Originally Posted by Anthony-Howard
Originally Posted by prm1177
A re-mix will need to be done for home Atmos and at an added expense for the studio.
Sorry but unless I greatly misunderstand object based audio (And I fully concede that this may be the case) but there is no 'mix' as such. There are objects with defined meta-data specifying characteristics such as the objects positional location. It is then up to the decoder/rendered/endpoint whatever you wish to call it to produce the 'mix' during playback.

There simply is nothing to re-mix in the traditional sense. As for the 30-40% added overhead for the meta-data I can't comment but it does sound like an awful lot for things like positional meta-data.
Tony,

In the film world the term mix includes both the combination and positioning of the thousands of individual sound elements that go into a sound track. The mixers also balance the relative levels and tone of the channels.

Atmos mixes include, not only the metadata required for positioning the additional Atmos sound elements, but those discrete sound elements as well. Depending on the choices made by the sound designer and director, the number of available channels can extend well beyond the traditional 5.1 or 7.1 we are used to.

In addition, the elements will need to be rebalanced for the smaller home environment. Most home Atmos systems have available, perhaps 4-6 height/ceiling channels rather than the larger numbers available in many cinemas. Relative levels and even positioning may need to be tweaked before new playback rendering metadata can be generated.

My original point is that this adds post production costs to a home media release, in addition to an increase in the audio payload on the discs. It's not always a given that Atmos will be available on a home release, even if it is a prominent part of a film's soundtrack. I know of a few cases of studio resistance, when a home Atmos relese is proposed.

Meridian Advocate