STARFIELD - Immersive Audio Project (Linear)

In this term, I focused on advancing the projects initiated in the previous term while simultaneously integrating the technique of surround mixing into both contexts. In the following sections, I delineate the steps taken to complete these undertakings and evaluate the incorporation of immersive audio.

To contextualize the following explanation, I first briefly introduce the linear project. Following my research I chose as linear multimedia content the trailer of 'Starfiled,’ a sci-fi video game based on the exploration of space and planets as well as orbital battles. My initial approach was to create a soundtrack inspired by the great science fiction classics of the 80s and the introduction of heavily processed sound effects. After starting the project on FL Studio 21, I continued the development by improving the quality of the sound effects and premeditating a possible surround setting using a Dolby Atmos Composer created by Fiedler Audio, a third-party engine capable of making surround mixing accessible to all Digital Audio Workstations (DAWs). I subsequently proceeded with the export of all the elements implemented up to that point as stems, enabling me to change DAW from FL Studio to Pro Tools, known mainly for its use in film composition and its versatility in creating file multimedia in the immersive audio spectrum.

The sudden change of platform had a significant impact on my workflow given my little knowledge of the program, and as a result, I had to dedicate the first few weeks to understanding how to use the available tools and use the shortcuts to my advantage. Once I understood the work environment in broad terms, I dedicated myself to organizing the audio tracks based on the category they belonged to: Dialogues, Music and Sound Effects. Once this template was developed, I shifted my attention towards implementing the dolby Atmos engine and setting every element as tested on the original draft. Going deeper into my mixing technique, my approach was very simple, trying to keep the dialogues directly in the center of the screen but creating the illusion of being a vast space given by the reverb bus present behind the listener, while the music occupies the surrounding space coexisting with the SFX. Using the panners, I created numerous modulations for different effects, such as footsteps and moving spaceships, creating different automations for parameters, such as Azimuth, Elevation and Size. Furthermore, I played a lot with the speaker settings by disabling a set of them trying to create more space for dialogues, as they are the key elements of multimedia content.

In all honesty, the approach used for panning the elements was very random, and I did not follow a precise path; the only aspects I thought about during this phase were regarding the qualities of the selected track, trying to make sense of the position of the sounds, and giving the right importance to low frequencies by exploiting the LFE value to my advantage. Although elementary, I am convinced that the final result of my linear project was worth adapting to this new approach to music production.