Getting started with Spacelab Ignition: Spatial Audio in Studio One (or any DAW)

[@lordcannon2020]

Thanks for the promotion. great tutorial 👍 I'll take the opportunity to comment on some personal experiences as small additions that I think are very important 🤓: 1. Spacelab Ignition only processes 24 objects - so only 12 tracks for stereo tracks - but you can create multiple instances of Ignition in a project. Even synchronous automation across multiple instances works with little tricks. 2. In contrast to many other spatial plugins, you can also move the listener in space and not just the sound objects. With automation, you can move the objects in the panners graphically and have them recorded. 3. The MPEG-H Exporter also handles multiple instances of Spacelab 4. The LFE channel is generally not exported! 4. The exported "Bed" cannot be compared to a "Bed" in Dolby Atmos. In the example shown with bed layout 5.1, 5 objects would be exported which, based on the metadata (channel 16), are located at the loudspeaker positions of 5.0. In contrast to Dolby Atmos, these objects can still be changed in space later in MPEG-H - for example the distance. A conversion into a "real and stationary" bed is possible with the help of the MPEG-H authoring software. Thanks again for the many great tutorials. 👍

[@michaelgwagner]

Thanks for the info! Very helpful!

[@lordcannon2020]

@@michaelgwagner There are always questions in my community as well, whether you can easily compare Spacelab with other products like Dear Reality, Dolby Atmos or other spatial plugins etc. Therefore, I will be doing a broadcast (no tutorial!) on Spacelab's philosophy on August 5th at 7:00 p.m. CEST on Twitch www.twitch.tv/lordcannon2020. It's not about investigating which plugin is better or how Spacelab is used. It's about the philosophy behind Spacelab. My show will be recorded and of course published on KZbin a little later. (The show is only in German!)

[@edwardnixon1782]

Boy! Time doesn't just march on, it sprints! This is a compelling offering, yes, because of the spacialization capabilities, but also because it appears to have a range of (multichannel?) effects bundled in. I was looking at the budget to acquire a multichannel reverb... $200 US to get into the game. I'm always gratified to see how technological innovators can mess up, oh! sorry, "disrupt" conventional industry assumptions and structures, challenging the meaning of "professionalism." New creative opportunities abound. But I guess you see that ever day. Thanks, once again. Very helpful.

[@michaelgwagner]

In next week’s video I’m going to use it to add reverb to Dolby Atmos objects. Stay tuned. ;)

[@RonjoyBarthakur]

Great content. Really helpful. Thanks

[@przymrozek]

Isn't the 16th channel holding metadata in mpf format only? Since you've exported to ADM format, I'd guess the 16th channel should be available 🤔

[@edwardnixon1782]

Coming back to review this, now with an M1 MacBookPro that should be able to chew through this spacial stuff without getting indigestion. Your question about the circular positioning of the sources in the MPEG-H export file: I wonder if it might have something to do with having chosen the 32-channel spherical option back in the segment on monitoring? Just an idle guess, based on nothing in particular. Thanks again for your help with this.

[@michaelgwagner]

Good point re spherical option!

[@theBullringLive]

I need a Dummies book. What is the differance between Spacelabs and fiedler audio dolby atmos composer

[@michaelgwagner]

Spacelab is the reverb that can be added to the composer. And the composer is a tool that creates Dolby Atmos content. Completely different things.

[@theBullringLive]

@@michaelgwagner Got it. Thank you

[@BoxRecords]

It would be nice if you make your own review on NOVO NOTES 3dx ... not only that is developed in Japan but I think it is a very interesting sollution. Thank you

[@michaelgwagner]

Thanks for the suggestion!

[@TonCorderoM]

I have a question, can MPEG-H ADM BWF files be delivered to streaming platforms and be used for Spatial Audio like Dolby Atmos in services such as Apple Music?

[@michaelgwagner]

I don’t think so. The distribution services I have checked out (Distrokid, Avid Play) require Dolby Atmos ADM BWF.

[@TonCorderoM]

@@michaelgwagner oh, ok, thanks for the help!

[@SamHocking]

Unless I missunderstand the features of each Spacelab version, you would ideall need the Interstella version in order to get beyond simply 'surround' and still not really be able to distribute your track to the public unless they request permission to download the MPEG-H Player from Fraunhofer? 599 EUR / 669 USD seems a lot of a non-distributable format, although the tool does look very useful in terms of the speaker output formats.

[@lordcannon2020]

You can also use multiple instances of Ignition in one project kzbin.info/www/bejne/hnTSk39pect5j5I 🤓

[@edwardnixon1782]

I'm taking the liberty of sharing part of correspondence I've had with Thomas Fiedler at Fiedler Audio; it relates to what SpaceLab can output: "Ignition and Interstellar can both serve any format, if you want to do MPEG-H the best option is to use the MPEG-H exporter of us because it connects to the instances of Spacelab circumventing the mixing engine of the DAW. Apart from MPEG-H, Spacelab renders to any speaker layout you want and can render any speaker layout to binaural. You can also use it to produce for Dolby Atmos." Here's a link to their tutorial play-list: kzbin.info/aero/PLiqOTsciYQ4yO0Q6UAc0VXht0ii5WcP6w I'm not sure if any of these videos explain the generic rendering procedure; there is a vid on MPEG-H however. It would be interesting to know if there are any tools out there that transcode among MPEG-H, Dolby Atmos and other layouts.

[@lordcannon2020]

@@edwardnixon1782 I can only confirm the statements made by Fiedler Audio based on my practical experience. Regarding a universal tool for converting between MPEG-H, Dolby Atmos, etc. - maybe the M1 Transcoder will develop in this direction... And what turned out to be practical - you can use several Spaclab instances in one project at the same time, i.e. stack them (this means that the limitation to 24 objects for Ignition "disappears"), which the MPEG-H Exporter can also process!

[@edwardnixon1782]

@@lordcannon2020 I'm still in early days with this software so my knowledge of how-to's is limited. For example, 'stacking' instances of Spacelab? I can conceptually see how this alleviates the number of objects constraint and I can see the virtue of distinguishing between channels/objects that, on the one hand, use reverb and, on the other, do not. There are likely other reasons to create distinct sets of channels. But the details of wiring it all together is still theory for me. Presumably, there is an instance that is the collection point? And, further, I'm in a bit of a puzzle about how Spacelab projects can output an arbitrary multi-speaker/channel file or files. At least in a DAW that does *not* support more than stereo rendering. Much experimentation to be done. And, yes, it would be nice to see Mach 1 transcoder take on MPEG-H. Thanks.

[@lordcannon2020]

@@edwardnixon1782 Spacelab Ignition can process 24 objects. If I use stereo signals, the number of objects decreases to 12 ... if in the DAW you route the first 12 objects to an additional audio track with Spacelab, route another 12 objects to another additional audio track with Spacelab and then these additional tracks on the "Merges" the master channel, you bypass the limitation of 24 mono or 12 stereo objects. The optional MPEG-H Exporter recognizes the many instances of Spacelab. This MPEG-H exporter also "breaks" the limitations of DAW's that only have a stereo renderer. It gets a bit more complex if you let the listener move in the room with several instances of Spacelab ... but it's possible. I have several videos on my YT channel - no tutorials and only in German! - even released a music video with a moving listener in 2 instances of Spacelab - "the walk-in acoustik rom - an experiment"