AES Los Angeles 2016

Saturday, October 1, 1:30 pm — 6:30 pm (Rm 408A)

DTV Audio Group Forum at AES—The Changing Face of Television Audio:Objects, Immersivity, and Personalization

Abstract:
The explosion in streamed-content delivery to fixed and mobile devices has accelerated the adoption of advanced audio services for television. These offer immersive sound, enhanced personalization, and improved bandwidth efficiency. Cinema-quality immersive soundtracks are now starting to show up on popular streaming platforms. At the same time, the VR craze is driving interest and innovation in personalization and virtualized surround sound on mobile devices.

How is Hollywood coping with streamlining object workflows for episodic production? What tools are being developed to manage the demands of both live and pre-produced content? While next-generation audio systems are becoming more widely deployed, a great deal of content is still being pushed through outdated format-and-dynamic-range-limited encoding workflows. How do we manage the loudness and consistency issues this creates? Can cinema-like television experiences coexist in the same content universe with cat videos and tornado alerts?

Discussion topics will include:

The Impact of VR and Gaming on Immersivity and Personalization in Television
VR is the ultimate personalized immersive experience. How will technologies and trends driven by VR re-calibrate our thinking about television sound? Viewer-driven object-audio-enabled surround experiences have stable and long-established workflows and production practices in gaming. Is it time for television content creators to look around at personalized entertainment platforms and take some lessons?

Object Audio Deliverables and Emerging Tools for Interchange and Content Management
As content creators ramp up the production of premium immersive audio content for online delivery, are scalable workflows in place to absorb and manage this content on the distributor side? We will explore the progress on universal interchange standards and practical mezzanine deliverables, and discuss future requirements for versioning and editing for re-exploitation.

The challenges of Loudness Management in Multi-Platform Streamed-Content Delivery
As the center of gravity for television viewing shifts to an online experience, are the best practices for loudness, dynamic range and format management in danger of being lost along the way? Can a line still be drawn between fixed and mobile or desktop streaming? How do content preparation and audio encoding processes need to catch up? Our panelists will discuss the challenges of bring the same commitment to consistency and quality from network linear television to the online experience.

Atmos Mixing for Episodic Television
This fall, post-production of premium episodic content in advanced surround is in full swing. With dubbing stages all over Hollywood filling up with Atmos productions, how are mix teams adapting cinema audio production values to television budgets and timelines.

Wireless Spectrum Update
With the first forward-auction round completed, how is the future UHF spectrum picture shaping up? Initial clearing targets would make UHF microphone operation virtually impossible in many areas. Wherever we end up, things are going to get a lot more crowded. We will indulge in some speculation on the final band plan and examine the limited relocation options.


Presenters and Panelists Include:

Tim Carroll, Senior Director, Office of the CTO, Dolby Laboratories
Roger Charlesworth, Executive Director, DTV Audio Group
Michael Englehaupt, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Graham Media Group
Stacey Foster, President Production Services, Broadway Video, Coordinating Producer, Saturday Night Live, Technical Consultant, Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon
Richard Friedel, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Fox Networks Engineering and Operations
Jackie Green, Vice President R&D and Engineering, Audio-Technica
Steve Harvey, West Coast Editor, Pro Sound News
Scott Norcross, Manager Sound Platform Group, Office of the CTO, Dolby Laboratories
Skip Pizzi, Senior Director, Media Technology, National Association of Broadcasters
Jeffery Riedmiller, Senior Director, Sound Group, Office of the CTO, Dolby Laboratories
Sean Richardson, Executive Director and Principal Audio Engineer, Starz Entertainment
Tom Sahara, Vice President Operations and Engineering, Turner Sports, Chairman Sports Video Group
Steve Silva, Consultant, Technology Strategy, Fox Networks Engineering and Operations
Jim Starzynski, Director and Principal Audio Engineer, NBC Universal, Chairman DTV Audio Group
Joel Susal, Director, Virtual and Augmented Reality at Dolby Laboratories
Will Wolcott, Senior Audio Developer, Netflix


The DTV Audio Group Forum at AES is produced in association with the Sports Video Group and is sponsored by: Calrec, DAD, Dale Pro Audio, Dolby Laboratories, JBL, Lawo, Linear Acoustic, Sanken, Studer

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