Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0 -ACID Product Family

Subject:Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0 Posted by: ohmboy2001 Date:9/2/2002 6:09:43 AM Okay, so I got the upgrade to 4.0 to do the surround mixing. So I took a stereo file from a piece of .avi video from my harddrive and loaded it into Acid. I did the preferences thing that changed the audio to 5.1 surround, set the LFE limits. I also applied the markers to the audio track. I also rendered the file, creating the five separate tracks and re-entered each into Acid. Then I set the pan for each track to the virtual speakers I wanted them to go to, played the file and it worked great--the sound moved around just as I had panned it. My question is: How do I get the file to record on some type format that can be played in 5.1 surround? I know that Sonic Foundry says that they'll offer a plugin for dvd authoring, but can someone tell me when that'sll happen and what dvd authoring program will act as the plugin? Also, can I just attach the separate .wav files for each channel from Acid to my existing dvd authoring program (Sonic's MyDVD) and attach it to my video clip and have it come out in 5.1 surround. Any help with this would be great----thanks.
Subject:RE: Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0 Reply by: vonhosen Date:9/2/2002 2:07:51 PM MyDVD wont even support stereo AC-3 audio. You need pretty expensive high end authoring software to support 5.1 audio (I read somewhere that ReelDVD accepts 5.1 (but doesn't encode it only encoding stereo) if it does it's probably the cheapest authoring software that does at about $1,000 - $1,500)
Subject:RE: Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0 Reply by: shawnm Date:9/4/2002 12:21:31 AM Hi ohmboy2001, What you are really asking about is an encoder that will create a single, multi channel audio file - like Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS. These (software) encoders can be quite expensive $900.00 US for the least inexpensive Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder. However, there is a promising alternative. Windows Media version 9 sports a new 5.1 surround audio CODEC, that can be decoded by the newest Windows Media Player - and the best part is that the encoder (like the player) is free! I'm going to give it a try. At the very least, this provides a great opportunity to practice mixing 5.1 surround to picture, before investing 2,000.00 + in software just for the privlege of exporting to MPEG2+Dolby Digital. Shawn http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/default.asp

Subject:Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0

Posted by: ohmboy2001

Date:9/2/2002 6:09:43 AM

Okay, so I got the upgrade to 4.0 to do the surround mixing. So I took a stereo file from a piece of .avi video from my harddrive and loaded it into Acid. I did the preferences thing that changed the audio to 5.1 surround, set the LFE limits. I also applied the markers to the audio track. I also rendered the file, creating the five separate tracks and re-entered each into Acid. Then I set the pan for each track to the virtual speakers I wanted them to go to, played the file and it worked great--the sound moved around just as I had panned it. My question is: How do I get the file to record on some type format that can be played in 5.1 surround? I know that Sonic Foundry says that they'll offer a plugin for dvd authoring, but can someone tell me when that'sll happen and what dvd authoring program will act as the plugin? Also, can I just attach the separate .wav files for each channel from Acid to my existing dvd authoring program (Sonic's MyDVD) and attach it to my video clip and have it come out in 5.1 surround. Any help with this would be great----thanks.

Subject:RE: Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0

Reply by: vonhosen

Date:9/2/2002 2:07:51 PM

MyDVD wont even support stereo AC-3 audio. You need pretty expensive high end authoring software to support 5.1 audio (I read somewhere that ReelDVD accepts 5.1 (but doesn't encode it only encoding stereo) if it does it's probably the cheapest authoring software that does at about $1,000 - $1,500)

Subject:RE: Need help Mixing 5.1 in Acid Pro 4.0

Reply by: shawnm

Date:9/4/2002 12:21:31 AM

Hi ohmboy2001,

What you are really asking about is an encoder that will create a single, multi channel audio file - like Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS. These (software) encoders can be quite expensive $900.00 US for the least inexpensive Dolby Digital 5.1 encoder. However, there is a promising alternative. Windows Media version 9 sports a new 5.1 surround audio CODEC, that can be decoded by the newest Windows Media Player - and the best part is that the encoder (like the player) is free! I'm going to give it a try. At the very least, this provides a great opportunity to practice mixing 5.1 surround to picture, before investing 2,000.00 + in software just for the privlege of exporting to MPEG2+Dolby Digital.

Shawn

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/default.asp