AUDIO POST
ATMOS HE
Michael Burns reports on how immersive audio is making its voice heard
of stealing the thunder - and providing it too. Dolby Atmos for Home Entertainment,
i
also known as Dolby HE, is a surround sound technology that can reproduce up to 128 simultaneous audio objects in a mix for rich, realistic sounds that move all around you in three- dimensional space.
Atmos gains momentum And the demand for the format is gathering pace.
“Our scripted and documentary feature clients are increasingly working with the streaming services and we are seeing a huge increase in the require- ments for Atmos. We can only see this continuing,” says Brian Hardman, head of post production, dock10. “Our latest project is Stay Close (8 x 1hr based on Harlan Coben’s novel) produced as a Netflix Original by Red Production.” At Warner Bros. De Lane Lea, re-recording
mixer Doug Cooper mixed Black Mirror Season 5 in Atmos and is currently mixing Wheel of Time Season 1 in Atmos. “Since things have opened up again [after
lockdown] it feels like Atmos is the default format for the big streaming platforms,” says Cooper. “It’s especially suited to the bigger fantasy and sci-fi shows partly because you have a bit more mix time on those but pretty much every mix benefits from a broader sound stage. “At De Lane Lea we’re well set up to handle
HE mixes and have been for a while now,” he continues. “Pro Tools has improved a lot in terms of integrating mix, metering and delivery functionality from Dolby to the extent that it’s now quite straightforward to set projects up in Atmos and also for the process to start with sound editorial. It gets a bit more complicated if editors want to monitor above 7.1.2 but at that level, it’s fairly easy with the current version of Pro Tools and that makes it so much easier as sessions go back and forth between sound editorial and the mix stages.” Films at 59 has also seen a swift uptake for
Dolby Atmos HE, including work on Dynasties and Seven Worlds One Planet (BBC), The Year Earth
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televisual.com Summer 2021
n premium home entertainment, video resolution and dynamic range often take the limelight, but immersive audio is well capable
up, down and all around
Changed (Apple TV+) for BBC NHU/Studios, and Night on Earth (Netflix) and Tiny Worlds (Apple TV+) both from Plimsoll Productions. “All the major broadcasters are requesting
it,” says sound mixer Chris Domaille. “We are also seeing some productions requesting Atmos even when it is not their primary delivery method, but they are safeguarding and future-proofing themselves. One consequence of this is the increased demand for deliverables at the end of a session, where we might have to deliver DAMF
and ADM and Bwavs and Pro Tools sessions for a production. Our online team are also delivering in Dolby Vision, thus completing the package. “We were really lucky to have had a
background in multi format mixing that stretches back six years where we have been delivering 10.1.3,” he continues. “So when we were first asked to mix in Atmos we had already been through the process of what works really well in a multi channel mix. We’ve managed to get production in at an early stage to demonstrate
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