The Battle for the Immersive Sound(Atmos vs Auro)

Immersive or 3D Sound Overview

3D sound formats not only include the traditional 5.1 surround sound setup, they also add more channels for 3D sound effects, the sounds has to be reproduced in all the three dimension according to the picture in the screen XYZ.

Auro 3D

The Auro-3D system by Belgian developers Van Baelen includes a total of 11.1 channels. In addition to the original 5.1 channels, Auro adds another 5.0 system on top - as well as a 'Voice of God' channel embedded in the ceiling.

Theater owners praise the economy and practicality of Auro-3D® sound systems. Auro-3D®'s unique usage of height channels (combined with conventional speaker layouts) adds significant value for filmmakers, cinema owners and audiences worldwide.

In order to reach full market potential, Auro Technologies has teamed up with Barco as exclusive partner for cinema. Auro 11.1 by Barco has already been installed in over 50 cinemas worldwide .

Auro 3D: 11.1 channels

Main Layer	Upper Layer
Left	Left
Center	Center
Right	Right
Surround Left	Surround Left
Surround Right	Surround Right
LFE	Voice of God (VOG)

Dolby Atmos

 

Dolby® Atmos™ is a revolutionary new audio platform. It allows for more powerful storytelling by giving content creators unprecedented control of the placement and movement of sound within the movie theatre. Combining products, services, and technologies, Dolby Atmos represents a complete end-to-end audio platform for movies now and well into the future.

 

Dolby Atmos enables a new level of artistic expression for content creators and at the same time simplifies audio postproduction. With Dolby Atmos, it’s finally possible to match sound precisely to the action onscreen and to do so easily. The result: more powerful storytelling.

 

Dolby Atmos adds the flexibility of dynamic audio objects to the traditional channel-based workflows used to create movie soundtracks. These audio objects allow content creators to control discrete sound elements in the theatre, no matter the speaker configuration. Objects can be static or can move, and they are controlled by metadata.

 

Dolby Atmos also brings new efficiencies to the audio postproduction process. It allows sound mixers to efficiently capture the director’s vision and then monitor or automatically generate 5.1- and 7.1-channel versions in real time.

 

Distribution is simplified, too. With Dolby Atmos, all the artistic intent is embedded in a file within the Digital Cinema Package (DCP), which can then be faithfully played back in a broad range of theatre configurations.

Atmos allows you address the speakers in both ways.

There is a 9 channel bed (L C R Ls Rs Lsb Rsb and OHL/OHR) which functions in the same way a channel based system always has... for the speakers not behind the screen, they can be panned to as an array.

Dolby Atmos has also brought back the Left and Right Extra channels behind the screen, so in reality you actually have an 11.1 channel based system with Atmos that functions just as traditional 5.1/7.1 did.

AURO 3D	DOLBY ATMOS
Offer the immersive 3D audio experience  (due to usage of 3 layers XYZ)	Offer the most immersive audio experience  because of 64 individual Speakers
Deliver a Channel based solution	Deliver a Object based solution
Provides 3 Dimensional Surround (XYZ)	Provides Full Range Immersive Surround
Create an Wide sweet spot	Creates an Enlarged Sweet spot
Supply uncompressed audio (PCM)	Supply uncompressed audio (PCM)
Backwards compatible with 5.1 standard	Backwards compatible with 5.1 standard
Compatibility between ALL AURO Formats	Upgradable to ALL DOLBY Formats
Compatibility across all platforms: Cinema, Home AV systems, Automotive, Headphones	Compatibility across all platforms: Cinema only…
Existing 5.1 setup can easily be upgraded to Auro-3D with the minimum number of speakers & amplifiers	Existing 5.1 setup can easily be upgraded to Dolby Atmos with the maximum number of speakers & amplifiers
A simple install on top of existing 5.1 systems	A typical installation needed with the existing 5.1 or 7.1 system

All in all, it was an interesting adventure to compare Barco Auro 11.1, which retains a channel-based orientation with a single overhead channel, and Dolby Atmos, which implements an object-oriented approach pan through array with each speaker—including those overhead—being addressed individually. In my view, Both Atmos and Auro are the winners, in terms of cost, customization and rendering Auro outruns Atmos, and both the formats are in the developing stage. It's all in the hands of content creators, sound designers and exhibitors to decide which format provides the immersive sound, of course the AUDIENCE too....

SOURCE:

auro-3d

dolby

Filmmaking Wisdom from Roger Deakins

FILMMAKING WISDOM FROM ROGER DEAKINS

As one of the great living cinematographers working today, the talented Roger Deakins needs no introduction.  Deakins is a perfect example of a filmmaker striving for artistic excellence while being aware that it is all in the service of the film. Beauty and utility should meet in perfect harmony, and one needs only to watch the works of this cinematographer to see these elements in union.

Spark your filmmaking passion with Filmmaking Wisdom from Roger Deakins, 5 tips of cinematic goodness.

1: Never Compromise Performance

In the end a film can look lousy but work because of a great performance but not the other way round. That’s something always worth remembering.

This statement reflects what John Cassavetes said about cinema: ART FILMS AREN’T NECESSARILY PHOTOGRAPHY. IT’S FEELING. IF WE CAN CAPTURE A FEELING OF A PEOPLE, OF A WAY OF LIFE, THEN WE MADE A GOOD PICTURE. We as filmmakers must value the image, however, never at the cost of our actors. The actor in the end is the vessel through which the audience experiences the film. Emotional weight comes from performance. Think what Maria Falconetti means for Carl Theodor Dreyer’s The Passion of Joan of Arc or Daniel Day-Lewis for Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood.

2: Make Your Resources Work for You

Make use of what light is available simply through your positioning of the camera—and the subject if you are controlling what you are shooting. For me, using extra equipment, whether it was a tripod or a reflector, was usually a distraction and counterproductive.

Filmmakers of all experience levels need to be able to adapt to the ongoing changes and obstacles that occur during the different stages of film production. One way to understand the art of cinema and the craft behind it is to acknowledge this simple equation: filmmaking = creative problem solving. A filmmaker’s imagination benefits the production when no budget can. If a set is not accessible, how can you make the locations at your disposal work for your film? Let your imagination’s wheels roll.

(stills from Prisoners)

3: Make Your Tools Work for You

There is an obsession with technology that I don’t care for. You pick the camera for the job based on cost and many other factors. I think In This World or Slumdog Millionaire are good case studies in this regard.

The advancement of technology is in a state of flux, and with each new year new tools are being offered to filmmakers. However, some of those tools are not readily attainable to all, whether for financial or locational reasons. Still, in the same way you can make the most of your resources, you can make the most of the tools  available to you. As a filmmaker, look at your tools and their capabilities in imaginative ways by understanding what you as a filmmaker can do with them. You may want to use a Red camera, but a DSLR camera may be just the right tool for you to make your magic work—as long as you understand how to make the best of it.

4: The Vision Not the Camera Makes the Film

Cinematography is more than a camera, whether that camera is a Red an Alexa or a Bolex. There is a little more to it than resolution, colour depth, latitude, grain structure, lens aberration etc. etc. etc. The lenses used for Citizen Kane were in no way as good as a Primo or a Master Prime and the grain structure in that film is, frankly, all over the place. But the cinematography? Well, you tell me.

Vision controls the tools. As Steven Soderbergh stated in his STATE OF CINEMA speech, CINEMA IS A SPECIFICITY OF VISION…IT MEANS THAT IF THIS FILMMAKER DIDN’T DO IT, IT EITHER WOULDN’T EXIST AT ALL, OR IT WOULDN’T EXIST IN ANYTHING LIKE THIS. The most important instrument you possess is your approach to visual storytelling, or, in other words, your filmmaker’s style. It is your “specificity of vision” that dictates how your film will engage an audience and what emotions it will stir in the viewer. Hone in on how you want the audience to experience your story.

5: Understand Filmmaking Through Discovery

I genuinely feel that cinematography, like photography in general, is not something that can be learned but, pretentious as it may sound, can only be discovered.

Experience is the best teacher since it furthers your awareness of the film process. Difficulties are bound to arise, and learning how to deal with them is essential for the filmmaker both in terms of the production and your sanity. More importantly, in the same way we as individuals grow and mature through life experiences, we as filmmakers continue our development by living our passion and our work.

(stills from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

ARRI Developing it's 4K in ALEXA Series

ARRI is developing a 4K camera with 14 stops of dynamic range and high frame rate capabilities, and while that might not come as a surprise to anyone who’s been paying attention, now we’ve got confirmation straight from the company itself. Everyone is making a 4K camera, so it was only a matter of time that ARRI jumped on board as well. What’s interesting, however, is not that ARRI is developing a 4K camera, but that they aren’t happy with how quickly companies seem to want to push HD to the wayside and get on the UHD and 4K trains.

In a recent Hollywood Reporter post, ARRI’s Managing Director, Franz Kraus, revealed some of his thoughts about tactics employed by companies to make 4K look better.

“We don't want to produce one camera that has high contrast and another with high detail.”

 
The industry's inexorable push toward 4K by suggesting that HD content displayed on HD screens at equipment trade shows is not being shown at its optimum quality in order to compare unfavourably with 4K displays.

“What annoys me, more than being asked about whether we are launching a 4K camera, is that at trade shows, HD quality is often being dumbed down, or not presented to its optimum quality, in order to make Ultra HD 4K look good,” Kraus said. “This is a bad trick because consumers will buy 4K displays based on the false expectation that the image is really that superior to HD.”

He argued, “The perception of picture quality has a lot to do with the physical performance of the display. For example, a 2K image displayed on an HD OLED monitor looks incredible because the active light source shows far higher contrast ratios in the picture.”

Arri, maker of the popular Alexa digital cinema camera that has been used to shoot features from Skyfall to Life of Pi, has long questioned the value of 4K photography to cinematographers who it says view exposure latitude, highlight handling and natural skin tones as more important than just resolution. “Resolving fine detail is a quality attribute which we do not deny, but we want to develop a camera that continues to deliver high dynamic range as well as greater resolution,” Kraus said.

Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos is the name of a surround sound technology announced by Dolby Laboratories in April 2012, which was first utilized in Pixar's Brave. The first installation was in the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California, for the premiere ofBrave in June 2012. Throughout 2012, it saw a limited release of about 25 installations worldwide, with an increase to 300 locations in 2013. The format allows for an unlimited number of audio tracks to be distributed to theaters for optimal, dynamic rendering to loudspeakers based on the theater capabilities.

Dolby Atmos speaker setup

The first generation cinema hardware, the "Dolby Atmos Cinema Processor" supports up to 128 discrete audio tracks and up to 64 unique speaker feeds, the technology will initially be geared towards commercial cinema applications only, but may later be adapted to home cinema. In addition to playing back a standard 5.1 or 7.1 mix using arrays, the system will give each loudspeaker its own unique feed, thereby enabling many new front, surround, and even ceiling-mounted height channels for the precise panning of select sounds such as a helicopter or rain.

Atmos video 1

ATMOS EXPLAINED

Dolby Atmos for Dramatic Cinema Sound Experiences

Dolby® Atmos™ introduces powerful new listening experiences for the movies, with sound that truly envelops you and allows you to hear the whole picture. With Dolby Atmos, filmmakers can now precisely position and move sounds anywhere in a theatre—even overhead—to heighten the realism and impact of every scene.

Dolby Atmos Benefits

Delivers a powerful and dramatic new cinema-sound listening experience

Allows sounds to move around the theatre to create dynamic effects

Reproduces a natural and lifelike audio experience that perfectly matches the story

Adds overhead speakers for the most realistic effects you’ve ever heard

Reflects the artist’s original intent, regardless of theatre setup

Employs up to 64 speakers to heighten the realism and impact of every scene

Dolby Atmos Technical Information

Creates clearer, more accurately positioned cinema sound; uses object-oriented mixing to layer independent sound elements over channel-based audio content

Captures all the director’s intent as descriptive metadata to provide customized playback for each theatre

Automatically generates optimum soundtracks for theatres with 5.1- and 7.1-channel setups

Delivers a rich, realistic sound experience through support for up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio elements in a mix

Scales easily to any size theatre, with up to 64 independent speaker outputs

For anyone who enjoys great cinema storytelling, Dolby Atmos is an end-to-end audio platform that vastly expands the artistic palette available during content creation, simplifies distribution, and enables dramatic cinema-sound experiences.

Benefits of Dolby Atmos

Delivers a powerful and dramatic new cinema sound listening experience

Allows sounds to move around the theatre to create dynamic effects

Reproduces a natural and lifelike audio experience that perfectly matches the story

Adds overhead speakers for the most realistic effects you’ve ever heard

Reflects the artist’s original intent, regardless of theatre setup

Employs up to 64 speakers to heighten the realism and impact of every scene

Artistic Freedom

For filmmakers, details matter—a lot. And Dolby Atmos gives filmmakers full creative control over the placement and movement of sound around the audience. This completely new level of artistic freedom enables precise matching of audio to onscreen action.

Dialogue follows characters. Sound effects track with camera pans. Ambient sounds envelop you. For the first time, you’ll hear the whole picture.

Theatre Configurations

Dolby Atmos speakers are all individually controlled to create precise sound placement and natural, realistic movement of sound. Surround speakers in 5.1 and Dolby Surround 7.1 theatres are grouped to create zones. Representative setups are shown here.

How It Compares

While traditional surround sound offers a high degree of audio realism to help pull the audience into the story, Dolby Atmos takes realism to a whole new level with its ability to place sounds at precise locations and move them anywhere in the theatre–even overhead.

Here’s how Dolby Atmos compares to 5.1-channel and Dolby Surround 7.1 cinema sound, and the differences you can expect to hear.

Dolby Atmos	5.1 and Dolby Surround 7.1
Overhead Sound
True overhead sound Natural and lifelike, matching what you hear in real life Perfectly coordinated with onscreen action	"Phantom" overhead sound 5.1 can create overhead effect in center; 7.1 widens and improves the effect Less localized and distinct than true overhead sound
Sound Quality
Powerful and consistent Maintains tonal quality as sounds move around theatre Sound elements can be assigned to individual speakers to maintain purity	Smaller surround speakers with more limited response Some loss of clarity and sharpness 5.1 has limited movement effect; 7.1 improves spatial separation and fidelity
Sound Placement
Each speaker is individually addressable Allows precise placement, powerful sense of motion Consistent experience from any seat in the theatre	Limited to two (5.1) or four (7.1) surround zones 5.1 limits placement precision; 7.1 adds precision and movement Ideal for static ambient sounds; discrete sound not as realistic
Involvement
You become part of the story Completely natural and realistic soundtracks Seamlessly envelops you in the action	Adds to your involvement in the story Brings impact and drama Great experience, just not to Dolby Atmos level

Atmos video 1

ATMOS EXPLAINED