Dolby Atmos - Demystified by Edgar Rothermich

[Macker]

For several years now, qualified tonmeister Edgar Rothermich has been saving me countless hours by his various publications that dig deep into Logic Pro. I've learnt I can trust his analyses, his attention to detail, his sense of relevance, and above all, his intellectual integrity. Only occasionally do I find I need to dig even deeper than Edgar has already gone.

The big new thing in Apple's recent Logic Pro 10.7 is Dolby Atmos which, over the last 10 years, has been promising a new era of 3D immersive surround sound production and consumption. Shortly before this new Logic release Edgar addressed the topic of mixing in Dolby Atmos, in a 48 minute video on YouTube; backed up by his lavishly illustrated book "Mixing in Dolby Atmos - #1 How It Works". No doubt he'll also cover Logic Pro 10.7 very soon. Here's a link to the YouTube video:

"Mixing in Dolby Atmos - How it Works"

Before you wade into the whole video, I'd suggest you might want to take a sneak peek at his very illuminating demonstration of binaural sound for headphones, right at the end of the video, starting at 43:25, linked here.

(I'm in no way affiliated to Edgar Rothermich.)

[Dietz]

Thanks for sharing!

[plowman]

There's a lot of good study books and tutorials in the Logic universe, but when it comes to degree of detail, graphic layout and depth of information, Edgar stands alone. The production quality of his videos is superb. These are the products of a man totally immersed in his work. 

I too have no professional affiliation with him. 

[plowman]

@Macker said:

No doubt he'll also cover Logic Pro 10.7 very soon.

No doubt indeed: 

http://dingdingmusic.com/-titles-/logic-pro---whats-new-in-10_7.html

[Macker]

Thanks so much for the heads up and the link, Plowman!

Bought it just now and settling down for a very satisfying read.

[Louisc]

I started some experimentations with the new Dolby Atmos support in Logic Pro 10.7, following the excellent videos from Stephen Limbaugh.

But the implementation in Logic is slightly different from the one in the videos, and some aspects of Atmos related to "ambience" (basically reverb...) are still a bit confusing to me.

I'm sure the fine people at VSL are already working on tutorials on how to get the best from Atmos in Logic Pro 10.7 but, if they're not, I would suggest the following topics:

• Describe how to properly set the size and location of Synchron instruments using their near microphones as well as the central microphones, and also how to best use room-mixes and algorithm reverb for optimal results without affecting the Atmos surround effect
• Same as above, but hopefully enhancing results using the additional surround microphones included in the Synchron instrument extended libraries
• Describe how to get optimal and efficient results using Vienna Instruments and general purpose effects (reverbs) plugins
• Same as above, but specifically using MIR Pro, assuming its extremely sophisticated localization capabilities are compatible with Atmos

Those are my two cents on the subject. I hope it can help because, after only a short time experimenting with Atmos, I'm really convinced Atmos will be a complete game changer.

[Louisc]

Well, it didn't take too long for my prayers to be answered!

Thanks Paul for the video and everybody else at VSL who have worked on its preparation.

Looking forward to all future videos on Atmos!

[Paul]

Hi, 

You're very welcome. Hope we can upload the next video soon!

Best,
Paul

[Macker]

Thank you Paul for that very useful Logic/Atmos/Synchron intro video, and I'm also much obliged to Bernd Mazagg (Sychron Stage Technical Director and Chief Recording Engineer) for providing you and us with some much needed stakes in the ground regarding Logic/Atmos setup with a Synchron (full) library.

I'm currently experimenting with Synchron Timpani (full) in Atmos (binaural), also comparing it with another timpani library recorded in 3D at Galaxy Studios, Belgium - home base of Auro Technologies, the pioneers of 3D immersive sound. I must say, whilst I've always been extremely happy with my huge rock drums library also recorded in 3D at Galaxy, when it comes to orchestral percussion and especially timps, I'm finding that the sense of 3D acoustic space I'm getting from Sychron Stage is preferable for orchestral works. Compared to Sychron Stage A (trapezoidal plan) acoustics, the Galaxy (rectangular plan) live room seems more definitely 'closed' and 'finite' - which works out great for rock, metal, jazz, etc, drums, but to my ear, sounds just a tad too obviously 'constrictive' for renditions by orchestral instruments. By contrast, Synchron Stage ambience tends to open out as it decays, evoking a more enigmatic, less obtrusively limited sense of space - perfect for intricate, nuanced orchestral performances; also ideal for seamless metamorphosis into added long-tail artificial reverbs. Horses for courses.

But I digress. Lol, sorry.

I'm eagerly awaiting further illuminating VSL videos on Logic/Atmos/Synchron.

[stephen limbaugh]

@Louisc said:

I started some experimentations with the new Dolby Atmos support in Logic Pro 10.7, following the excellent videos from Stephen Limbaugh.

More videos coming soon, this time working specifically in Logic 10.7 instead of the Dolby ATMOS Renderer!

[stephen limbaugh]

@Louisc said:

I started some experimentations with the new Dolby Atmos support in Logic Pro 10.7, following the excellent videos from Stephen Limbaugh.

More videos coming soon, this time working specifically in Logic 10.7 instead of the Dolby ATMOS Renderer! Here it is! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=frACG36J_VM&feature=emb_title