NUGEN Audio Halo Downmix User guide

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

OPERATION MANUAL

Halo Downmix

Precise Downmixing & Surround Rebalancing

www.nugenaudio.com

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Contents

Introduction

Interface

General Layout

Utility Controls

Input Section

Monitoring Section

Surround Adjustment

Stereo Downmix

Settings Panel

3D Immersive Audio Extension

Applications

Surround to stereo

Surround to surround

Surround to surround to stereo

Reporting a Problem

Version History

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Introduction

NUGEN Audio Halo Downmix is a versatile surround sound manipulation and balancing tool capable of producing better balanced surround and stereo mixes from original surround material.

Intuitive, visual controls for relative levels, timing, and direct vs. ambient sound balance

allow for precise ne-tuning, delivering accurate downmixes that are no longer limited by typical in-the-box coecients-based processes.

Halo Downmix is also capable of providing a parallel surround/stereo workow enabling a rapid monitoring system that promotes better surround/stereo coherence, awareness and control when working solely with surround delivery requirements.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Interface - General Layout

The Halo Downmix interface has been designed to facilitate intuitive operation by following a logical ow from left (input) to right (output), grouping related aspects of operation together into distinct zones as shown below.

1 Utility controls

2 Input section

3 Monitoring section

4 Surround adjustment zone

5 Stereo downmix metering and control

6 Settings panel control

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Interface - Compact Layout

A compact interface is also provided. This view enables a minimal foot print mode, reducing the Halo Downmix interface to displaying essential metering and parameters only. The controls are illustrated in the remainder of the manual using the main interface, however most functionality remains the same when compact mode is

active.

The compact interface is enabled via the ‘Compact’ on/off toggle switch in the Options panel, accessed by clicking the ‘Options’ button on the main interface.

1 Utility controls

2 Surround manipulation zone

3 Output metering, control

4 Settings panel control

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Utility Controls

1 2 3 4 5

1 Bypass. This button bypasses the effect 'in-place'. This allows for direct A | B

comparisons to be made with and without the effect, without altering any other processing in the chain.

2 Undo | Redo. Unlimited session undo and redo commands allowing the user to

step back and forward through processing modications.

3 Preset browser. Use the arrow buttons to step sequentially through the presets

or click the end control to open the preset menu to select from a list. Double click the name to re-name session presets.

Note: 5.1 and 7.1 versions of Halo maintain independent preset systems.

Preset management.

• The 'Installed' folder contains the factory presets. These cannot be overwritten.

• User presets can be saved in the 'User folder'. An '*' symbol will be shown

against the preset name if the settings have been changed from the

saved version.

• Additional folders can be created using the '+' button

• Presets and folders can be organised by clicking the '…' symbol which is

highlighted when the mouse pointer is placed over the folder/preset name. Folders can be deleted, renamed and browsed using the standard

OS interface. Presets can additionally be moved and copied.

4 A | B and A to B (B to A). These controls switch data between the 'A' and 'B'

memories for direct comparisons between two different sets of parameters.

The A|B control toggles between the A and B memories (current active memory highlighted). The A to B (B to A) button transfers current settings to the memory indicated, ie. From A to B or vice versa.

5 ? Opens the 'About' page, with access to credits and the product manual (if

installed).

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Input Section

The inputs section (advanced interface only) shows input audio levels, and gives access

to secondary input monitoring functions.

1 Input meter. Shows sample peak input levels for each input channel individually.

2 Margin. Shows remaining channel headroom. Click to reset.

3 Individual channel label. Clicking the channel label allows for individual

channel Mute (M) and Solo (S) control depending upon the conguration determined in the settings panel. Muted channels will show ‘greyed out’ meters as the audio is no longer contributing to the audio output.

4 Input phase invert. Click to invert phase of incoming audio.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Monitoring Section

Halo Downmix provides a number of useful monitoring facilities which enable easy A/B auditioning and comparison when using the functions for different tasks.

In/Out.

These controls toggle between input (unprocessed audio) and output audio.

NB: downmix coecients

When listening to the combination In + Downmix, the input audio will be summed using the downmix coecients as specied in the settings panel to allow for quick comparison between the original downmix of the input audio and the processed version. For more info see settings panel notes below.

Surround / Downmix

These controls toggle the output between the downmixed and surround signal path. The exact audio routing depends upon how the plug-in has been initiated.

Surround-to-surround instance. If the plug-in is in surround-to-surround mode, the audio is routed through the plug-in in both cases.

Surround-to-stereo instance. If the plug-in is in surround-to-stereo mode, the downmix button monitors the audio through the plug-in. To activate the Sur round button, a NUGEN Audio Receive plug-in (included in the Halo Downmix installer) will need to be instantiated on an appropriately routed surround track. Halo Downmix can then be connected to the Receive plug-in and audio will be monitored through the receive plug-in when the Surround button is active.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Surround Adjustment

This section allows for the adjustment of the surround mix before it is downmixed to stereo. The plug-in is available in two different versions, 7.1 and 5.1. The 7.1 version is described here, however the functionality is analogous in the 5.1 version.

9 8

1 Surround analysis. This dynamic real-time analysis view shows the energy

distribution of the audio output prior to downmix. Brighter sections indicate increased energy at that position in the surround panorama. Colour can also be used to indicate the speaker source of the audio in any position.

2 Channel node. Indicates an upmix channel. L, C, R etc. Click to Solo the channel

output. The Solo function can be globally switched to Mute in the settings panel. Channels are paired left and right (where appropriate) by default. This pairing can be adjusted using the link control [4].

3 Link. This control is used to pair related channel operation (eg. L and R) to allow

single-click operation of both sides simultaneously when activated.

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4 Balance. This control can be used to pan each side of the input matrix to adjust

any L/R present in the original audio. The centre channel remains unaffected.

5 Rear shelf lter. The Shelf button Activates a shelf lter to roll off or boost the

high frequencies from the rear channels to address any imbalance which may have occurred due to proximity and directional shadowing during recording, or

as a result of surround balance energy adjustments.

6 Centre divergence. NB. This control is only available when downmixing to

channel congurations which include a centre channel (eg. 7.1 to 5.1). The centre channel divergence control is used to determine the spread of the centre channel (if any) into the L & R channels in the downmix. At 0%, this directly translates the existing centre channel to the downmix. Increasing the divergence will move some of the centre channel energy into the L & R channels, until at 100%, the centre channel is effectively off, and all of the energy is in the phantom

centre.

7 Rear channel delay. These parameters can be used to ‘un-delay’ the rear

channels to provide a more coherent sum to stereo. Legacy upmix practices often utilise delay in the rear channels (approx. 10 -25 ms) to create a sense of space in the upmix. When downmixed this can lead to phase or even audible delay artefacts, which can be redressed using the delay parameters. The Delay switch activates the delay.

The Seek control will engage an automated algorithm which will attempt to determine a best-t value for reducing correlation issues in the downmix to a minimum. The success of this algorithm will depend upon the complexity of the problems within the original source and has primarily been designed to ‘undo’ legacy upmix practice offsets. Once a delay has been automatically detected, further adjustment can be made by click-dragging (or double-clicking and directly entering) the individual values in the edit boxes.

8 LFE control. The On button can be used to switch the LFE channel on/off. For

a standard TV downmix, the LFE channel is discarded. This button can be used to audition this effect when working on a full surround mix. The LPF button can be used to enable the low pass lter, to ensure compliance with certain distribution platforms. The frequency control can be used to adjust the LPF frequency cutoff.

NB. The LFE channel remains subject to the downmix coecients determined in the settings panel. If the LFE downmix coecient is set to -inf, then the On button will have no effect

9 ‘Gear’ icon. This button opens the settings panel (see below).

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10 Channel node. Indicates an upmix channel or channel pair. Click to Solo the

channel output. The Solo function can be globally switched to Mute in the

settings panel.

11 Channel level meter. This meter shows the channel level immediately prior to

output. In the case where the channels are presented as a stereo pair, the meters indicate Mid/Side levels as noted on the meter.

12 Channel trim. These arrows can be dragged vertically to apply a dB offset (gain

or reduction) to the channels concerned. Again, these are subject to the Link ‘pairing’ function below.

Stereo pairs are presented in Mid-Side mode to allow adjustment of the relative direct and indirect sound in the nal downmix. A standard downmix can lead to an overly diffuse sounding stereo mix resulting from the addition of excess rear surround energy. Mid/Side balancing can be used to alleviate this, while maintaining important direct sound queues. These controls can be automated where required to allow for differences in treatment between scenes.

13 dB offset. The offset applied using the trim controls is shown here. Double click

to enter a numerical value directly.

14 Link. Pairs related Mid and Side channels, allowing a single control to affect the

stereo pair with a single gain boost/reduction adjustment.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Stereo Downmix

The stereo downmix section provides metering and additional control when the monitor section is set to monitor the downmix.

NB. Prior to metering and nal adjustment, the surround audio is summed to generate

the stereo downmix using the downmix coecients as determined in the settings panel (see below).

1 Output level meter. Indicates peak level output of downmixed stereo audio.

2 Margin. Shows remaining channel headroom. Click to reset.

3 Trim control arrows. These arrows can be dragged vertically to apply a dB offset

(gain or reduction) to the channels concerned. These are subject to the Link ‘pairing’ function below).

4 dB offset. The offset applied using the trim controls is shown here. Double click

to enter a numerical value directly.

5 Link. Pairs Left and Right channels, mirroring changes to one side on the other.

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6 High pass lter. Rolls off low frequency energy below the cut-off point when

activated.

7 Monolter. When active, this control automatically sums low frequency energy

to mono. This can be helpful when mixing down highly stereo material for TV reproduction where power distribution and stereo imaging may be a concern.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Settings panel

In addition to a number of presets for typical use, Halo Downmix can be customised to

a high level via the options in the settings panel. The settings panel contains two tabs;

Functions - the main parameters governing the operation and set-up of Halo

Colours - which is used to dene channel colours and meter split colours

Functions

Input routing. Depending upon the DAW/NLE and/or project requirements, different

surround channel routings may be required. By default, Halo Downmix will generally choose the appropriate input for the DAW/NLE in question, however, if the routing is not as expected/desired, these can be changed using the 'Routing' option in the settings panel, which allows for a number of different standard congurations.

Output mix type. This is used in some versions of Halo Downmix to determine the

type of Downmix to be performed where this is not automatically determined by the type of track the plug-in is inserted onto.

Advanced mode. When active, the full (advanced) control interface is displayed. If

de-activated, the interface will switch to compact mode. Most important options are available within compact mode, allowing for a simpler workow and freeing up more

screen space.

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Surround receive. This drop down menu is used to select a NUGEN Audio Receive

plug-in. See the section on monitoring for operational details.

Main node function. Determines whether clicking a channel node on the main

interface engages the Solo or Mute function.

Meter function. Determines whether clicking a channel label on the meter bars in the

output and monitoring section engages the Solo or Mute function.

Seek time. This parameter determines the amount of time the delay 'Seek' function will

use to determine a value. The default setting is usually suitable, however in complex mixes with high channel counts (eg. 7.1.2), more audio pairs must be compared and on occasion a higher value will be required.

Downmix coecients. Downmix coecients are the way that a 'standard' downmix is

produced from a surround input. Typically these are those as specied in ITU-R BS.775, although alternatives are sometimes used and can be implemented here.

In normal operation, Halo Downmix bypasses these settings and uses the gain structure as implemented in the main interface. The downmix coecients are used when the surround input is listened to in stereo through the combination of 'In' and 'Downmix' in the monitor section of the plug-in. This allows for a quick and easy comparison between the Halo Downmix stereo output and a typical 'in the box'

downmix.

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Colors

Colours are automatically saved with the preset.

Lock. The Lock control can be used to prevent preset-recall overwriting established

colour sets with those saved with the preset.

Reset. The Reset button can be used at any time to restore default colours.

Nodes. These colours set the colours for each channel. This is also used to determine

the colour spectrum used by the surround analysis veiw.

Interface. These colours dene the global colours used by the remainder of the

interface and can be used to tweak to suit a user dened set of node colours.

Meter splits. The Meter splits are persistent settings and only affect the meters on the

Center and I/O panels.

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3D Immersive Audio Extension

The 3D Immersive Audio optional extension for Halo Downmix expands the core Halo Downmix algorithm, introducing the ability to handle 7.1.2 format les.

This extension expands the Halo Downmix interface, introducing additional visual

feedback and a number of additional parameters.

All operational functionality is analogous to 5.1 and 7.1 operation as discussed above.

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Applications

Surround to stereo downmix.

In standard mode, Halo Downmix operates as a surround-to-stereo downmixer. Stereo mixes are required from surround material in numerous situations.

A standard downmix is usually generated by simply mixing together the surround output according to standard downmix coecients, however, this can often lead to unsatisfactory results, particularly if legacy upmix practices have been employed in generating the original surround mix. Halo Downmix can be quickly employed to mitigate these issues eg. controlling excessive diffuse sound from added articial reverberation, or removal of delay artefacts introduced in the rear channels.

Halo Downmix can be quickly deployed to produce a more controlled, coherent

stereo mix. Typical applications include:

• Stereo Mix production for Television within a Surround workow.

• Producing a controlled, precise stereo downmix of a 7.1 feature lm.

• Generating a stereo mix from surround recordings where no stereo recording exists.

• Producing stereo interim listening mixes in a surround workow.

Surround to surround.

In surround to surround mode, Halo Downmix can be used to optimise an existing

surround mix, re-balancing levels, controlling the general direct vs diffuse surround balance and brightening or toning down real channels for a more balanced surround

presentation.

Surround to surround to stereo.

Halo Downmix can also be used in conjunction with the Receive plug-in (see above) to enable a parallel surround/stereo workow.

This workow allows for rapid A/B listening checks between surround and stereo downmix. This mode is particularly useful for:

• Optimising a surround mix for better stereo downmix (standard coecients)

• Harmonising surround and stereo experiences, producing both a modied and stereo mix

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Reporting a Problem.

If you encounter a problem with any of NUGEN Audio’s products, please let us know, to help us improve them.

Please email NUGEN Audio at [email protected] giving a clear explanation of

the problem. Please state how frequently you’ve experienced the problem. If there are any particular steps you need to go through to see the problem, please detail these.

Please also state your operating system, and the rough specs for your machine (e.g.CPU speed, RAM) - in Windows XP you can get this information by rightclicking “My

Computer” and selecting properties.

Please be patient with any problems you may experience, particularly with products at a beta stage of release. At NUGEN Audio we take problems with our software seriously, and will endeavour to correct them as quickly as possible.

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

Version History

1.0 Initial release

1.1 3D Immersive Audio extension added

Multichannel to multichannel (beyond stereo) support added

Centre divergence control added

Several minor bug xes

VST2 support retired

1.2 New ranges for downmix coecients added

LFE LPF enable control added

LFE LPF lter cutoff control added

Netix preset added

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Halo Downmix Operation Manual

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