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Otari PicMix White Paper - technicalaudio.com

1. 9 ufiissy sayeads pajo4 uo BHuryoyimg IMIWA juajis padwey paj041uo sayndwoy Hurysyimg m syndu zxg January 1996 28 BI PicMix White Paper I Don t Mix Film What s In It For Me I have spent a lot of pages outlining the film style mixing process in the course of this paper yet I have also stated that most of you will probably never mix a big budget motion picture The reason for this is simple Our talented friends in Hollywood have been dealing with the complex issues of posting sound to picture longer than anyone else has All those that start to work in surround sound audio eventually come to find that these film style techniques or modifications of these techniques eventu ally find their way into the process My hope is that by looking at the most complex applications of PicMix in surround sound posting it will be easier to identify the portion or portions that might be applicable to you and your work PicMix was designed not only to handle large scale film dubbing jobs but also to handle the smaller tasks down to and including the simple now that PicMix exists task of just listening to a surround sound tape or disk The modular design of PicMix allows you to create the exact size system that is required for your work The system can g
2. sound field with just one E E E knob or the easy left right motion of a Relative Power joystick Divergence LOC R C R roc R Lot R Levels at Each can be adjusted to opti Speaker mize the smooth pan even further Panaround can be applied to any of the panning formats i LS RS ali 15 RS al i LS RS 1 LS RS al 15 i RS Acoustic Position 15 RS LS RS LS RS LS RS LS RS Joystick Position C Equivalent Front Front Front Front Front Knob 9 Position Panning Automation When the optional MIDI automation package is released for the PicMix Panner 2nd Qtr 1996 panning moves will be able to be recorded into many external MIDI sequencer systems By syncing the sequencer to SMPTE time code panning moves can be tied directly to picture Special Panning Effects More then 1 audio panner may be assigned to any panner control set Each additional audio panner that is assigned can have it s own panning format can be delayed in time from the main audio panner In addition these added panners can be set to mirror the control movement in either the X axis the Y axis or both For example 2 audio panners can be tied to one joystick The second panner can be delayed from the first for 1 2 46 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper PicMix Panner Audio Rack block diagram showing 4 of 6 available panning modes
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4. ED JER vs 9 1 10 1U0WN XIINIId jOJ u07 01 6 3 e qeu3 Aye 1099 984 Mau 2 21 5 101100 1 s 88 0 sjnding 9 18p10281 0 sjnding sng 2811 ndino 0 15 10400 2160 ojos Jayeads punong 19 0291 1981 pz 0 8 810 ewo 5 1284 XIS JO Huluued 3 10 XII 1 18 04 007 JO UOIN 191101007 Jauued ajosuo4 oipny 091919 Jayeads 11044 1 2 Jayeads 10044 Jauueg m January 1996 26 PicMix White Paper G6 S1 9 15 91 04102 XINId 9108007 BER BP 5 oo Bas Ase Seo Boe Ej ae 5 0 spaa4 ber 0 saduy ajosuo 8 L sinding 901 J9p1028H 9 L sindjng sng 0 02 gt ndino 9po2a apo2u3 10592019 punong eer eer e e yasuj ger Ler puag pasul oe
5. 3224 002 S20 S20 S20 S20 532011 9102 sjuauia 3 paip3 0 128JJ3 punog uone201 3iSnjy pasua r ISNIN MOUS 38U4104 L S 10 5592014 35 peryrjduuis January 1996 PicMix White Paper What is a stem A final mix for film or video may consist of more then 1 item For an LCRS show their might be an LCRS music mix plus an LCRS effects mix and perhaps 4 tracks of dialog meant for the center speaker Each of these compo nents of the final mix is known as a stem When these stems are mixed together at unity gain this represents the complete final mix These stems may exist on sepa rate tapes or disks or may exist as separate tracks within a multi track tape or disk Some people would also refer to any Predub group of similar type pre mixed tracks as a stem Foley Recording Foley artists perform using props in a specially designed Foley pit recording area with different floor surfaces to create sounds which are recorded live to picture These sounds include footsteps cloth ing noises paper noises fight noises leaf rustles water noises etc Original Music Recording The original music score is recorded Some or all may be recorded against edited sections of the picture Sound Editing of the above types of audio tracks plus others such as source music licensed music etc are edited and timed so that they match
6. 40 January 1996 BI PicMix White Paper Panner Assign Display The PAM assigned to the active pan ner control set is displayed when the Panner Assign is set to Module Mode 4 shown left When it is set to Mode shown right the panning mode is displayed When in Setup Chan nels the arrow keys are used to cle through either the PAM or pan ner mode In this example the A input of PAM 2 is assigned to the selected panner control set not shown Since PAM 2 is set to 5 3 mode input A will act as a 5 1 for mat panner Module Mode Audio Display Auto Select Audio Display Auto Select E Panner Assign Panner Assign Module Module O Mode O Mode Parameter Set and Display The LEDs between the knobs and the buttons to the left of the knobs are used to display and set panning parameters When a joystick is the active panner the LEDs and buttons reference the joystick amp D When a knob control set is ac tive they reference the knobs A amp B The buttons are only active when in Setup Channels mode Feed Front Surround Pan Surround Mono Spit Divergence Full Variable Panner Mute Buttons Each of the 4 control sets A C D D has a large Mute but 77 e ton with LED in ji MULTI FORMAT dicator Mute SURROUND PANNING SYSTEM Januar
7. 2 5 m 3 L4 8 g g 5 x 8 2 o5 5 o Lod B 8 v 2 i 2 u 4 2 s E z 8 8 5 95 5 LL e January 1996 43 PicMix White Paper punga Half Divergence 50 This simplified chart shows the per ceived acoustic position as well as the approximate audio output level of each speaker for a variety of panner knob or joystick settings Relative Power Levels at Each Speaker Perceived Acoustic Position Equivalent Knob Position Joystick Position RS HAVANA Mu Surround Surround C 5 Front LR F S L R D Divergence Full None Front C C LS RS LS G M MHN RS 50 Divergence Half LS Front Front Surround C C L LS C LR F S Surround L R D Divergence None Full RS LS MiH 1 2 C C Front Surround C Front LR F S Surround L R D Divergence None Full RS LS I MI 5 Front Surround Surround F RS LS R 2 C C Front Front Surround Surround L LS L R F S L R D Divergence None Full RS L
8. Divergence Full Variable Divergence Full O Variable 42 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper Full Divergence This simplified chart shows the perceived acoustic position as well as the approximate audio output level of each speaker for a variety of panner knob or joy stick settings L C LS L Front Front Surround G Surround 2s 285 a ul 25 o 2 20 oc 5 n gt 0 a oo o o c 2 N lt 2 5 lt 2 t ze g P oo RS gt E 2 Nn P3 x e 2 8 P 5 228 3 2 5 95 5 LL e a cc D cc 2 e Q z a 2 2 Q Divergence None Full RS LS Front Surround Q Q Surround Q Divergence Full None R 100 Divergence Full R RS RS C LS Front Front Surround 2 Surround Q Divergence Full L LS EOC E L LS EE5BZ UBSHJEH F S L R Q Divergence None Full
9. The PicMix White Paper A Surround Sound Primer by Mi pes A Mi Uu lg Acknowledgements PicMix products are designed and manufactured by TG Systems Inc PicMix is a trademark of TG Systems Inc Concept I Status Premiere and DISKMIX are trademarks of Otari Inc Dolby is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation DTS is a trademark of Digital Theater Systems SDDS is a trademark of Sony Cinema Products Corporation other trademarks belong to their rightful owners The PicMix White Paper was written by Michael Tapes for Otari Corporation Copyright 1995 6 TG Systems Inc Tel 516 933 1945 Fax 516 932 8091 Email mtapes aol com Rights Reserved First Printing October 1995 Revised Printing January 1996 A note from the author I wish to thank the many people who over the years have given so freely of their time and knowledge so that I could be better equipped to do my job PicMix would not have been possible without you To those listed below and to the so many more not listed my sincere thanks Paul Galburt Doc Goldstein Michael Minkler Wylie Stateman Greg Lan daker Steve Maslow Barry Ross Kim Aubrey Larry Goga Oliver Stone Roy Segal Mark Berger Steve Boze Jim Austin Tom Davis Ben Rizzi Jim Corbett Leslie Shatz Howard Schwartz Scott Gershin Rick Larson Steve Potter Gary Fradkin Tom Scott Bobby Mackston Peter Cole and all of the others PicMix Products
10. 5 3 3 5 4 4 7 second If the reverb return from the first sound element is fed into the second panner the reverb return will trail the dry sound by 1 2 second during a dynamic pan Or two audio panners can be mirrored around the X axis so that panning from right to left moves the first sound from right to left but the second from left to right With these provisions for special effects multiple audio elements can be panned in special ways all from one control set Panner Summary The PicMix Panner is a cost effective solution for those facilities that are doing mix to picture work and do not have multi channel panning capa bilities on each module of their console However even those facilities with limited LCRS or even more complete panning on every module can speed their post production work by using the PicMix Panner It blends multi format capability with amazing flexibility and unique op erating modes The audio display grids give a unique view of the panned signals while the multiple divergence modes set a new standard in multi format panning Quite simply the PicMix Panner brings a new and innovative approach to the art of panning LR LR LCRSS 10855 M2345 812345 Up to 8 Panners Modules may be January 1996
11. MCI is able to control up to 4 serially controlled machines and up to 2 parallel controlled machines At least 1 Monitor Controller must be in stalled in the system in order to use the MCI Note More detailed information about all of the components that make up the PicMix Monitor can be found in the Color Brochure and Technical Information Foldout Sheet both available from Otari or your Otari dealer Information about surround sound panning and the PicMix Panning System can be found in this paper starting on Page 30 January 1996 PicMix White Paper punga Mix to Picture and Film Style Mixing The PicMix Systems are designed to facilitate fast efficient and creative audio post production that is or will be associated with a moving pic ture whether that be film video or multi media PicMix draws from a long tradition in the Hollywood film community of how this audio post production process is accomplished Even if your work does not involve film or is small in scope there is much to learn from these pioneers The film studios have always been the leaders in sound production They have always been faced with the most difficult tasks due to the sheer number of audio tracks that have been associated with large bud get movies as well as the desire to draw people into theaters with larger than life sound and picture While the Hollywood studios are still faced with the largest projects shows produced for television are and ha
12. cussion about these issues then I will be very pleased I have tried to bring some light to topics that have previously not been widely written about In some cases I have presented my own personal spin and in some cases I have simplified the descriptions or drawings to get across the intended point In all cases I have tried to further the understanding of the audio process Your feedback regarding this paper and PicMix would be much appreciated I can be reached at the numbers listed on the inside cover Thanks for all of the great sound Michael Tapes January 1996 48 January 1996
13. less you go to a newly constructed multiplex the reality of the small sweet spot is actually worse than in a large commercial theater It can only serve 1 or 2 people at most Anyone who has made the transition from an original home Dolby Surround LRS system to the 4 channel Dolby Pro Logic system LCRS with the center channel speaker can at test to the dramatic improvement this seemingly subtle change makes It is also important to remember that the usual purpose of a film or film on video is to convey a story and the most important aspect of telling the story is usually the dialog Having a center speaker helps ensure that the dialog which resides in the center speaker 99 of the time can be as intelligible and localized as possible Back to Divergence Let s remember that person sitting on the right side of the theater and suppose that a car is about to drive across the screen in the movie from the left to the right The sound first appears in the left speaker exclu sively When the car is center screen the sound emanates from the cen ter speaker only because the panner is fully divergent If the sound came from the left and right speakers forming a phantom center image or even from all three speakers the right sitting person would perceive the sound as coming from the right speaker and the effect of the smooth pan would be destroyed Since we also defined the job of the panner to statically place sound elements it is cl
14. the picture edits Predub Recording Groups of audio tracks of similar type music effect dialog Foley ADR etc are mixed on the dubbing stage mix theater into sub or pre mixes known as Predubs There may be several predubs mixed for each type Music A B amp C Effects A F etc Final Mix of the predubs are mixed on the dubbing stage to form the final mix which is broken down into the final music dialog and effects mixes which are referred to as stems Print Master The final stems are mixed at unity gain to create the actual physical tape film or disk that will be transferred to the picture master The above list is a generalized and simplified summary and takes license with the various processes In some cases there may be many more steps that have not been listed and in other cases many steps may be merged into one The above procedures are not necessarily done sequentially be cause some of the processes can be worked in parallel While many of the early procedures can occur without regard to sur round sound proper surround sound monitoring is essential during the the predub final and print master mixes In some circumstances sound effects design and music scoring may also be done with full surround monitoring to better prepare for the work that will eventually be done on the dubbing stage Note The final mix which theoretically is a unity gain mix of the predubs is actually a very complex mix where all of t
15. 1 theater shows that many seats do not get on axis coverage from all of the speakers Reducing the di vergence of the panner can help this situation by leak ing some signal into the al ternate speakers while still maintaining the signal dom inance in the panned to speaker Decreasing the divergence of a panner also acts to limit the spread of the pan Instead of panning from full left of the sound stage to full right as the knob or joystick goes through its full range the sound will appear to pan from left center to right center The spread can be varied by changing the amount of divergence that is applied to the panner The drawings later in this section should serve to show the technical ef fects of varying the divergence of a full 5 1 panner LCRISrS and of just the front speakers of a 5 1 or Dolby Stereo LCRS panner By studying these drawings you should get an understanding of how divergence af fects the action of a panner But the technical information does not get to the root of the divergence debate yes debate Many mix to picture mixers will tell you that they have never touched a divergence control ever and many mixers will not use a panner unless it has complete control of its divergence charac teristics I will not enter the debate but will only say that having vari able divergence in a panner extends the creative capabilities of that pan ner It can be left in the full mode all of the time or can be
16. MONITOR CONTROLLER plifiers Since in a film style mix environment the entire monitor system including power amplifiers and speakers have been cali brated these levels are relevant Note The meters that you use with PicMix should be set at unity gain 4dBu in 0 Vu reading January 1996 23 PicMix White Paper Dunan Speaker Solo and Mutes While mixing to picture it is often necessary to listen to only the signals that are assigned to a specific speaker or to mute all signals being fed to a specific speaker For example to check if the proper signals are be ing routed to the surround speaker you would want to mute all of the audio assigned elsewhere The problem is that in muting these signals it is extremely easy to make a mistake and mute a wrong signal or miss one PicMix eliminates this drudgery by offering complete solo and mute fa cilities for the speaker signals On the Master panel the speaker assign When the PicMix Monitor Controller ment buttons can mute or solo speakers when the panel is in these spe is set to Speaker Solo Mute mode cial modes On any Monitor Controller the panel can be set to Speaker the top half of the panel changes to Solo Mute mode In this mode the 8 Controller strips represent the 8 allow the soloing and muting of the speaker buses and the Solo and Mute buttons act on the speaker buses 8 speaker buses The alphanumeric instead of the VMTs that the strips is assigned to All
17. Virtual Machine L r 8 1 m N January 1996 21 PicMix White Paper WENGI LH AG Linka Grp Mast M h Enable Mute Y Record OFF N The PicMix Monitor Controller has 8 strips that can be as signed to any Virtual Machine Tracks Any strip can become a Machine Master or a Global Master by using the Master but ton Controlling Tracks Once the Virtual Machines are set up for the system they can be as signed to Monitor Controller strips Any strip can dial up any track of a Virtual Machine Each Virtual Machine Track VMT points to a track of a Physical Machine and to a PicMix input channel Any Controller strip or strips that are assigned to a VMT will control the physical track and input associated with it This allows different mix engineers to be able to control the same tracks by dialing up the same VMTs on multiple Moni tor Controllers The Controllers are completely virtual and set no limits as to which tracks can be controlled from which controllers Anything goes A Controller strip allows control of the following functions e Mute of the PicMix input Solo of the PicMix input e Switch the PicMix input between Direct console output and Play back Recorder output Punch in or Out of the Recorder Track Safe the strip to prevent switching and punches Make the strip a Machine Master or a Global Master Grouping Tracks When recording a stem let s use
18. and Virtual Machines The physical machines are the actual recorders that reside in your sys tem The Virtual Machines are subsets of the Physical Machines so that you can have complete control of a smaller number of tracks and 20 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper Through the use of Virtual Ma chines the mix engineer does not have to have knowledge of where the actual tracks are being recorded Up to 26 Virtual Ma chines can be set up to point to any contiguous range of tracks on any 1 of the 8 Physical Machines treat them as if they were part of a completely separate recorder These Virtual Machines of course do not really exist but merely point to the actual tracks of the Physical Machines PicMix can define up to 8 Physi cal Machines numbered 1 through 8 and 26 Virtual Machines called A through Z Virtual Virtual Machine A Machine E A1 A6 Physical Machine 1 Virtual 24 Tracks Virtual Machine B Machine F 1 6 1 8 B1 B6 7 12 T TTTYTTT 9 16 F1 F8 Virtual Virtual Machine C 13 18 1 4 Machine G 19 24 _________ 1 24 C1 C6 i G1 G4 Virtual Virtual Machine D Machine H D1 D6 H1 H24 Virtual Virtual Machine Machine M Physical Machine 2 11 18 M1 M2 Virtual 8 Tracks Virtual Machine J Machine N 1 8 lt lt 3 4 J1 J4 N1 N2 Virtual Virtual Machine K Machine O K1 K4 O1 O2
19. during the Final Mix The monitor would then be configured to match the final recorder track layouts as required which in this case would be LCRS However if the final mix created 3 LCRS stems music effect and dialog those might be recorded to 2 or three 8 track tapes or 12 tracks of a 24 track tape recorder or three 4 track film recorders or two 6 track film recorders or 12 tracks of a hard disk recorder So here too the monitor must be flexible enough to handle any of these possibilities 14 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper Example 2 This monitor configura tion allows the creation of an additional music predub B which con tains 2 stereo stems and four mono tracks These might be solo instru ments or sections that could be used to seg ment the basic LCRS mixes in Music Predub A Alternately they might represent sub mixes of the complete score which would allow the LCRS mix to be es tablished on the dub bing stage Example 3 Dialog consists of mono tracks This predub con figuration would allow different characters to be split onto individual tracks as well as some tracks having alternate production or ADR tracks for the director to choose from during the final mix A mono Effects B predub might contain effects that the Supervising Sound Editor was not sure the director would like Because they are not married mixed into to the Effects A LCRS predub decisions
20. external user provided MIDI sequencer 36 January 1996 IBI PicMix White Paper Panner Audio Rack Audio Module Outputs normai pn Load Audio Store Preset Module Select Preset o if 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Panner Mode PANNER AUDIO RACK This 2U rack unit is the core of the PicMix Panner All audio connections interface to the Panner Audio Rack The standard rack is fitted with 2 Panner Audio Modules PAM but up to 8 PAMs can be accommo dated Each PAM has 2 audio inputs and can be configured from the front panel into 1 of the 6 available panning modes Therefore the stan dard Panner rack has 4 audio panners while a fully loaded rack with 8 PAMs has 16 audio panners Panner Controller Module Set Mirror Audio Display Auto Select Load Preset Set Module i m E Mode channels pex Select Select le le 53 Front L C R Panner Assign e ik e Panaround Mode Front Surround 7 an Select PM PC PANNER CONTROLLER Select ae o Surround Mono Spit Divergence 0 ME Variable A B 5 Mute SURROUND PANNING SYSTEM Mute This 8 8w X 7h inches panel is designed to mount in or on your console in a blank panel or in an available desktop box The Panner Controller is the remote con
21. of whether or not to use them can be made later on the dubbing stage Multi Bus Audio Console 8 Track Recorder Music B Predub PicMix Monitor SURROUND Multi Bus Audio Console 8 Track Recorder 1 CENTER 2 CENTER 3 CENTER 4 CENTER 5 CENTER 6 CENTER 7 CENTER 8 CENTER Effects B Predub Dialog A Predub PicMix Monitor SURROUND The PicMix Monitor is in fact a mini console that is able to assign each of its inputs to one of the 4 6 or 8 speaker outputs When a set of assign ments is created as in any of the examples above it can be saved as one of 36 Presets within PicMix When this format is later needed again the Preset is simply recalled eliminating the need to assign all of the inputs individually January 1996 15 PicMix White Paper From the Assign Matrix section of the PicMix Master left and Slave right inputs can he as signed to speakers Assignments are always displayed on the LED assignment grid EET oo nm mna Dnm 16 January 1996 BI PicMix White Paper More than Just Assigning Speakers The ability to assign inputs to speaker buses is the most obvious and critical aspect of a surround sound monitor system But the needs go much further PicMix has a host of a
22. point in the signal path so that the processor receives the exact cali brated levels that it requires The processor device may be taken in or out of the signal path at the push of a button on either the Master Rack the Controller Panel You do not need to listen through a surround FEM processor if the format maintains true discrete tracks upon playback as SURROUND MONITOR SYSTEM it is the case with SDDS and most 5 1 formats PicMix Monitor External Surround Processor PicMix Monitor Ai Speaker 422 SPL Level Assignment Surround Adjust Encoder Decoder ower and Summing P Outputs fo PicMix Insert Return Surround Processor Bypass Simplified and partial PicMix Monitor Block Diagram shows monitoring through a surround encode decode processor So What is PEC Direct Anyway Whenever surround monitoring is discussed the term PEC Direct switching comes up While the actual definition is now outdated its function is not Allow me to explain some more of the film style mix process which will lead us to a complete understanding of the mysteri ous PEC Direct 18 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper Because of the complexity of mixing to picture the mix proceeds in a 3 steps forward 1 step backward kind of way In many cases each picture cut on the screen represents a new sound perspective so the mixer needs to change the settings of the EQs reverbs and
23. screen lip movements so that better performances can be obtained script changes can be inserted or sections can be re placed that were poorly recorded due to equipment failure or loca tion noises Sound Effects Design Sounds from live recordings sound effects libraries and electronic synthesis are edited layered and mixed to create sound effects ele ments that match on screen events 8 January 1996 PicMix White Paper punon ufjiaJ0J 10 ydy 18 se A 10 22100 0 YIM aq 0 S XIN TRN pa41ajsueJ 0 SIISE YILSVIN LNIHd 9318110 si98 3 5 S9943 9 ISNIN 19 11 L G 3 9821 IRN L S punoung suoissas xiu syaen 91 WNI ws suialg 9123443 SESE anid S XIN leur 01995 S194443 uon 2es 501Vld 0011998 JISNIN 9josuo 9josuo ME TATE sy2e4 2 5 s qnpaig s qnpaid s qnpaid 5 5 4 139jj3 punog 01 220 ISNIN pasua2r IISN euno iaee 1111 lilt iiil iiil ajeJedas yewo josuo9 ajosuo ajosuo ajosuo ajosuo ajosuo LG ul sqnpaldg Buiqqng Buiqqng 0 Sjuauig 3 xi ce
24. task Surround sound for mats present a host of barriers that must be overcome First of all as we have seen in the previous sections of this paper there are several surround sound formats that must be accommodated To simplify our discussion I will use just the 5 1 LCRISrS format realizing that this discussion should be applied to all surround sound formats either pre sent or future It is difficult if not impossible for analog controls to create the audio curves necessary for panning into the various surround sound formats Therefore it is only practical to implement a multi channel multi format panner using digital control of the audio electronics With this approach the panner is able to accommodate all formats and do tricks that were not possible in previous generation all analog designs Full Divergence Most of the major surround formats have 3 speakers in the front of the sound field This fact is what makes the standard stereo pan pot inad equate for the job of surround format panning When an audio element is panned across the front as in our 5 1 example the signal must appear only in the left speaker when it is panned to the left only in the center speaker when panned to the center and only in the right speaker when panned to the right The fact that the sound moves to each speaker sepa rately in the course of the pan is known as divergence The panner is said to be a divergent panner or to have full div
25. CENTER 3 RIGHT 4 SURROUND 5 LEFT 6 CENTER 7 RIGHT 8 SURROUND Monitor System SURROUND January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper 5 1 Format This 8 track tape consists of a 6 track stem 5 1 plus two addi tional tracks of material that were kept separate so they could be handled separately in the final mix Only a dedicated dubbing console would be able to handle this without PicMix SDDS Format This 8 track tape consists of an 8 track SDDS stem Only some dedicated dubbing consoles would be able to handle this without PicMix LEFT 8 Track Recorder 1 LEFT 2 CENTER 3 RIGHT 4 LEFT SURROUND 5 RIGHT SURROUND 6 BOOM SUB WOOFER 7 CENTER 8 CENTER Monitor System LEFT SURROUND RIGHT SURROUND SUB WOOFER RIGHT CENTER 8 Track Recorder 1 LEFT 2 LEFT CENTER 3 CENTER 4 RIGHT CENTER 5 RIGHT 6 BOOM SUB WOOFER 7 LEFT SURROUND 8 RIGHT SURROUND Monitor System LEFT SURROUND RIGHT SURROUND January 1996 13 PicMix White Paper Example 1 This monitor setup of 2 LCRS stems might be used to create music and effects predubs where all of the sur round components are in place These types of predubs would be di rectly routed to thei
26. Input VCA installed Each Panner Module can VCA work in one of six modes 3 3 A gt L R S amp B gt L R S Input VCA 4 4 A gt L C R S amp B gt L C R S VCA 5 3 A gt L C R LS RS amp B gt L C R VCA 3 5 A L C R amp B gt L C R LS RS 7 A gt L LC C RC R LS RS Panning Mode Module 1 of 8 VCA 8 A L C R LS RS LR CR RR Mode 5 3 VCA Main Outputs SA em ws q gt BAI L L L L L L VCA X A2 LC Input VCA A3 R R R R C R VCA E M S S 15 RC LS Input B VCA gt RS VCA Summing B Main Outputs VC Bi L L L L R RS Module 2 of 8 VCA ue moe p R Modes VCA E n R R R R RS CR VCA 84 58 15 RR Four of Six Available Modes Shown Left 3 RS mus Hn B Inputs can Pan into VCA A Buses via Summed Mode Input B VCA Except Pan Modes 7 amp 8 VCA VCA Module 3 of 8 VCA Mode 4 4 VCA VCA Input VCA E VCA E Input VCA X VCA Summing VCA 7 Module 4 of 8 VCR Mode 7 Block Diagram 47 PicMix White Paper punon and fade to black I hope that this paper has educated and informed you about both PicMix and surround sound audio post production Realistically my purpose was to educate and sell at the same time These first 2 PicMix products were developed as innovative solutions to the problems posed by to day s needs to marry audio to picture If this paper serves to spawn dis
27. LCRS for this example there are many times that you will want to control all 4 tracks at once but there are also times when controlling the Center track alone or the Surround track alone is more appropriate PicMix makes it easy to do both By controlI mean do any of the functions listed above Mute Solo Direct Playback switching Punch In or Out Normally all tracks work independently Pushing the Master button above any Controller strip however makes that strip become a Machine Master Asserting a function on a Machine Master activates that function on all tracks that belong to that same Virtual Machine By safeing some strips using the enable button set enable to off Machine Masters can control subsets of Virtual Machines By pushing the Master button above a strip a second time so that the LED flashes that strip becomes a Global Master that will control all en abled strips in the system Linking Tracks To allow the control of more than 8 tracks on each Monitor Controller PicMix permits the Linking of multiple tracks beneath each control strip By using the Setup Link function up to 8 Virtual Machine Tracks may be assigned to each Controller strip That strip then controls all VMTs that are linked to it A VMT that is linked to a Controller strip can still be assigned to other Controller strips in the system 22 January 1996 UTI PicMix White Paper PicMix Metering The PicMix Monitor Master has 8 buffere
28. S R 2 C C Front Surround Surround L 5 C b Front LR F S L R D Divergence None Full RS LS R RS C C Front Front Surround L LS C LR F S Surround L R D Divergence None Full 44 January 1996 IBI PicMix White Paper L R Half Divergence 50 F S Full Divergence 100 This simplified chart shows the perceived acoustic position as well as the approximate audio output level of each speaker for a variety of panner knob or joystick settings Relative Power Levels at Each Speaker Perceived Acoustic Position Equivalent Knob Position Joystick Position R RS RS Mic 000 Surround Surround L R F S LR D Divergence None Full C C Front Front LS RS LS C Front R Front 5 Surround Q Surround R D Divergence None Full 2 Front Front Surround LS C L R F S Surround L R D Divergence None Full RS LS 2 Surround Surround C L R F S Divergence None Full Front Front M LS RS LS 2 R RS LS 5096 Divergence Left Right 100 Divergence Front Surr
29. ace the sound sources at any location between the speakers Note Since I mentioned music and sounds that occur in nature I should be clear that the use of a multiple pan pots feeding multiple mono sound sources to multiple places in the sound field pananora does not equal great reproduc tion of natural sounds Panned mono sources are a way of life in the studio of today and I could write 30 pages on that topic but I won t at least not here Let s assume that we all understand that panning is used to simulate the ac tual natural stereo recording that we all wish we could be doing So the main thing that a pan pot allows us to do is to place a mono sound source at any location between 2 speakers The other thing that a pan pot can do is to move that signal smoothly over time A sound source can be moved in space by operating the pan pot while mixing or recording This can be used to provide special effects in a music record ing number 9 number 9 number 9 or to match the movement that oc curs on screen when mixing to picture January 1996 31 PicMix White Paper Dungo Panning for Surround Sound Formats The reasons to use a panpot when mixing for surround sound are the same as when mixing for 2 channel stereo to precisely place a sound source within the sound field created by multiple speakers or to dy namically move a sound source within the sound field However the conventional stereo pan pot is not up to the
30. ach Panner mode except 7 amp 8 can be set to normal so that each panner feeds a separate stem or summed mode so that both panners feed the A stem Input A pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 Right A3 buses dada Left Surround A4 Right Surround A5 Input B pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 Right A3 January 1996 39 PicMix White Paper Dunan Selector Buttons The front panel selector buttons al low the selection of any PAM so it s Load Audio Store All panning mode can be viewed or Preset Module Select Preset Clear changed Up to 8 system presets can also be stored to or loaded from ONES m memory by using these buttons 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Panner Controller Features Panner Controller Master Buttons Set Module Setu E Mos Add Module Set Mirror Audio Display Auto Select Load Preset The Panner Controller Master Buttons control the assign ment of panner control sets knob or joystick to the PAMs in the audio rack Panner modes and special ef fects may also be set via these buttons Audio Position Display Grids The Audio Position Display Grids show the placement of the audio in the sound field taking all parame ters including divergence into ac count The grids can automatically switch to the panners in current use by setting them to the auto select mode The Set LEDs indicate when a panner is Set exactly to the center of the left right panorama
31. are sold and serviced worldwide by ul Otari Inc Otari Deutschland GmbH 4 33 3 Kokuryo cho Sales and Marketing Europe Chofu shi Tokyo 182 Japan Rudolf Diesel Strasse 12 Phone 81 4 2481 8626 D 40670 Meerbusch Fax 81 4 2481 8633 Osterath Germany Telex J26604 OTRDENKI Phone 49 2159 50861 62 63 Fax 49 2159 1778 Telex 8531638 otel d Otari Corporation 378 Vintage Park Drive Singapore Pte Ltd Foster City CA 94404 USA Phone 415 341 5900 Fax 415 341 7200 L A Sales 818 972 3687 S E Sales 615 255 6080 40 MacTaggart Road Singapore 368085 Phone 65 284 7211 Fax 65 284 4727 Telex RS36935 OTARI punon PicMix White Paper Introduction This document is designed to provide an overview to the use of the PicMix Monitor and Panning systems in the audio post production en vironment For the audio professional who is proficient in surround sound audio techniques and technologies it will explain how PicMix provides cost effective solutions to the day to day problems encountered in this work For the audio professional who is new to surround sound audio post production it will summarize the process and provide a ba sic understanding of the solutions that PicMix provides The PicMix product line currently consists of 2 products the PicMix Monitor and the PicMix Panner Both are modular systems offering a va riety of system configurations as well as the ability to expand
32. arrier and allow surround sound formats to be handled with ease in conjunction with almost any multi bus audio console For a studio first delving into the world of surround sound this allows their existing con sole to be retained or the purchase of a new more generalized console that can better serve the facility Note The section on surround The PicMix Monitor and its options provides the following functional sound panning and the PicMix ity Panning System begins on Page 30 Up to 32 dual input channels 64 audio inputs Each Channel is assignable to one of 8 speaker buses Precision calibrated output monitor level can be set in 1 dB steps from 20 to 105 dB SPL Compatible with all surround sound formats including Dolby Stereo Dolby Digital SR D DTS Digital Sony SDDS and multi media Serial and parallel machine transport control Serial and parallel recorder track arming Up to 4 monitor controller remote panels may be used Compatible with almost any multi bus audio console All audio I O is electronically balanced at 4 dB nominal level 4 January 1996 BI PicMix White Paper 36 presets available for instant setting of monitor formats Hardwire bypass for normal stereo console operation LED matrix display shows current speaker assignments Alphanumeric display shows SPL level and system messages Fully buffered switchable meter outputs GPIO connector for simple logic interface w
33. at no time is there ever sound in the left and right speakers si multaneously ba TTT TTT 2 Ch nnel Stereo 2 Ch nnel Stereo Panner TTT Left 8088 lt 0dB 3dB IN Left Right Di 100 80dB Hr 25 Divergence G January 1996 35 PicMix White Paper punga Introducing the PicMix Panner The PicMix Panner is extremely versatile in that it provides a variety of panning modes for the various surround sound formats It can b
34. d meter outputs along with a 3 input switching network From either the Master panel or the Controller panel one of the 3 meter modes can be selected Input Metering The meter feeds read the PicMix input signals just post the Direct Playback switching This allows the viewing of PicMix has 3 metering points within the the console outputs or the recorder outputs Each Monitor Slave system The currently selected point can also has 8 buffered meter feeds that allow the viewing of it s 8 au selected from either the Monitor Mas dio inputs ter panel top or the Monitor Controller bottom Pre VCA Metering The meter feeds read the calibrated signal lev els on the internal speaker buses This metering point is critical be m m cause it allows the checking of the signal levels that are fed to the Input Pre VCA Post VCA surround processor if it is used An internal jumper selects whether this meter feed comes before or after the insert return If it is set be fore then the meters always read the signal going to the processor If it is set after then the input or output of the processor can be read M by switching it in or out of the circuit ins Mote FRUTA Post VCA Metering The meter feeds read the signal after the VCAs which control the monitoring output level This position al Enter z Cycle Clear Display lows the viewing of the signals being fed to the monitor power am Cancel Ext Dir PB Ext Rec PM MC
35. dditional features that are critical to the efficient implementation of surround sound mixing techniques Some of these facilities are listed below Precision Calibrated Level Adjustment In a stereo console a very important specification is the tracking preci sion of Control Room Level Control The Left and Right channels must be maintained in perfect balance throughout the range of the control If the control is out of spec the mix engineer will compensate which will produce an out of balance mix The out of spec pot can be corrected by M gt changing the relative power amplifier input gain settings but this will e e e e not work if the control varies it balance at different level settings SPL SPL SPL SPL 5010 6 Age Ger In a multi channel monitoring environment this problem is further com The absolute monitor level is al plicated because there are 4 6 or 8 channels to keep in perfect balance ways displayed on the PicMix Mon This cannot easily be accomplished with a conventional level control itor Master Using the SPL Adjust A B and C buttons monitor levels can be instantly set to 1 of 3 stored levels or adjusted in 1dB incre The PicMix Monitor has a sophisticated digitally controlled calibrated level control system This assures that all 8 speaker outputs actually ments These same adjustments amplifier feeds track accurately In addition once the system is cali are als available on all Monitor brat
36. e set to pan into all current formats including Dolby Surround 5 1 SDDS and 8 channel multi media Future formats can be accommodated via soft ware updates Two independent sets of buses 5 each are provided so that one panner rack can service two separate stems or just feed 1 stem The PicMix Panner consists of the Panner Audio Rack and the Panner Controller The PicMix Panner and its options provides the following functional ity Up to 8 dual input Panner Audio Modules 16 audio panners per panning rack Each Panner Audio Module can be configured for all common pan ning configurations Compatible with all surround sound formats including Dolby Stereo Dolby Digital SR D DTS Digital Sony SDDS and multi media Up to 4 panner controller remote panels may be used Compatible with almost any multi bus audio console All audio I O is electronically balanced at 4 dB nominal level 8 presets are available for instant setting of panning formats LED matrix display shows current panning formats Each panner controller remote panel has 2 knob style panner con trol sets and 2 joystick style panner control sets Any control set knob or joystick can be assigned to an audio pan ner or group of panners Grouped audio panners can have time delays associated with them Grouped audio panners can have mirror type special effects as sociated with them Optional MIDI I O provides panner automation link to
37. ear that when an element is panned or positioned for placement in the center it must also come only from the center speaker But there are exceptions A Little Less Divergence Let s talk about the person sitting over by the right speaker once again If a sound element is panned positioned full left then there is a chance that this person will not hear the element clearly or at all because it is coming from only the left speaker To remedy this the sound can be panned slightly to the right so that it appears left of center to someone sitting in the sweet spot This will be a perfect solution in many cases The right sitting person will hear the sound better because some of its energy is now also coming from the center speaker which is closer to their viewing position Another remedy would be to keep the element panned full left but re duce the divergence of the panner When the divergence of the panner is reduced making it less divergent some of the energy of the sound is fed to the other speakers allowing the sound to have a presence throughout the sound field while still being predominant in a specific speaker In a dynamically panned element the pan will be smoother because the sound never completely disappears from the alternate not panned to speakers Rather than jump from speaker to speaker during a fast pan it will glide smoothly January 1996 33 PicMix White Paper Simplified drawing of a 5
38. ed the monitor controller Record On and Record Off buttons now January 1996 19 PicMix White Paper UU speak directly to your recorder Since the Direct Playback buttons are adjacent to the Record On Off buttons this allows the mix engineer to punch as soon as possible after the audio match is confirmed The MCI can control up to 4 serially controlled machines and 2 parallel controlled machines at one time One of these ports can also be set up to perform basic motion control functions Play Stop Fast Forward Fast Rewind and Reverse Play on some machines from the motion control buttons which are also located on the Monitor Controller panel The PicMix Monitor Controller has complete facilities for seamlessly switch ing between console outputs Direct and the recorder outputs Playback When used in conjunction with the PicMix Machine Control Interface recorder punch ins and outs as well as basic transport functions are also available Physical and Virtual Machines When mixing to a predub or final it is essential that the mix engineer has complete control of the recorder where the stem or predub re sides But many times the recorder is a multi track that is being shared Two or more stems might be recorded onto a 24 track ma chine for example And perhaps each stem belongs to a different engineer In order to allow control of smaller parts of larger recorders PicMix allows you to you define Physical Machines
39. ed to your amplifiers and speakers absolute SPL levels can be set Controllers from the Master panel or from any Controller This is important because when mixing shows for theatrical release Dolby specifications require that they be mixed at specific Sound Pressure Levels usually 85 dB SPL at each speaker The PicMix Monitor allows SPL levels to be adjusted in 1 dB increments and also has 3 user stored SPL presets that can be re called to instantly set a specific SPL level A rotary monitor level control can also be optionally added What is a Surround Encoder When a show is done in the Dolby Stereo format or compatible format such as DTS Stereo or Ultra Stereo the final mix is made up of 4 discrete LCRS tracks or several sets of LCRS tracks stems for music dialog and effects for example However the delivery medium in almost all cases has only a stereo left right pair of tracks The beauty of the Dolby Stereo format is that the discrete 4 channel LCRS mix can be encoded into just 2 tracks which can be decoded or expanded into the original 4 LCRS channels upon playback and the stereo tracks can be played in stereo without decoding as well In a theater a professional Dolby decoder system is used while in a home theater a Dolby Pro Logic de coder is used In either case the original 4 tracks of the final studio mix are extracted from the stereo LT RT or Left Total Right Total tracks that exist as a stereo
40. elevision film commercials or multimedia The Surround Sound Explosion Audio material containing surround sound channels is all around us Virtually all US made major motion pictures are released with surround sound audio channels Broadcast and cable television programming is loaded with surround sound from episodic drama and comedy series to sports and special programming The majority of home video rentals have surround encoded soundtracks All of the future video delivery formats now under discussion include surround sound capability as a January 1996 PicMix White Paper specific part of their design specifications Even future audio only for mats Super CD etc are being discussed in terms of multiple channels more than 2 including surround sound channels What the above paragraph points out so vividly is that if a commercial audio facility cannot handle multi channel multi format audio it will not be competitive in the marketplace And handling these formats is not enough They must be able to be dealt with as quickly and easily as current stereo formats are handled What is Multi Channel Multi Format Audio Since the 1960 s stereophonic 2 channels Left and Right sound has dominated the music recording industry Television until recently has been monophonic And the film industry until the early 80 s was also primarily monophonic except for an important distinction Special pro jects were relea
41. er Right Surround This is the most common surround sound format used today Almost all major shows and films produced for theatrical release broadcast televi sion and direct to video are presented in Dolby Stereo audio This system uses the Dolby process of MP motion picture encoding to create a stereo 2 channel release that may be decoded into its 4 playback channels If no decoder is used then the show will play back properly in stereo or mono This compatibility between mono stereo and full 4 channel playback all on a single release print or video is one of the main reasons for the popularity of this format There are other encoding systems that are compatible with Dolby Stereo and maintain almost identical technical characteristics Two of these systems are Ultra Stereo and DTS Stereo Note Dolby Stereo format can also be decoded for television without the center speaker This becomes a Left Right Surround system having the Left and Right speakers create a phantom center channel 9 1 Format 6 Channels Left Center Right Left Surround Right Surround Sub woofer This is the format used in several new digital release formats for motion pictures It was also the most common format used in recent 70mm re leases This differs from the Dolby Stereo format in that the surround channel is stereo 2 channel rather than mono and there is also sub woofer channel The 5 1 designation is based on the fact that the 5 f
42. ergence lt v 3dB iDiver In order to understand why this necessary let s diverge for a moment to discuss the center channel speaker 80dB b c e Why a Center Channel Speaker In a home hi fidelity music reproduction system there are only 2 speak Panning curves for 3 way fully divergent ers left and right What is different about film that made them add a panner This panner is used for the front conter channel speaker There are several differences The first is that in speakers in Dolby Stereo LCRS and 5 1 ae p a theater most of the viewers are not sitting in the sweet spot so their LERISrS formats brains are unable to form a focused center image Secondly these same people would be distracted if they were sitting near the right speaker for example because their eyes are looking to the center of the screen but their ears are being drawn to the right speaker In addition before multi channel film sound was introduced there was only a center chan nel speaker so in truth the left and right and surround were added not the center speaker 32 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper While a home theater system is not the size of a commercial theater un
43. faders for each change in perspective Tie this in with the large number of inputs in volved with mix to picture projects and you end up with a very complex mix that has many starts and stops Of course these starts and stops mean that the recorder must be punched in and out repeatedly during the course of a mix This constant punching in and out puts great demands on the recorder being used It or they must be able to seamlessly punch in and out quickly and with no audible artifacts The other great demand is put on the mix engineer He or she must ensure that at the time of the punch in the signal coming from the console exactly matches in every way what is already on the recorder If the punch represents an audio insert the punch out must also be matched perfectly or else the viewer or on the dub stage the director will hear the punch In order to facilitate the perfect matching before a punch surround mon itor systems have provisions to listen to the output of the console or the playback of the recorder This creates an additional great demand The monitor must be able to switch between these 2 input sources with no audible glitch While the glitch would not be recorded since this is just a monitor function it would distract the mix engineer from discerning whether or not the console output perfectly matched the audio already on the recorder Since this matching process occurs hundreds of time during a mix the crossover between c
44. he audio elements as well as all of the picture elements are brought together for the first time This is also the first time that the show s director hears the audio in context which may cause many changes to be made It is the last time for the director to make audio choices such as which music to use or which ADR lines to use or even if there should be music or effects in this scene or that And this does not take into account any last minute picture changes that might send all of the sound editors scrambling and get all of the mixers growling 10 January 1996 IBI PicMix White Paper What About Me Many of you reading this may never be involved in a big budget theatri cal release but I guarantee that if you are ever involved in any part of the mix to picture process these techniques or modifications of them will be part of your audio toolkit That is why it is so important to have a firm understanding of the large scale film style mixing procedures Now that PicMix is available it is possible for many more audio facili ties to become proficient at mix to picture audio post production for sur round sound formats Of course any professional will understand that like a microphone or a console PicMix is just a tool In the proper hands it can help to create artistic audio that will enhance the story being told by the picture and in the wrong inexperienced hands it can help in pro ducing distracting noise The purpose
45. icMix White Paper cuitry that the Control Room signals also feed for console solo opera tion through PicMix are totally lifted via additional relay contacts of the other power amplifier inputs are also shorted to ground during these bypass modes preventing any signal leakage from appearing at those speakers So that PicMix may fully integrate with the console s solo and communi cations functions provisions are made for connection of logic lines from the console to the GPIO General Purpose Input and Output connector on the rear of the PicMix Master When the console drives the solo logic line low indicating that the console is in AFL or PFL solo mode PicMix mutes all normal inputs and feeds the console s Control Room outputs to the left and right speakers When the console drives the communica tions logic line low indicating that the console is in slate comm or talk back mode PicMix mutes or dims the monitor level depending on a setting in the User Preference System PicMix has several additional logic inputs and outputs that allow even tighter integration with the host console system In addition to the console Control Room output connections and logic lines this list summarizes the wiring of a large scale PicMix system The console record bus outputs must be wired to the recorder and also wired to the Direct inputs on the PicMix Master and Slaves if any The outputs of the recorder s must be connected t
46. ight A3 Surround A4 Panner Modes are also Input B pans to buses Left B1 Center B2 Right B3 Surround B4 displayed and set on the Panner Controller Panner Mode 5 3 5 1 3 Way Front Input A Panner Assign Input B Module Mode Input A pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 Right A3 Left Surround A4 Right Surround A5 Input B pans to buses Left B1 Center B2 Right B3 38 January 1996 Each of the above panner modes except 7 and 8 can be configured as Summed to A so that both MF T ners feed A set of panner buses This is usefu Vin yt Panner Mode 3 5 3 Way Front 5 1 mi Input A e e e Input B Input A pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 Right A3 Input A pans to buses Left B1 Center B2 Right B3 Left Surround B4 Right Surround B5 Panner Mode 7 SDDS Input A Panner Mode 4 4 5 3 Input A pans to buses Left A1 Left Center A2 Center A3 Right Center A4 Right B1 Left Surround B2 Right Surround B3 Input B is unavailable in this mode Panner Mode 8 Multimedia Input A Input A pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 Right A3 Left Side A4 Right Side B1 Left Rear B2 Center Rear B3 Right Rear B4 Input B is unavailable in this mode part of the same stem and do not need to be kept separate Panner Mode 5 3 Summed 5 1 Dolby Stereo Front Audio Module Outputs Input A Summed Normal to A E
47. ing in the surround sound en vironment we will first take a look at the purpose of panning while recording or mixing for the standard 2 channel stereo format Panning for Stereo aT 2 Stereo Panner 80aB 2992886 Panning curve for standard 2 channel stereo panner A stereo mix is ultimately played back through 2 speakers left and right By assigning audio elements during the mix to either the left speaker the right speaker or to both speakers the listener is led to believe that the sounds are emanating from the left speaker the right speaker or from a phantom center speaker that is located directly between the left and right speakers We are assuming that the room acoustics and the position of the listener allow this phenomenom to occur In other words the listener is in the sweet spot of a good room Since music and sounds that occur in nature do not emanate from only 3 point sources a recording with only left right and center phantom placements would sound unnatural We need to be able to spread our sounds across the entire listening panorama For this we use the aptly named pan pot or The pan pot not only allows us to assign our audio elements fully to each speaker but also to assign them to both speakers in unequal amounts By varying the amount of signals fed to each of the 2 speakers we can pl
48. ith console User Preference System allows user customization PicMix Monitor Components The PicMix Monitor is a modular system that is comprised of the follow ing components Monitor Master Hu ES UMS pn Wy SO LOUTIAIRILE BOoBoaAa a EM ssc Input Pre VCA Post VCA 5 D mm 8 mi B B oa All Buses I X e m B t Panel Presets oy Oo oja oO SPL SPL Solo Console F Wind f Adjust Clear All Solo Mute Mute This 2U rack unit is the core of the PicMix Monitor All basic functional ity excluding machine control is available All audio connections inter face to the Master rack Eight dual input channels allow for 8 tracks of audio with Direct Playback switching or 16 tracks without Direct Play back switching which are each assignable to one of the 8 speaker buses available Monitor Slave PM MS MONITOR SLAVE Iun This 2U rack unit serves to expand the input capability of the Monitor system Each Slave provides an additional 8 dual input channels to the system Up to Slaves may be added for a total of 32 dual input chan nels 64 audio inputs January 1996 5 PicMix White Paper Set Mach Master H8 oOo Enable Mute Record OFF Ae Grp Mast a 7 Record OFF PM Monitor Controller Spkr SPL Con Feed Master n3 Enable Mute Record OFF P
49. o UA Md PM MC MONITOR CONTROLLER Meter Inputs 105 Mode Post Load Preset Set Link Enler le Cancel Ext Dir PB Ext Rec Master Master Master Master Br Be EE Masta GMs m d Enable Enable Mute Mute Record OFF Record OFF ss Setup Option Channels m ES A Clear Sate Master Hn Mh Enable Mute Record OFF p KRED NU F Wind Defeat This 8 8w X 10 5h inches panel is designed to mount in or on your con sole in a blank panel or in an available desktop box The Monitor Con troller adds extensive remote control capability to the PicMix Monitor Multiple Controllers may be utilized for multi section console operation Each Controller has 8 control strips that can be assigned in a virtual fashion to any of the up to 32 input channels in the system Machine Control Interface MCI Port 510 Port 11 Port 12 Port 13 Port 14 a Port P10 PoP Port T10 E e 5 5 1 5 5 4 5 19 1 19 1 Control Port M10 Port 15 Port 16 Port 17 Port 18 Port 19 Port P12 Port P13 Network The MCI is a hardware software black box it s actually silver in color that allows the PicMix Monitor to control track arming record en able and basic motion control for a variety of recorder models The 6 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper
50. o the Playback inputs on the PicMix Master and Slaves if any The surround processor if used must be connected to the insert send and returns on the PicMix Master The power amplifiers that drive the speakers must be connected to the main outputs on the PicMix Master The audio outputs of the PicMix Slaves if used must be connected to the previous Slave or Master rack cables provided All components of the PicMix Monitor system being installed should have their Control Network PCN connectors wired in par allel and connected to the PCN connector on the PicMix Master This includes Slaves Controllers and the Machine Control Inter face If meters are used they should be connected to the PicMix Master If full input metering is desired the additional meters beyond the first 8 should be connected to the PicMix Slave s The drawings on the next two pages outline the interconnections in volved in a complete PicMix Monitor System They are meant as an overview For details regarding installation please consult the PicMix Operations Manual and your PicMix dealer January 1996 25 PicMix White Paper Jayeads punong Jeyeadg punong oipny 2 9 Jauued Jayeads yuol4 994 Jayeads 104007 2119 sJaipduiy Jayeads punong
51. of this paper is to inform you of the availability of an incredible new audio tool PicMix and to hope fully wet your appetite to pursue the proper education and people that will allow you to become proficient and profitable in this exciting area of audio January 1996 11 PicMix White Paper Why is PicMix Needed for Multi Channel Multi Format Audio Stereo Format A basic stereo console monitoring system is all that is needed to play back this 8 track tape which consists of 4 stereo stems Dolby Stereo LCRS Here the monitor section must be able to route these two 4 track stems into the LCRS speakers This is beyond the scope of stan dard audio console monitor sec tions In order to understand the need for specialized monitoring facilities when dealing with surround sound please compare the following draw ings in which an 8 track tape in various formats needs to be played back through the console monitor system Unlike a stereo tape in which track 1 always represents the left channel audio and track 2 always represents the right channel audio you can see that each of the following tapes have different playback channels speakers associated with each track The monitor system must be able to feed each track of each tape into any one of the 4 6 or 8 playback speakers LEFT lence Monitor System 12 8 Track Recorder 1 LEFT 2
52. onsole and recorder must be smooth and perfectly timed so that there is no click no gap and no au dio buildup during the switch So what does Direct switching mean anyway When the recorders used on the dub stage were optical recorders before my time listening to a playback meant listening to the output of the Photo Electric Cell or the PEC input to the monitor Listening to the console directly meant lis tening to the DIRECT input to the monitor Switching between them came to be called PEC Direct switching Now it is referred to as Di rect Playback switching PicMix has superb facilities for handling Direct Playback switching Of course each input channel of the PicMix monitor has two audio in puts 1 for the console output and 1 for the playback output of the recorder Proprietary circuitry has been developed to ensure a smooth click free gapless crossover during switching with minimal audio buildup and optimal timing Each channel is factory calibrated for glitch free switching While each input can be switched at the Monitor Master in practice this occurs from 1 or more of the monitor controllers which are mounted in or on the console The purpose for all of this matching between the console and the previ ously recorded mix is to allow seamless punch ins and outs PicMix has full provisions for actually performing the punches on a variety of audio recorders When the PicMix Machine Control Interface MCI is in stall
53. optical soundtrack on a movie or a stereo magnetic soundtrack on a video However the 42 4 encode decode process is January 1996 17 PicMix White Paper punga not perfect In order to make the stereo tracks compatible with playback in stereo or mono with no decoder compromises were made in the de sign of the encode decode process When producing the original 4 track mixes in the studio it is misleading to monitor them discretely because this will not take into account the changes that will occur due to the encode decode process It is therefore desirable to monitor through an encoder plugged into a decoder so that the anomalies of the encode decode process can be heard while mixing Surround encode decode In this way the mix engineer can preview what the viewer will hear processors such as the Dolby when the Dolby Stereo mix is decoded back into 4 channels of sound DS 4 can be punched in and duri tovto Adistmettsin pl tand level can b J dui uring viewing Adjustments in placement and level can be made dur out of the monitor signal path MM from the Monitor Master ing the mixing process to minimize any undesirable effects of the en shown or the Monitor Con code decode process so that the desired sonic results can be achieved troller The PicMix Monitor allows you to insert a Dolby DS 4 encode decode Paint mm processor or similar device into the monitor loop at precisely the cor rect
54. other buttons con displays change to label the 8 strips tinue to act on the VMTs with the speaker bus names yum yum L 15 5 B X L L N C CHO NS 2 Lina Grp Mast Lika Grp Mast A Lika Grp Mast A Lia GrpMasta Linka Grp Mast a Linka Grp Mast Linka Grp Mast A Lika Grp Masta M EB A E E Enable Enable Enable Enable Enable Enable Enable Enable Using PicMix with Standard Multi Bus Consoles PicMix is a monitoring system It does not have any direct effect on the record chain As such it can work with just about any standard multi bus console However special provisions have been made within PicMix so that normal console operation can occur unimpeded whenever sur round sound functionality is not needed Because PicMix is the final device except for room EQs if used in the monitoring chain all power amplifiers must be connected to PicMix The console Control Room outputs that would normally feed the left and right amplifiers are connected to PicMix When PicMix is not turned on or is in the PicMix Bypass mode the console Control Room outputs are routed through relays directly to the left and right power amplifier in puts This is a true hardwire bypass because the signal does not go through any active circuitry In addition to ensure that there is ab solutely no affect on the console s sonic integrity the internal PicMix cir 24 January 1996 UTI P
55. ound LS In R RS Surround Surround L R F S LR D Divergence Full None C Front Front 15 L R RS 15 ini RS Surround Surround L R F S LR D Divergence Full None C C Front Front 15 L R RS LS I RS C Front Front Surround L 15 C L R F S Surround L R D Divergence None Full L January 1996 45 PicMix White Paper Panaround allows pan ning around a surround Panaround A unique feature of PicMix is Panaround When a panner control set is in this mode only the Front knob L R or the left to right swing of a joy stick X axis has any affect on the motion of the panner By moving a knob or a joystick from left to right the panner will go around the en tire sound field for that format panner For example in a 5 1 format panning the knob from left to right will send the signal from left sur round to left to center to right to right surround This single knob or single axis for a joystick control gives a mixer the ability to swing a sound element around the soundfield and back very smoothly and eas ily
56. played like a violin by those mixers that take the time to explore the possibilities As you can gather through the above discussion panning and position ing sound for picture is a giant compromise because the listening view ing environment can vary so much and within a given environment someone can have a great seat or be stuck up close to the screen and over to the right The dynamic panning of audio as a special effect or the passive panning of sound for sonic positioning requires artistic com promise Keeping everything in the center can be boring and unin spired while spreading things out and dynamically panning lots of ele ments can be distracting to what is happening on the screen This is why the sought after mix to picture mixers get the big bucks LEFT SURROUND LEFT CENTER RIGHT SUB WOOFER Screen LL LE LZ LE NIGRI I I LL TL E LE IL E NET LIII ALI LI dL LI RIGHT SURROUND 34 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper These 3 graphs compare the panning charac teristics of a 3 way divergent panner with the divergence set to full top 50 middle and 25 bottom In all cases the total power dis tributed is the same The 3 way divergent panner bottom acts as if it is two stereo panners attached in the middle top Notice in the divergent panner that
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58. r re spective LCRS tracks during the Final Mix Even Within One Format Monitor Requirements Vary It is easy to see from the above drawings that working in different for mats will require different monitor setups However even within a spe cific format let s say LCRS to keep this example simple a series of 8 track predubs will usually contain several combinations of track layouts Each of these will therefore require a different monitor setup The 3 examples on these 2 pages show the mixing of a set of Predubs that might be used in one Dolby Stereo LCRS format show 8 Track Recorder pM 1 LEFT p 2 CENTER 3 RIGHT p 4 SURROUND p G CENTER 7 RIGHT A M 8 SURROUND Music A Predub Effects A Predub PicMix Monitor SURROUND The predubs in all examples are part of a single LCRS show but to cre ate any of them requires a monitor system that can be completely re as signed at any time While each of the above predubs was being mixed the monitor system was configured to match the recorder track layout which matched the console record bus track assignments The monitor system is in effect a mini console used for listening which establishes the relationship of monitor speakers recorder tracks console buses Of course to produce the final mix the above predubs are fed into a large mixing console
59. ront and rear audio channels are full bandwidth but the sub woofer channel has limited bandwidth carrying only extremely low frequencies generally those frequencies below 80 or 120 Hertz depending on whose delivery system is used The two most popular motion picture systems using 5 1 are Dolby Digital SR D and DTS Digital DTS These are both digital audio systems in which the 6 channels of audio are stored as a digital bit stream although SR D is stored optically on the film print while DTS is stored on a separate laserdisc which is time code linked to the film print The current proposal for HDTV High Definition Tele vision includes 5 1 audio as does DVD Digital Versatile Disk the new standard 5 CD size video computer disk format SDDS Sony Digital Dynamic Sound 8 Channels Left Left Center Center Right Center Right Left Surround Right Surround Sub woofer This format is similar to the digital formats mentioned above except that 8 channels of audio are handled adding the left center and right center front speaker positions Although it is not designated as such this sys tem could be thought of as 7 1 with 7 channels of full band audio and 1 channel sub woofer of limited bandwidth The SDDS player has ad ditional output modes so that the 8 channel format may be played back on 5 1 and other smaller format less than 8 channels playback systems January 1996 PicMix White Paper Dungo What s a Mo
60. row as your needs expand by simply adding additional components This is an ex tremely cost effective and practical way to adapt your business to sur round sound mix to picture The following is a brief list of some of the places and applications where PicMix can help ease the burden of dealing with surround sound Music Mixing Rooms Film and Video Multi Format Screening Rooms Edit Suites Sound Design Television Broadcast Facilities Ad Agencies Jingle Houses Multimedia Production Dubbing Stages Remote Recording Trucks Remote Broadcast Trucks The next section of this paper will present a basic explination of the na ture of surround sound panning and the PicMix Panning System January 1996 29 PicMix White Paper punon 30 January 1996 punon PicMix White Paper Surround Sound Panning Basics The previous section of this paper focused on the general aspects of sur round sound formats the complexities involved in monitoring them and how the PicMix Monitor System simplifies these complexities In this section we will explore the basics of surround sound panning and the extraordinary functionality of the PicMix Panning System While the PicMix Panner is fully compatible with the PicMix Monitor please note that it can also be used with almost any multi bus console and does not need to be used in conjunction with the PicMix Monitor In order to understand the need for pann
61. sed using various multi channel formats breaking the monophonic barrier as early as 1941 when Walt Disney s Fantasia was released The film industry has been and still remains the leader in inno vations in multi channel audio formats Even the term stereophonic was first used by the film industry and actually referred to multi channel audio with a surround or effects channel Only years later after the hi fi industry came out with it s left right 2 channel multi channel format did the term stereo become associated with 2 channel sound When I re fer to stereo in this paper I mean the hi fi 2 channel stereo as com monly used Note however that Dolby Stereo refers to the 4 channel encoded system as described below Surround Sound Formats Over the years Hollywood studios have pioneered numerous multi channel formats Not all of them used the same number of audio chan nels and even those that did placed the audio in different locations from each other The listing and history of these formats are beyond the scope of this paper but let me list the formats that are in current usage in film and television January 1996 PicMix White Paper SURROUND LEFT LEFT SURROUND SUB WOOFER RIGHT SURROUND LEFT LEFT CENTER LEFT SURROUND SUB WOOFER RIGHT CENTER RIGHT RIGHT SURROUND Dolby Stereo also known as Dolby Surround 4 channels Left Cent
62. the sys tems in the field With the addition of PicMix standard multi bus audio consoles are now able to provide the features and functionality that are necessary in order to post audio to picture in a surround sound environment Dedicated and expensive re recording dubbing or post style consoles are no longer necessary to provide mix to picture services using film style tech niques It is our sincere hope that this white paper will give you an un derstanding of how the PicMix products can help to integrate surround sound audio post production into your facility or working environment The PicMix Monitor and Panner are sold and serviced worldwide by Otari Corporation which has served the professional audio market with exceptional and innovative products for over 25 years They were devel oped and are manufactured by TG Systems Inc whose principals Michael Tapes and Paul Galburt have a long involvement with success ful audio product designs including API consoles Sound Workshop consoles ARMS JH 50 and DISKMIX automation systems and Otari s CONCEPT I Status and Premiere audio consoles In this paper we will focus on the film style mixing techniques that have been developed in Hollywood studios and facilities over the last several decades While you may not have the need to mix feature length motion pictures these techniques are directly applicable to whatever type of surround sound work you will be doing whether it be t
63. ther to Do The reality for audio facilities is that all three of the above formats in addition to mono stereo multimedia and others will be with us for the next several years at which time perhaps some of the formats might drop out of usage In order for an audio facility to prosper it must be able to handle surround formats of all types Surround sound formats will be a permanent part of all future audio delivery formats As you can see from the above list which does not include stereo multi media IMAX and other multi channel formats they all deal with multi ple channels of audio yet each one has a different format As discussed later it is the duality of multi channels and multi formats that preclude a simple monitor system in a standard console from being applicable to this type of work Until now in order to handle multi channel formats properly and effi ciently it was necessary to use a specialized console or to build custom monitor facilities that could be added to a standard audio console These specialized consoles such as Otari s Premiere dubbing console are large in scope and therefore relatively extensive and expensive While they serve the dedicated dubbing stage extremely well they are unsuitable to the many facilities that cannot justify the expense or the dedicated features sets that these consoles embody Introducing the PicMix Monitor The PicMix Monitor has been designed to break the big bucks console b
64. trol for the PicMix Panner and is necessary for panner op eration Multiple Controllers may be utilized for multi section console operation Each Controller has 4 panner control sets A B C D 2 with knobs A amp B and 2 with joysticks C amp D Each of these 4 control sets can be assigned in a virtual fashion to any of the 4 to 16 audio panners in January 1996 37 PicMix White Paper UU stalled in the Panner Audio Rack The Controller communicates to the panner rack via the PicMix Control Network PCN a full duplex serial link which also powers the controller The PCN can function over a sin gle 9 conductor flat ribbon cable for short cable runs 25 feet and under Panner Audio Rack Features Panner Module Audio Modes Each of the Panner Audio Modules PAM can be configured into 1 of 6 different panning modes from the front panel of the Panner Audio Rack Panner Mode 3 3 Phantom Center Phantom Center The front panel features an active block diagram that graphically dis plays via LEDs the panning mode and bus assignments for the se lected PAM Each PAM can have up to 2 active audio panners 3 3 4 4 5 3 Input A pans to buses Left A1 Right A3 Surround A4 Input B pans to buses Left B1 Right B3 Surround B4 Panner Mode 4 4 Dolby Stereo Dolby Stereo Input A LEA 3 3 4 4 5 3 Input A pans to buses Left A1 Center A2 R
65. ve been catching up Movies of the week have become more ambitious and are really mini theatrical release features Even episodic television dramas have taken on the aura of weekly mini features As the track count and demand for sophisticated television audio have increased so have the demands placed on the sound editors and mixers Over time they have looked to the people who have done this before the Hollywood editors and mix ers Whether a show is being produced for television or the movies more and more audio post production for picture is being done using the film style mixing techniques that have been developed and perfected in Hollywood Film Style Mixing is a generic term that has come about to describe the process that these Hollywood mixers and editors go through in the process of creating and molding the sound for a motion picture destined for theatrical release This process can be thought of as an assembly process The following is a rough summary of the process Location Sound Acquisition Production dialog and some production location sounds are recorded during the picture shoot Dialog Editing Production dialog is edited matched and tied to selected picture takes Automatic Dialog Replacement Recording ADR is a post production process formerly known as looping that records the actors and actresses performing dialog while they are watching themselves on screen They perform their lines attempting to match their on
66. y 1996 41 PicMix White Paper punon Divergence Modes Each panner can be set to 1 of 4 divergence modes the 3 shown at right plus a special effects Auto Divergence Mode not shown In Full Divergence Mode shown left column the knob has no effect on di vergence which is full or 100 In Variable Divergence Mode shown center the divergence is controlled by the position of the knob The grey inner box shows how lessening the diver gence limits the scope of the panner within the sound field Setting diver gence to approximately 75 as shown in the top center example smooths out fast dynamic pans that might otherwise sound jumpy The rightmost column shows a special mode where the front surround divergence remains at full 100 while the left right divergence varies with the setting of the knob This unique feature allows the pan to maintain full front to back movement while limiting the left right mo tion for better theater cov erage Full Divergence C Divergence 2 rc Full Variable Divergence rc Full Variable Divergence Full Variable 2 Variable Divergence C Divergence Full O Variable Divergence Full O Variable Divergence Full O Variable L R Variable F S Full C R Divergence 2 O Full O Variable

Otari PicMix White Paper - technicalaudio.com

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