Dolby Atmos mixing workflows in Logic Pro for Mac

Mixing in Dolby Atmos can require additional steps. Here are some tips to help you optimize your workflow for Dolby Atmos.

Automation

All the parameters of the Surround Panner, Surround Balancer, and 3D Object Panner can be automated to move signals around in space. The corresponding parameters of those pan controls are listed in the Main submenu of the Automation Parameter pop-up menu.

Surround Panner and 3D Object Panner presets

The Surround Panner window and 3D Object Panner window have the same window appearance as plug-in windows, including access to the Settings pop-up menu in the window header. That means you can use the commands in the Settings pop-up menu to save the current pan position as a plug-in preset and recall it in other tracks or projects. Those settings are stored by default in the same Finder location as other plug-in settings (~/Music/Audio Music Apps/Plug-In Settings/) inside the folder Surround Panner and 3D Object Panner.

The command Save As Default saves the current surround settings as a default preset, so whenever you create a new channel strip or switch to the 3D Object Panner, the panner will open with that pan position.

For more details, see Work with plug-in settings.

VCA groups

Creating separate VCA groups for bed tracks and object tracks is an easy way to handle your project’s levels globally. See Use VCA groups.

You can use the LFE Level slider in the Surround Panner of a bed track to send its signal to the LFE output. The 3D Object Panner of an object track doesn’t have an LFE level control. To send the signal of an object track to the LFE output, follow these steps:

Create an aux send on the object track, then send that signal to an aux track.
Click the Output slot on the aux track and choose Surround to make it a bed track.
Insert the Channel EQ plug-in on the aux track, then use its lowpass filter to roll off everything above 120 Hz.
Double-click the Surround Panner control on the aux track to open the Surround Panner window, then click on each speaker icon to turn off those channels.
In the Surround Panner window, set the LFE Level slider to 0 dB.
Adjust the volume fader on the aux track based on how much of that (object track) signal you want to send to the LFE channel of your Dolby Atmos mix.

Figure. Routing an object track to the LFE channel.

Download the guides:

Logic Pro User Guide: PDF

Logic Pro Instruments: PDF

Logic Pro Effects: PDF

Control Surfaces Support Guide: PDF

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Dolby Atmos mixing workflows in Logic Pro for Mac

Automation

Surround Panner and 3D Object Panner presets

VCA groups

Use an audio subgroup as an object track

Route object tracks to the LFE channel