Accommodating stereo playback, Exporting and delivering 5.1 surround projects, Mixdowns – Apple Soundtrack Pro 2 User Manual
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Chapter 9
Mixing Surround Sound
Accommodating Stereo Playback
Even with the popularity of 5.1 systems, you should always address stereo reproduction.
There are three basic ways to do this:
 Prepare a new stereo mix from the original multitrack elements (using conventional
stereo-mixing sessions).
 Prepare a studio-adjusted downmix from the multichannel mix. This method takes
advantage of the work that has gone into mixing the 5.1 version. It retains flexibility
in the exact proportions of each channel represented in the final stereo mix.
 Let the decoder derive a stereo downmix, based on preset formulas in the decoder.
Downmix options and dynamic range control effects can be previewed and adjusted
in the production studio, and a range of adjustments is possible.
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Tip: Always check the mix on an inexpensive surround system to evaluate how well it
sounds on modest playback systems.
Exporting and Delivering 5.1 Surround Projects
Delivery of your finished surround mix can take many forms. Different clients have
different file format requirements. In general terms, your options include two broad
categories: mixdowns and project files.
Mixdowns
In this scenario, you would export one of the following:
 Six audio files, one for each of the six surround output channels
 An interleaved multichannel audio file containing all six surround output channels
 A single flat mixdown file either as an exported file or one sent to Final Cut Pro or Motion
Soundtrack Pro supports the following file formats for six-channel audio export (either
as a set of mono files, or as an interleaved multichannel file):
 AIFF
 WAVE
 NeXT
 Sound Designer II
You can also encode your surround mix directly to the Dolby Digital Professional (AC3 )
format, which is a very common compressed audio format for DVD-Video discs.
For more information about exporting projects, see Chapter 16, “