Dolby Atmos, Auro, and 3D audio thread

[Spicoli]

I was told as a kid about the visual sweet spot when directors would watch their movies about seven rows back (old theaters non stadium) they though that is where the screen filled their whole visual spectrum without having to turn their head. 7th row center is where I sat and still do in old theaters. Only my eye move and I am not distracted by exit lights and others.

[ZoetMB]

Originally Posted by Dubstar

in regards to 'Iron Man Three' the Atmos mix when compared to the other films I've heard 'Oz' 'A Good Day to Die Hard' 'Oblivion' it was the most lacklustre of the bunch.

Haven't seen "Iron Man 3", but the way most Atmos mixes are done today is that they first do the standard 5.1/7.1 mix and then sweeten with Atmos. Depending on how much time they have, there's more or less sweetening.

As mixers get used to Atmos and as there are more Atmos theatres (assuming it's successful), they're going to do the opposite: they'll mix via Atmos and then downmix to 5.1/7.1.

But I'm actually surprised that "Iron Man 3" didn't have a good Atmos mix because you'd think all the explosions, fly-overs and related sound effects would lend themselves to Atmos localization and movement through space. That's exactly what Atmos was designed for.

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by ZoetMB

[Show spoiler]Haven't seen "Iron Man 3", but the way most Atmos mixes are done today is that they first do the standard 5.1/7.1 mix and then sweeten with Atmos. Depending on how much time they have, there's more or less sweetening.

As mixers get used to Atmos and as there are more Atmos theatres (assuming it's successful), they're going to do the opposite: they'll mix via Atmos and then downmix to 5.1/7.1.

But I'm actually surprised that "Iron Man 3" didn't have a good Atmos mix because you'd think all the explosions, fly-overs and related sound effects would lend themselves to Atmos localization and movement through space. That's exactly what Atmos was designed for.

Maybe he wasn't able to sit in one of the Prime sweet spots & didn't hear it as well as it was mixed for Atmos

[thedude22]

So far I've watched 4 movies in ATMOS:
Brave
The Hobbit
G.I. Joe Retaliation
Iron Man 3
I still think that Brave used the overhead speakers and took advantage of the new technology more than the other 3 films.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

Maybe he wasn't able to sit in one of the Prime sweet spots & didn't hear it as well as it was mixed for Atmos

talking about me? For all four screenings I've been able to sit in row K, dead center right in between/underneath the two rows of ceiling speakers - I've recently been sitting closer to the back to hear how the left/right center surrounds are mixed.

[dobyblue]

Went to Ultra AVX tonight to see Man of Steel, walked out after just a couple minutes because the massively bright ambient blue lighting illuminating the aisles and seat markings (for reserved seating) was throwing a huge amount of ambient light on the screen absolutely ruining the contrast ratio. Manager explained that the screen has no border (curtains, treated material, etc.) to reduce the light like the regular screen had (I took him in to show him the difference, the "better screen" looked like an uncalibrated cheap LCD and the lower quality screen looked like a calibrated plasma, much darker and higher contrast) but the ambient light was throwing itself on the main picture too which I just couldn't stomach. It was like someone had left the doors open on both sides of the aisles it was that bright. I went to see it for the Dolby Atmos sound, but I would rather wait 3 months and watch it at home in plain old Blu-ray dts-ma 5.1, at least I can control the lighting.

Honestly, it was ridiculous how much brighter the ambient room lighting was in that screen, their manager said he couldn't adjust it and it's a safety issue, but why are all the other cinemas so much darker with the lighting and using orange dimmed lighting instead of super bright light blue LED lights?

[Aerodude73]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Went to Ultra AVX tonight to see Man of Steel, walked out after just a couple minutes because the massively bright ambient blue lighting illuminating the aisles and seat markings (for reserved seating) was throwing a huge amount of ambient light on the screen absolutely ruining the contrast ratio.

[Show spoiler]Manager explained that the screen has no border (curtains, treated material, etc.) to reduce the light like the regular screen had (I took him in to show him the difference, the "better screen" looked like an uncalibrated cheap LCD and the lower quality screen looked like a calibrated plasma, much darker and higher contrast) but the ambient light was throwing itself on the main picture too which I just couldn't stomach. It was like someone had left the doors open on both sides of the aisles it was that bright. I went to see it for the Dolby Atmos sound, but I would rather wait 3 months and watch it at home in plain old Blu-ray dts-ma 5.1, at least I can control the lighting.

Honestly, it was ridiculous how much brighter the ambient room lighting was in that screen, their manager said he couldn't adjust it and it's a safety issue, but why are all the other cinemas so much darker with the lighting and using orange dimmed lighting instead of super bright light blue LED lights?

That sounds like a Lame A$$ excuse to me. Since HE is the theater manager, I'm not sure who you can email/call that's Above him to voice your disappointment (Especially for THIS movie), but I'd def find someone to vent to.

Good luck.

[BozQ]

I have only watched two films in Dolby Atmos. Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Iron Man 3 was quite a letdown. The Atmos effect was minimal.

Star Trek Into Darkness on the other hand, was amazing! Right from the very beginning, when we enter that foreign planet where the Enterprise crew got themselves into trouble was a great introduction into the new format. You can already hear the flora and fauna of the planet, and then the swirling environmental effects when Spock was in the volcano. Simply stunning. I'm only more upset that we won't be able to experience this in some capacity when this film hits home media.

That said, I've been reading through a lot about this format and it seems like most films use 7.1 as a base surround bed before enhancing it for Dolby Atmos. My question is, has there been a film where 9.1 is used as a base?

[BaerGriggs]

Originally Posted by BozQ

I have only watched two films in Dolby Atmos. Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness.
Iron Man 3 was quite a letdown. The Atmos effect was minimal.

Star Trek Into Darkness on the other hand, was amazing! Right from the very beginning, when we enter that foreign planet where the Enterprise crew got themselves into trouble was a great introduction into the new format. You can already hear the flora and fauna of the planet, and then the swirling environmental effects when Spock was in the volcano. Simply stunning. I'm only more upset that we won't be able to experience this in some capacity when this film hits home media.

That said, I've been reading through a lot about this format and it seems like most films use 7.1 as a base surround bed before enhancing it for Dolby Atmos. My question is, has there been a film where 9.1 is used as a base?

Seems to me that Redtails and The Expendables 2 were both in 11.1 surround, but I can't say whether they were mixed natively that way or not.

[BozQ]

Red Tails was originally mixed in Barco Auro 3D 11.1. And it is the first film to be mixed in this format. According to Barco, Auro 3D 11.1 is a matrix format that is extracted from a base 5.1 surround track. (Something like how Dolby Digital EX extracted a matrix rear center surround from a 5.1 track). Red Tails on Blu-ray is 5.1. But whether or not we can extract and matrix to 11.1 with a future Auro 3D hardware for home viewing remains to be seen.

The Expendables 2 was never even mixed in 7.1 theatrically. Lionsgate has the habit of upmixing their soundtracks for Blu-ray mixes. And they went all the way experimenting with the new DTS: NeoX optimization. Dredd 3D was another such film from Lionsgate that received this treatment. So was Step Up 4.

[BozQ]

Pacific Rim marks the third film I've watched in Dolby Atmos. Between Iron Man 3, Star Trek Into Darkness and Pacific Rim, this ranks in the middle. My favourite still remains Star Trek.

There are some good use of the unique height surround channels, but the sound design is just merely supporting the non-stop busy on-screen action without taking a break and anything interesting to appreciate the new format like Star Trek did.

Did they play the new Dolby Atmos trailer before the film? Mine was this journey around the jungle thing, with leaves and whatnot flying around.

[THXGuru]

Originally Posted by dobyblue

Went to Ultra AVX tonight to see Man of Steel, walked out after just a couple minutes because the massively bright ambient blue lighting illuminating the aisles and seat markings (for reserved seating) was throwing a huge amount of ambient light on the screen absolutely ruining the contrast ratio. Manager explained that the screen has no border (curtains, treated material, etc.) to reduce the light like the regular screen had (I took him in to show him the difference, the "better screen" looked like an uncalibrated cheap LCD and the lower quality screen looked like a calibrated plasma, much darker and higher contrast) but the ambient light was throwing itself on the main picture too which I just couldn't stomach. It was like someone had left the doors open on both sides of the aisles it was that bright. I went to see it for the Dolby Atmos sound, but I would rather wait 3 months and watch it at home in plain old Blu-ray dts-ma 5.1, at least I can control the lighting.

Honestly, it was ridiculous how much brighter the ambient room lighting was in that screen, their manager said he couldn't adjust it and it's a safety issue, but why are all the other cinemas so much darker with the lighting and using orange dimmed lighting instead of super bright light blue LED lights?

That is pretty unfortunate to hear about your experience. I have been to AVX when I visit Canada and it not the greatest experience. The screen has no masking which does ruin the picture quality. Also, the sound is too loud.

As for Atmos, it has no chance at staying power. People really do not care about this sound format. With DCP, digital sound is now pretty much everywhere and usually digital sound is good enough.

Dolby Atmos will not do well IMO.

[jceperley]

Originally Posted by Aerodude73

That sounds like a Lame A$$ excuse to me. Since HE is the theater manager, I'm not sure who you can email/call that's Above him to voice your disappointment (Especially for THIS movie), but I'd def find someone to vent to.

Good luck.

I work in a theatre where we have an AVX house and I don't know about the theatre you're talking about - but in ours, the BLUE LEDs are on the wall and should dim after the pre show. And I had our techs personally show me how to switch them off if it doesn't automatically do so. And the aisle lights in ours are a soft yellow/orange and do dim a bit at the start of the feature.

[the new scum]

Saw Elysium in Atmos, which was the first Sony movie mixed for Atmos. It was pretty excellent. Good enough that I'll be happy to pay the premium for the big movies.

[BozQ]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

That is pretty unfortunate to hear about your experience. I have been to AVX when I visit Canada and it not the greatest experience. The screen has no masking which does ruin the picture quality. Also, the sound is too loud.

As for Atmos, it has no chance at staying power. People really do not care about this sound format. With DCP, digital sound is now pretty much everywhere and usually digital sound is good enough.

Dolby Atmos will not do well IMO.

The problem is Dolby needs to push some marketing efforts to promote Atmos. Throughout the years, it's always been a challenge to convince the market to pay extra for a unique sound format. It's very easy to charge extra for 3D or a bigger visual format (eg. IMAX), but never for audio.

At least here in Singapore, when we made the transition from 5.1 to 7.1, the ticket price remained the same. But we struggle to let an Atmos movie run its course for more than a week because of weak demand.

Overall, this is a huge shame. Dolby Atmos is a brilliant and exciting new format. I haven't visited the cinema for such a long time because of Blu-ray and now there's finally a reason for me to shell out the cash for a unique experience that's near impossible to bring home. I even find Dolby Atmos a far more exciting experience than watching in 3D or IMAX.

Many filmmakers have said this several times, "Sound is 50% of the movie experience", and that is still an underappreciated aspect of a film.

Originally Posted by the new scum

Saw Elysium in Atmos, which was the first Sony movie mixed for Atmos. It was pretty excellent. Good enough that I'll be happy to pay the premium for the big movies.

Elysium was quite good. Try to watch a Atmos movie mixed by Skywalker Sound. Those guys are geniuses! Star Trek Into Darkness was absolutely brilliant!

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by jceperley

I work in a theatre where we have an AVX house and I don't know about the theatre you're talking about - but in ours, the BLUE LEDs are on the wall and should dim after the pre show. And I had our techs personally show me how to switch them off if it doesn't automatically do so. And the aisle lights in ours are a soft yellow/orange and do dim a bit at the start of the feature.

The "stars" on the wall went off after the trailers no problem (they should go off BEFORE the trailers IMO) but it was the blue LEDs lighting up the aisles and seating rows that were so bright it blew out the contrast.

That's awesome yours has the orange LEDs for seating/aisles in the AVX screen, blue is just a terrible decision for this.

Originally Posted by BozQ

I even find Dolby Atmos a far more exciting experience than watching in 3D or IMAX.

Me too!

[THXGuru]

Originally Posted by BozQ

Overall, this is a huge shame. Dolby Atmos is a brilliant and exciting new format. I haven't visited the cinema for such a long time because of Blu-ray and now there's finally a reason for me to shell out the cash for a unique experience that's near impossible to bring home. I even find Dolby Atmos a far more exciting experience than watching in 3D or IMAX.

Really, I think Dolby 7.1 is enough. I saw most of Wolverine in Atmos, the only thing I noticed was that the sound levels were very good as it was not overly loud. Dolby has tried in the past with Dolby EX but that really went nowhere, I really do not see Atmos going anywhere.

[BozQ]

Originally Posted by THXGuru

Really, I think Dolby 7.1 is enough. I saw most of Wolverine in Atmos, the only thing I noticed was that the sound levels were very good as it was not overly loud. Dolby has tried in the past with Dolby EX but that really went nowhere, I really do not see Atmos going anywhere.

Like every other movie, the quality of Atmos also depends on who's mixing. Don't discount what Dolby Atmos can do based on one movie. Star Trek Into Darkness had such a brilliant Atmos mix that I feel sore not being able to bring this home.

I've been meaning to upgrade to 7.1 myself but I think I'd wait for 9.1 (with height channels) become a reality before I do.

[Dawn78]

So I had my first Dolby Atmos experience tonight with Insidious: Chapter 2. I had heard about DA for the last year, so to actually go into a theater and see the setup was pretty cool. As far as the end result there were definitely some scenes in the movie that benefited from it, but felt like I could've achieved the same experience with a normal theater setup. Maybe it depends on the type of film or the way it's mixed from what I've been reading. Either way I'm sure when something like The Hobbit comes out I'll definitely be trying it out again.

Originally Posted by BozQ

Did they play the new Dolby Atmos trailer before the film? Mine was this journey around the jungle thing, with leaves and whatnot flying around.

They showed the same one at mine. I was actually pretty impressed with that. The sound of rain falling filled the entire theater. Pretty amazing sounding.

[BozQ]

It definitely depends on the mix. And how much effort they want to make use of the system. There was a world of difference between Iron Man 3 and Star Trek Into Darkness when I watched both in Dolby Atmos. Even though they both were great playgrounds to make great use for it.

Till now, I regretted not watching Oblivion in Atmos. Would have been a blast!