AUDIO ROUND TABLE INDUSTRY.
“Immersive audio will become an interactive application. It’s a great opportunity, allowing users to get involved by offering personal audio mixes”
grow into accessibility features, such as the ability for the listener to manually adjust their preference for the dialogue level or audio description. This can also be applied for more user choices, such as different commentary options in sports, or biased home or away crowd noise. We’re also seeing metadata applied to the narrative, such as in ‘choose your own ending’ experiences, which can require huge quantities of media assets in order to accommodate the different branches of the story. AMMERMANN: Immersive audio will become an interactive application. It’s a great opportunity, allowing users to get involved by offering personal audio mixes. We certainly will get far better immersive binaural headphone techniques, which is the way most users enjoy their immersive audio. The management of audio sources and general sound reproduction will develop a lot. VINEHILL-CLIFFE: Overall, I hope that as an industry we can develop more ways to give listeners a consistent and coherent experience, regardless of when, where or how they might be listening.
remotely has been possible in the past, but now it’s a regular part of the post- production workflow. And it’s now not just one or two channels – it can be entire orchestras. With ever more focus on environmental sustainability, this remote working can only be a positive. NIELSEN: We’ll see more specialised microphones, dedicated to tasks. There will be an increased need for microphones that are easier to use and can consistently provide the best audio quality, even in difficult environments. The 4055 Kick Drum Mic is an example of a microphone that is optimised for a specific purpose – capturing the amazing sound of a kick drum, either from the inside or outside. We will also see improved connectivity between mics and the surrounding audio gear. Today, much can be done to make video easy, so why not do the same with audio, as well? Next Generation Audio is another interesting topic. Audio metadata underpins the whole concept, which allows for personalisation of the user experience. Early implementations of this include multiple language options for both dialogue and subtitling, then
SHERBOURNE: From the audio post perspective, integration is the key to working with immersive formats like Dolby Atmos for TV, film and music, or Ambisonics for VR. With Pro Tools, we’ve aimed to provide a core framework to host immersive productions – combining built-in mixing, positioning and delivery tools, alongside integration with specialist processing, previewing and rendering tools. Plus, there’s network-controlled monitoring for these formats. AMMERMANN: The immersive experience has a lot of impact on audio, because those applications demand new workflows, delivery chains and reproduction strategies. Available formats, like Dolby Atmos, don’t cover these requests – technically and business- wise. So audio must, and will, complete a new evolutionary step – one which is already ongoing. The applications are not of the future, they have already arrived. Audio has changed as much as any other element of production through the years. What might the landscape look like in the near future? SHERBOURNE: We’re likely to see continued integration of specialised workflows and tools into the digital audio workstation, as well as smart customisation capabilities in both software and control surfaces. Another key area of advancement is collaboration and automated workflows, allowing teams to spend more time being creative. JOHNSON: The last couple of years has forced workflows to evolve, with more remote collaboration rapidly becoming the norm. Recording voiceovers or ADR
49. OCTOBER 2022
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