This page contains a Flash digital edition of a book.
TRENDS


London in 5.1


Stereo, 5.1 & Live Sport


By ANDY STOUT


THE STEREO audio mix is an integral part of live sport, and not one that 5.1 is going to consign to the history books for a while yet. Despite the undoubted advances that 5.1 represents and growth in the amount of sport captured in the format, the demand for stereo is still there, and not just for SD transmissions either. “There are transmission platforms and other destinations that will always require stereo such as Red Button [UK interactive services], SD channels, radio, web streaming, stereo archives, stereo audio recorders, and some broadcasting partners,” said BBC Sport’s Dave Lee. “Then there is content which


contributes to programmes that can come from a wide range of sources, including some elements that are only stereo – such as music CDs/downloads, stereo edit suite outputs, and archives.” With the market still requiring


stereo audio, OB trucks have to provide it. As the European fleet of HD production vehicles are mainly kitted out for 5.1 this typically means integrating a stereo downmix into the workflow. “Just as SD versions were


eventually created via down conversion of superior HD signals, downmixing is fully capable of handling the stereo path,” said Linear Acoustic President Tim Carroll. “The burden of carrying both 5.1 and stereo is enormous, it


10 August 2013


is expensive, and it is usually a compromise. Mixing in 5.1, while checking the downmix and adjusting the 5.1 if necessary, absolutely works.”


Realities of budgets and space constraints within trucks means that separate stereo and 5.1 audio areas are impossible. As CTV’s Technical Head Hamish Grieg points out, the biggest problem is “the quality of the respective mixes


“The burden of


carrying both 5.1 and stereo is enormous, it is expensive, and it is usually a compromise. Mixing in 5.1, while checking the downmix and adjusting the 5.1 if necessary, absolutely works.”


Tim Carroll


being compromised, as you only have one set of ears and can only listen to one thing at a time.” However, there are some good and established workarounds. During the London Olympics, US giant NBC decided to use an eight-track model that eliminated the stereo workflows used in the past. Instead, NBC used either six channels for full surround, or a subset of just the first three channels. This three-channel mode


contained just the original Front L&R from the surround signal (used as stereo FX), and the mono announce channel on track three. Central to the new workflow


were Linear Acoustic upmixers with software loaded for automatic detection of three-channel or six-channel content. The boxes would seamlessly


change between upmix or bypass mode to provide a consistent six-channel output. Of course, it helps that mono sources can be ‘positioned’ anywhere in the surround arena, while stereo needs to be unravelled and processed using occasionally fiendish algorithms to position its elements as desired. It is also important that any upmix doesn’t break the stereo as the majority of viewers will still end up listening to a downmixed stereo signal at home. Also, as Carroll points out, upmixing is not a substitute, either short- or long- term, for a good 5.1 channel mix. “It may not always be practical to do it though, and so an excellent stereo mix that is then upmixed may be an acceptable solution,” he said. “However, this is not the best use of upmixing technology. Instead, upmixing can be used to help build a 5.1 channel foundation quickly where fully discrete elements are then added in. This is particularly useful in time-constrained situations where a truck arrives in the morning and is on air by late afternoon.”


The 2012 Olympics not only allowed viewers the world over to hear a range of new sports in 5.1, it also gave the production teams carte blanche to spread their wings and apply it in areas they hadn’t tried before. The fencing competition was a good example of this in practice. Theo Schulte was the Calrec engineer tasked with the technical set-up. “Each piste [the fencing match area] had its own Artemis 40-fader console, which were all networked via a central router so that every console could pick every microphone and do its respective mix,” he explained. “It was the mixers’ decision to attenuate the signal coming from the surround microphone by 18dB below the other mics. This was due to the many fights going on: the reaction of the audience could not always have been allocated to the respective picture you saw because it might have been a reaction from the other pistes, and the microphone would have picked that up. This would have been distracting.” The surround channels were used to create an immersive experience. Anything that could be characterised as ambience was routed to them. No additional reverb was used. Announcements and music from a playback source were sent to the centre channel as well as slightly to the left and right, in order to broaden the front. The subwoofer was not fed anything since it proved to be too disturbing to amplify the footsteps of the fencers. “Networking the consoles not only allowed (a mixer) to pick any microphone, but also allowed for easy exchange of programme material,” said Schulte. “If an operator has made a good mix of the general venue atmosphere on one console, the other consoles could pick up that output bus via HydraVirtual Patchbays, an ingenious way to spread any form of signal throughout the Hydra network for further use.”


Broadcast Audio – An International Buyers Guide 2013


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76