing in 5.1. Can one mix via headphones with 3rd party soft-wear that offers a viable work flow? Kindest Luke
Hi Luke! You can do a lot of the groundwork for a 5.1 mix over headphones. If routing to a stereo output, Pro Tools will automatically down mix to 2 channels for monitoring. Of course, a lot of the panning would be guess work so you'd have to check it later on in the process over a proper 5.1 monitoring system. Having said that, I do know someone who guessed an entire 5.1 cinematic trailer mix by monitoring in stereo and it turned out OK. Not advisable though. By the way, Tribal is completely finished and looking and sounding good!
This was really helpful. Thanks a ton. I want to know why you would have the LFE360 plug-in on your main mix output? I didn't understand that part. Can you please help?
It filters frequencies above 120Hz out of the LFE channel. This is because when you use the LFE send control in Pro Tools, it sends full bandwidth audio to the sub. The subwoofer in a surround system generally only plays back content below 120Hz so it's a good idea to filter it out. Also, if it ever gets encoded to Dolby Digital, the sample rate of the LFE channel gets dropped to 240Hz so by applying filtering at half of the sample rate you avoid alias frequencies being heard (Nyquist). This would take a longer description to explain properly but that's the basics.
Realy well done. Great Job ! Good Sideinfos about the LFE Limitations. Only 1 critic.. instead of going into deep with destructivepunch i would have been more interested in the submaster and how you target Loudness Norms on the LoRo Track.
For LFE - you can also have have a send much like a reverb send, going to a mono aux with a we rolloff around 120, maybe less, then directly sent to LFE channel, this creates sub content for the lfe without editing. As a mixer, with crazy skeds, unless there is editorial support on the stage, don’t have this luxury, but still want control of the LfE.
I understand that the stock AVID downmix plugin is Lo Ro. What do you recommend for Lt Rt workflow. Or Software? Waves DTS? manual routing? Love your channel.
Good video. Please keep it up. I'm interested to know more regarding output channels as well as the Loudness Specifications for TV & Cinema. What about Phase changes when we Low Pass in the LFE channel?
Loudness specs is quite a big subject but I'll have a think about how I could do it. With regards to phase changes when low pass filtering, most equalisers (other than linear phase EQ's) will cause some small amount of phase change when used but the phase change on such low frequencies with a very long wavelength will be inaudible.
Excellent tutorial again Paul.. Thank you.. Regarding the low frequencies doubling up on consumer systems; Shouldn't we cut the lows (below 100Hz?) on the explosion along with managing the LFE on their own tracks? Seems to me that just doing what you've done will still double up the lows on consumer systems. Am I missing something?
That's a good point. If there was already significant low frequency content in the explosion then it would be a good idea to high pass it on the main channels. In this case, I didn't feel that the explosion effect had that much low end, so the much lower pitched version I created for the LFE channel didn't overlap too much with the main explosion. Certainly though, there would be occasions when cutting the lows on the original sound would be a good idea. It depends on the sound.
@@paulmaunder3007 What are you using for bass management while mixing in surround? I'm having a hard time finding any really good info on the topic online. The only thing I've found suggests using the waves surround plugins. Thanks in advance!
You are a real sound guru! :) Would you consider running a sound mixing workshop into any given studio facilities in the UK for some hours/days? Thanks againg for your very helpfull videos, looking forward for the next ones! Cheers!
Very nice video!"I am actually also interested how yo uare capturing all audio to the screen capture tool you are using? I always have trouble doing screen caps with pro tools. Have to use soundflowers, or multi aggregate devices, and seems to be a huge workaround to get audio going for this purpose. DO you mind going through your screen cap setup with pro tools audio on the mac?
Edward Bauman On the system I create these videos with, I have an HD Omni interface. When I’m working on a day to day basis, that’s my normal audio interface. For screen capture though, I route the audio out of the computer’s line output and capture it with Screenflow.
@@paulmaunder3007 Do you have to create a ProTools gregate IO though? Because when launching protools it will basically steal the core audio, right? So how does screenflow undestands the output of protools as the system sound?
@@baumansound With Screenflow, I don't use an aggregate I/O. I just set Pro Tools to output over the line output on my Mac Pro. I then monitor this over headphones via my audio interface and Screenflow is just set to capture the computer's audio, along with the mic I use for the commentary.
Hi Paul, The Video was Enlightening as always!!! By the way, I'm using Protools 12.5HD With Focusrite Solo Interface(1st Gen),Since am not having Monitors,I'm using DT990 Headphones, so is it possible to do a 5.1 mix using a pair of Headphones???? If so can you Demonstrate the Routing process and I/O Setup through a Small Video, So that it ll be of great help for aspiring artists for us...Thanks you : )
You'll need Pro Tools Ultimate in order to work in surround. If you have that, any track routed to a multi channel output will have the surround panner. Create the outputs and buses in I/O setup.
does the protools 2018/2019 version have the quad-channel buss feature to mix ambisonics? I can't find this information anywhere.. if you or anyone can assist, please?
Great tutorial but I felt you started in the middle. I wanted a walk through of setting up a 5.1 template and how to route outputs from the I/O set up. I've tried on my mbox 3 pro but it throws up error messages like 'this channel doesn't have an active output' or some shit. I don't know what I'm doing.
It indicates a dedicated LFE channel and is .1 because it covers only part of the frequency spectrum. This information came from an interview with Tomlinson Holman, the creator of 5.1 and THX. Subsequently it has been used to denote the number of subwoofers used but the original intent of calling it a .1 channel was to indicate the fact that it’s not a full bandwidth channel. Tomlinson Described this in a podcast with AV Forums a few years ago, and in his book ‘5.1 surround sound up and running’.
Mixing in stereo ProTools for years but I have a 5.1 project and doing a 5.1 movie mix sounded complicated until this video. Thanks for a good explanation of the tools and methodology!
Thank you so much Paul. Definitely need to keep referencing this video through the years. Grateful for this.
Thanks Lushinjilo. I'm pleased that you find it useful!
Paul - Your video really solved the major problem I had with tons of audio files spread over 4 different external drives. Thank you so much for the education! Too bad PT had the round robin checked automatically from day one. Had I known!
Round Robin Allocation is a feature which should probably be removed, in my opinion. I'm glad that you finally got to the bottom of the issue though.
42min!!! It was worth waiting for. Many thanks Paul. Amazing video.
Thank you!
I feel quite overwhelmed but more importantly, very excited to get into surround mixing. Thank you for a very informative video, Paul!
There is so much more to learn though.
22:05 what a great idea for using divergence to widen/gel stereo music mixes.
Very incredible technics, thanks for the time to explain this wonderful mixing world.
Thank you for watching!
Great demonstration. Thanks.
Thank you Paul! You always make the best post production tutorials :) Understanding Divergence and Destructive mode is really appreciated. Can't wait for your next video!
Thanks! I'm already in the process of drafting out the structure of the next one ;)
This is honestly so useful. Thanks, mate! Subscribed
This is a real gem, such a great video. Please Paul, continue with the surround sound. It’s such a broad subject. You’re talking principles, rules and options mostly, so it’s not that important to hear the mix anyway. Again, many thanks for taking time and effort to make all these!!!
No problem. There will be more content about surround formats in the near future!
Eye opening and inspiring, i'm gonna get deep into this, really appreciate it Paul, keep it coming please!
Diego Oliveira Thanks Diego! I’m pleased that people find the videos useful. There will be plenty more to follow!
Thank you so much Paul for these valuable information!
please make more of these! You have been very good help!
There will be more!
Great video Paul, very informative for anyone interested in surround mixing, cheers!
i've learned a lot from this video alone. Thank you so much Paul for sharing this valuable information. Hope you have more to come in the future. Thanks again!
You are amazing. I've learned so much with this video. Please keep doing it!
Leonardo Santiago I will. Thanks
Thank you for the information Legend, We miss you any videos soon?
Thanks. It's been a while but I'll be getting back into making more Pro Tools videos very soon!
Missed your content Paul, Hopefully we shall get more , Remain blessed
Paul Kruz Official Thanks Paul! There’s more to come soon :)
What a great video. Thanks a lot
My pleasure
this is amazing , thanks a lot for your wounderful session
Thanks Bharath!
That’s really cool! Thanks for explaining this. I can’t wait to try. Great video
Amazingly informative!
Very useful video paul thankyou😀
incredibly helpful video. thank you
Great video Paul. Well thought out. I look forward to your next one.
Thank you Paul this is just what i needed to get started on my uni assignment!!
Very good! thanks!
No problem!
Excellent video!
I have some questions. I've never worked in a detailed audio project like the one in this video.
- In the video for the movie section (34:22), I see that you created mixdown buses for dialogue, FX, etc. Is it recommend to create mixdown buses for every audio element? ( one for dialogue, FX, foley, ADR, ambient environment, etc)
- The mixdown buses created for dialogue, FX, etc were in mono or stereo?
- In other software (Audition, Fairlight, etc) is there an option to record the final stereo and surround mix like in the video? If not, would sending the tracks to buses, submaster to a final stereo and surround master work?
Thank you.
Thanks Christian. The buses would typically be in the channel format of the whole mix (stereo, 5.1, 7.1 etc).
There will be ways to record the full mix to a track in other software. I can't speak for Audition or Fairlight specifically as I don't use them. It's likely that it can be done though.
Thank you very much for this tutorial ! Fast, direct and very clear... congratulations!
Great Video Paul
Thanks Julio!
Hi Paul, Luke here from Tribal Get Out Alive, Manchester Filed Mixer... Wow what a video! I've been asked to create a pre mix for an indi feature film, specifically the foley design. They want me on Tools for it which is fine, quick question regarding mixing in 5.1. Can one mix via headphones with 3rd party soft-wear that offers a viable work flow?
Kindest
Luke
Hi Luke! You can do a lot of the groundwork for a 5.1 mix over headphones. If routing to a stereo output, Pro Tools will automatically down mix to 2 channels for monitoring. Of course, a lot of the panning would be guess work so you'd have to check it later on in the process over a proper 5.1 monitoring system. Having said that, I do know someone who guessed an entire 5.1 cinematic trailer mix by monitoring in stereo and it turned out OK. Not advisable though.
By the way, Tribal is completely finished and looking and sounding good!
Thank you very much for the video i learnt something about surround sound Thank you!!!
Cheers!
This was really helpful. Thanks a ton. I want to know why you would have the LFE360 plug-in on your main mix output? I didn't understand that part. Can you please help?
It filters frequencies above 120Hz out of the LFE channel. This is because when you use the LFE send control in Pro Tools, it sends full bandwidth audio to the sub. The subwoofer in a surround system generally only plays back content below 120Hz so it's a good idea to filter it out. Also, if it ever gets encoded to Dolby Digital, the sample rate of the LFE channel gets dropped to 240Hz so by applying filtering at half of the sample rate you avoid alias frequencies being heard (Nyquist). This would take a longer description to explain properly but that's the basics.
Thank you so much! Great Video with so good information!
No problem. Thanks for watching!
Incredibly informative video, thanks so much Paul!
great as always.
Thanks!
@@paulmaunder3007would appreciate if it will be possible to cover some music production in the future!
Thanks so much. Really helpful.
Realy well done. Great Job ! Good Sideinfos about the LFE Limitations. Only 1 critic.. instead of going into deep with destructivepunch i would have been more interested in the submaster and how you target Loudness Norms on the LoRo Track.
Thanks for the feedback. I'm considering how I can include information on loudness specs into a future video, including on an LoRo down mix.
For LFE - you can also have have a send much like a reverb send, going to a mono aux with a we rolloff around 120, maybe less, then directly sent to LFE channel, this creates sub content for the lfe without editing. As a mixer, with crazy skeds, unless there is editorial support on the stage, don’t have this luxury, but still want control of the LfE.
Note: Anything you send directly to LFE make sure it has a Low Pass.. sending full freq to LFE is dangerous, and “frowned upon”.
Great video always Paul. Question:What surround speakers do you use?
Thasks again. Cheers.
Duffer At work, we have Exigy monitors for the whole 7.1 setup, with a larger model for the front 3 channels.
I understand that the stock AVID downmix plugin is Lo Ro.
What do you recommend for Lt Rt workflow. Or Software? Waves DTS? manual routing?
Love your channel.
Thanks for the presentation
did you install dolby atmos production. Suite for protocls integration 7.1.2 surround bus. ?
Is this for mac os only ??
I have used the Dolby Atmos Production Suite although I didn't cover it in this video. As far as I know, the Dolby Atmos Production Suite is mac only.
Thanks ! Great content !
Good video. Please keep it up.
I'm interested to know more regarding output channels as well as the Loudness Specifications for TV & Cinema. What about Phase changes when we Low Pass in the LFE channel?
Loudness specs is quite a big subject but I'll have a think about how I could do it.
With regards to phase changes when low pass filtering, most equalisers (other than linear phase EQ's) will cause some small amount of phase change when used but the phase change on such low frequencies with a very long wavelength will be inaudible.
thanks, i've always learned something valuable from your tutorials..
Thank you Paul
Thanks for watching, Peyman
Excellent tutorial again Paul.. Thank you..
Regarding the low frequencies doubling up on consumer systems; Shouldn't we cut the lows (below 100Hz?) on the explosion along with managing the LFE on their own tracks? Seems to me that just doing what you've done will still double up the lows on consumer systems. Am I missing something?
That's a good point. If there was already significant low frequency content in the explosion then it would be a good idea to high pass it on the main channels. In this case, I didn't feel that the explosion effect had that much low end, so the much lower pitched version I created for the LFE channel didn't overlap too much with the main explosion. Certainly though, there would be occasions when cutting the lows on the original sound would be a good idea. It depends on the sound.
Paul if you happen to catch this comment thanks. Why do you lower center 3db in your downmix?
Why does the /Submaster have the LFE360 active? Wouldn't it cause this buss to only send
The LFE360 only actually acts on the LFE channel so other channels will pass full bandwidth.
Thank you Paul. Great work.
Thank you!
Given YT is now 5.1 would you consider an update to this?
thank you for the video!
Jose Perez No problem!
@@paulmaunder3007 What are you using for bass management while mixing in surround? I'm having a hard time finding any really good info on the topic online. The only thing I've found suggests using the waves surround plugins. Thanks in advance!
This is great! Can you please make a tutorial on Atmos pre-mixing on laptop via Dolby Atmos Renderer?
You are a real sound guru! :) Would you consider running a sound mixing workshop into any given studio facilities in the UK for some hours/days? Thanks againg for your very helpfull videos, looking forward for the next ones! Cheers!
Thanks for your comment. Yes, I'd certainly consider running some workshops depending on location and my availability at the time.
@@paulmaunder3007 That'd be great! Please let me know when you would consider running it and I'll be happy to fly over! Cheers!
@@paulmaunder3007 if this ever happen, please put me in your mailing list: nathanael.gustin@live.fr Cheers!
Thanks for your video
Very nice video!"I am actually also interested how yo uare capturing all audio to the screen capture tool you are using?
I always have trouble doing screen caps with pro tools. Have to use soundflowers, or multi aggregate devices, and seems to be a huge workaround to get audio going for this purpose. DO you mind going through your screen cap setup with pro tools audio on the mac?
Edward Bauman On the system I create these videos with, I have an HD Omni interface. When I’m working on a day to day basis, that’s my normal audio interface. For screen capture though, I route the audio out of the computer’s line output and capture it with Screenflow.
@@paulmaunder3007 Do you have to create a ProTools gregate IO though? Because when launching protools it will basically steal the core audio, right? So how does screenflow undestands the output of protools as the system sound?
@@baumansound With Screenflow, I don't use an aggregate I/O. I just set Pro Tools to output over the line output on my Mac Pro. I then monitor this over headphones via my audio interface and Screenflow is just set to capture the computer's audio, along with the mic I use for the commentary.
@@paulmaunder3007 Interesting! I will try that! Not sure why I am having so much trouble to record PT audio with a video capture.
Thanks!!
Hi Paul, The Video was Enlightening as always!!! By the way, I'm using Protools 12.5HD With Focusrite Solo Interface(1st Gen),Since am not having Monitors,I'm using DT990 Headphones, so is it possible to do a 5.1 mix using a pair of Headphones???? If so can you Demonstrate the Routing process and I/O Setup through a Small Video, So that it ll be of great help for aspiring artists for us...Thanks you : )
The surround panner doesn´t appear in my Tracks? How can I activate it?
You'll need Pro Tools Ultimate in order to work in surround. If you have that, any track routed to a multi channel output will have the surround panner. Create the outputs and buses in I/O setup.
Question sir, what version of pro tools do you use?, btw great video 👌
does the protools 2018/2019 version have the quad-channel buss feature to mix ambisonics? I can't find this information anywhere.. if you or anyone can assist, please?
Great tutorial but I felt you started in the middle. I wanted a walk through of setting up a 5.1 template and how to route outputs from the I/O set up. I've tried on my mbox 3 pro but it throws up error messages like 'this channel doesn't have an active output' or some shit. I don't know what I'm doing.
This tutorial is an intermediate level one so I didn't cover I/O setup much. I will consider going over it in another video.
Thank you so much!
Thank you!
So 5.1/7.1 is All panning based. I think ambisonics uses delay as well as panning. #ambisonics
Which low budjet studio monitors needed for 5.1
Look at GENELEC's offerings, just make sure SAM is on the menu.
The 0.1 of a 5.1 surround system indicates the amount of monitors in the system, not the potential bandwidth of the monitor. That is, the LFE Monitor
It indicates a dedicated LFE channel and is .1 because it covers only part of the frequency spectrum. This information came from an interview with Tomlinson Holman, the creator of 5.1 and THX. Subsequently it has been used to denote the number of subwoofers used but the original intent of calling it a .1 channel was to indicate the fact that it’s not a full bandwidth channel. Tomlinson Described this in a podcast with AV Forums a few years ago, and in his book ‘5.1 surround sound up and running’.
Fantastic
Thank you so much
thank, man, this helped me a lot.
What bout using delay in 5.1?
Delay as in a delay effect or delay compensation?
@@paulmaunder3007 effect.
Sir what is sixteen track?? Lots of people ask me for this for 5.1 mixing
In what context do they ask?
@@paulmaunder3007 when my senior engineer mixing a theatrical 5.1 promo he asked to the client for 16 track bgm
@@rockaritra BGM might stand for background music but I don't know what the 16 track refers to.
@@paulmaunder3007 btw thanks for the video, but plz make more on movie mixing, surround reverb
THAAAANK YOU.
No problem :)
Thanks a lot
4k! amazing
Bad ass
Yaya !!!
棒棒的
Singer rapper chanter. #tripleThreat
You sound like Gavin Free.
this has open up a world of mixing ideas - ig@kogve_official
Thank you!
thank you so much 😀
Really great, thanks
Thank you a lot