Whether it's Dolby Atmos, Auro 3D or DTS:X, in recent years, it has become the most recent pursuit of the game to provide the game with a strong sense of impact and immerse the player in the game sound. Fully immersive game sound effects use more addressable speakers to increase audio resolution, allowing specific positioning and sense of reality. In a traditional mixing environment, this means much more channels, and more mixing methods are needed in the later stages.
To overcome this increasing complexity, object audio requires a new way of mixing. Object audio completely bypasses the concept of audio tracks. Instead, audio engineers locate the sound at a theoretical point in a three-dimensional space and build a virtual audio model. There is no designated channel, and the switch to a valid speaker configuration is automatically controlled by software. This means that this "perfect" model is always maintained as a reference mix.
Although exchanging multiple channels for a huge number of objects increases translatability, it does not necessarily reduce complexity. Therefore, the object audio model also includes a 9.1-channel "low-level audio track" (7.1.2 structure) used in conjunction with a specific object.
Since object-based mixing is essentially an audio model with infinite resolution, a mix can be transformed to fit any speaker layout, maintaining backward compatibility with traditional surround sound environments and automatically expanding to the most complex systems.
Personalized
object audio is already a daily reality in many post-production workflows. However, another part of this technology may be the ultimate reason for wider adoption in the television post-production environment: personalization.
Personalized hearing experience is naturally more satisfying and immersive than a one-size-fits-all approach. Using objects instead of fixed channels allows the elements to be under user control. For example, dialogue can be used as an individual object, allowing users to increase or decrease the level of intelligibility and comfort. Different objects can be activated or deactivated so that multiple languages or opinions can be expressed in the same mix. This level of control has not yet been achieved in an ordinary home environment.
However, with AC4 and MPEG-H encoding and decoding fully capable of supporting object formats and LG Electronics’ launch of an ATSC 3.0 TV at this year’s CES, this technology will become a reality for consumers in the near future. Any discussion of technology trends in
virtual reality
cannot ignore VR. There are many technical solutions, and object audio is clearly related in this field; however, the main interest and research in this field is in environmental stereo mixing.
Ambient stereo recordings are easily redirected in 3D space, so it is easy to involve themselves in the responsive head tracking and VR world.
They can also be used to track traditional camera movements in single-view productions, increasing the overall immersion. So far, mainstream commercial applications of these technologies have not yet formed. In the medium term, this depends on a breakthrough that will turn the infinite possibilities of VR into a clear reality.
For today's knowledgeable consumer, audio is complacent. Although the reasons behind the obvious shortcomings are complex, it is obvious that current consumers expect more from the auditory experience. The opportunities generated should be the source of joy for professional post-production engineers.