Edited: October 2023: (MMH 7.0 is now released - MMH Atmos Helper in MMH 7 has improvements and bug fixes)
I have just released Music Media Helper 6.3.0 with the following new features:
Please PM me for a download link to the beta version (this has 3 alpha users, so pretty stable and usable now)..
This tool enables users to create Dolby Atmos Master File Sets from multichannel (mch) interleaved WAV files to create ‘channel based’ Atmos mixes encoded with the Dolby Media Encoder or Dolby Encoder Engine.
Input mch files can contain any number of supported channels below:
16 channel (9.1.6): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lw, Rw, Lfh, Rfh, Ltm, Rtm, Lrh, Rrh
12 channel (7.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh
10 channel (5.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh)
8 channel (5.1.2): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrh, Rrh)
NOTE: The Dolby Atmos bed 7.1 channel order used in 9.1.6, 7.1.4 and 5.1.4 swaps sides and rears compared to the ‘standard’ channel order used by other multichannel layouts. Users can remix channel order using the MMH Channel Remix tool.
NOTE: A user must have a Dolby Encoder license to encode files to Dolby Atmos. However, this Helper tool can create Dolby Atmos Master File Sets without any Dolby software, Atmos Renderer or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software, for encoding by a 3rd party.
Dolby Atmos Master File Sets created by this MMH Atmos Helper tool can be encoded in lossless TrueHD or lossy Dolby Digital Plus format (typically used for streaming Atmos). Currently without Master File Sets the Dolby Media Encoder (DME) cannot encode interleaved WAV files to TrueHD, only Dolby Digital Plus at 768kbps. With Master File Sets a user can encode to TrueHD (lossless) and/or Dolby Digital Plus at up to 1664kbps.
If a user has a Dolby Encoder license and the encoder is installed on the same PC as MMH, the MMH Atmos Helper can also batch encode multiple Master File Sets to create MLP/MP4 files (and optionally: MKV, M4A and/or MP4 files).
To create Atmos master Files Sets, first select the Source Channel Layout from the first dropdown.
Once the layout is selected add a folder containing multiple source wavs, or add single or multiple wav files using either of the two buttons: Add Folder or Add Files.
NOTE: MMH checks the channel count is each file and ensure that matches to channel count implied by the Source Channel Layout selected. All files in a single batch must containing same number of channels matching the Source Layout (e.g 7.1.4 = 12 channels).
Once file(s) are loaded into the grid, click ‘Create Atmos Files’ to create the Atmos Master File Set(s).
NOTE: ‘Channel based’ Dolby Atmos uses fixed channel positions. To create ‘Objects’ (that can be positioned anywhere in 3D space, including movement) users will need to author using DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software. But channel based Atmos is still very effective and easy to create for non-pro (enthusiast) for use at home. This is equivalent to traditional multichannel quad, 5.1 and 7.1 mixers produced prior to recent spatial music formats.
The first time a user selects the ‘Use Dolby Encoder’ checkbox MMH will pop up a dialog box to select the Dolby Encoder Engine executable (dee.exe). The DEE executable is installed with DEE and with DME. The default program folder if DME is installed is:
C:\Program Files\Dolby Media Encoder\resources\dee
Once selected, MMH stores that folder and will not ask again (unless the folder is renamed, deleted uninstalled etc). On selection MMH also checks if the dee license file (.lic) is in the same folder (as dee.exe), if not then you will be reminded to copy your license file to that folder. Without the license file in the dee folder MMH cannot use dee to encode.
Once the initial setup of DEE program location is done:
Encoder Settings:
With the DEE Settings enabled, a user can change the default settings as shown above:
Format: Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus (Blu-ray) or Dolby Digital Plus (Online)
Lossless, higher bitrate DDP or Streaming bitrate DDP (DDP for Blu-ray supports 1664kbps encodes)
Bitrate: This dropdown is only available for DDP encodes (You must select a bitrate for DDP)
Output Folder: Output is always related to the files input folder (choose one option)
DRC: Dynamic Range Compression: Therese are the standard Dolby presets (Music Light is recommended for music encodes)
Dialnorm: Users can choose from -31 to -5db (or Off no dialnorm is applied) NOTE: -31db is recommended for music encodes)
Output Type(s):
Select any (or all) of the outputs required. After DEE has encoded each input file, MMH will convert the encoded output to the selected file formats (always an Atmos stream within the selected container).
To Run the Encode Process:
Click: 'Create Atmos Files'
MMH will initially create Atmos Master File Sets for each input file, then it opens the MMH Encoder Job Queue dialog to process all the files and encode using DEE. The Job Queue starts automaticall:
The files are encoded using parallel processing (above shows 4 concurrent encodes). On completion the output files are created in the user’s Output sub-folder.
-------------------------------------------
New Functionality:
Downmix/remap between files with different number of channels or channel layouts (examples: map 7.1.4 to 5.1.4, 5.1 to stereo etc)
The Remix Channel Layout tool supports > 8 channels for WAV only, with most standard layouts supported from stereo to a maximum 24 channels (spatial mixes).
The standard channel ordering in a multichannel FLAC or WAV is always:
Quad: LF, RF, SL, SR
5.0: LF, RF, C, SL, SR
5.1: LF, RF, C, LFE, SL, SR
7.1: LF, RF, C, LFE, BL, BR, SL, SR
If you are working with wav files intended for Dolby Atmos channel based encoding the Dolby Atmos Encoder uses these channel orders:
16 channel (9.1.6): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lw, Rw, Lfh, Rfh, Ltm, Rtm, Lrh, Rrh
12 channel (7.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh
10 channel (5.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh)
NOTE: The Dolby Atmos bed 7.1 channel order swaps sides and rears compared to the ‘standard’ channel order above.
Click on the checkbox [Remix (User Defined)]:
This immediately pops up the User Defined Remix channel mapping dialog:
To define a mapping:
Select your Source Channel Layout from the first dropdown (the channels will be shown after selection)
Select your Output Layout from the Output Layout dropdown (the output channels will now be shown
Add your new channel mappings by clicking an input channel and dragging the mouse to top the Output desired channel, release the mouse button.
Here is an example of Quad channels being remapped by swapping front and rears and adding 2 new silent channels for C and LFE to convert to 5.1 formatted files:
NOTE: MMH uses ffmpeg to remix the channels. As you build your mapping MMH displays the ffmpeg ‘pan’ audio filter command-line and shows it in a text box at bottom of the dialog. You can manually edit this text. The text definition always overides to diagram. So effectively the diagram just a visual aid to create the pan filter commandline. MMH passes this audio pan filter to Ffmpeg to make batch remixes for selected files in the main MMH Channel Remix tool dialog. Ffmpeg uses zero based channel numbering (the first channel is 0).
Ffmpeg audio pan filter info here:
https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#pan-1
If an output channel is not mapped to an input channel it will created as a silent channel in the output file.
Users can delete a mapping line by clicking on the line and hitting the DEL key.
To save your definition click the [Save] button. This returns you to the original Remix dialog and now you can go ahead and select the Quad files or folders containing Quad files to remix (in this example).
Advanced Channel Mixing Definitions:
MMH (and ffmpeg) also support advanced channel mixing options:
Mixing multiple Source Channels into a single Output Channel:
The above example mixes the side and rear left surround channels of a 7.1 file to rears of a 5.1 file. In the ffmpeg pan filter you will see the channel mix as: c3=0.707*c4+0.707*c5
Applying Channel Gain to any channel map:
When multiple source channels are mapped to a single Output channel, a channel gain factor is auto applied and shown as a numeric value in the mapping line (0.707 in above 1/ root 2) this ensures the output channel in the 5.1 mix has same volume as the two input channels played together in the 7.1 file.
Users can edit the gain of any channel map my clicking the gain text and entering a gain value, if ther is already a gain value, or simply clicking on the centre of any mapping line and entering a value. Values > 1 increases gain, < 1 reduces gain.
If 3 source channels are mapped to a single channel the default gain is 0.577 (1 / root 3)
I have just released Music Media Helper 6.3.0 with the following new features:
MMH Atmos Helper:
Functionality:This tool enables users to create Dolby Atmos Master File Sets from multichannel (mch) interleaved WAV files to create ‘channel based’ Atmos mixes encoded with the Dolby Media Encoder or Dolby Encoder Engine.
Input mch files can contain any number of supported channels below:
- 8 (5.1.2)
- 10 (5.1.4)
- 12 (7.1.4)
- 16 (9.1.6)
16 channel (9.1.6): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lw, Rw, Lfh, Rfh, Ltm, Rtm, Lrh, Rrh
12 channel (7.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh
10 channel (5.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh)
8 channel (5.1.2): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrh, Rrh)
NOTE: The Dolby Atmos bed 7.1 channel order used in 9.1.6, 7.1.4 and 5.1.4 swaps sides and rears compared to the ‘standard’ channel order used by other multichannel layouts. Users can remix channel order using the MMH Channel Remix tool.
NOTE: A user must have a Dolby Encoder license to encode files to Dolby Atmos. However, this Helper tool can create Dolby Atmos Master File Sets without any Dolby software, Atmos Renderer or DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software, for encoding by a 3rd party.
Dolby Atmos Master File Sets created by this MMH Atmos Helper tool can be encoded in lossless TrueHD or lossy Dolby Digital Plus format (typically used for streaming Atmos). Currently without Master File Sets the Dolby Media Encoder (DME) cannot encode interleaved WAV files to TrueHD, only Dolby Digital Plus at 768kbps. With Master File Sets a user can encode to TrueHD (lossless) and/or Dolby Digital Plus at up to 1664kbps.
If a user has a Dolby Encoder license and the encoder is installed on the same PC as MMH, the MMH Atmos Helper can also batch encode multiple Master File Sets to create MLP/MP4 files (and optionally: MKV, M4A and/or MP4 files).
MMH Atmos Helper dialog description:
When the Atmos Helper is opened this is the initial dialog:
To create Atmos master Files Sets, first select the Source Channel Layout from the first dropdown.
Once the layout is selected add a folder containing multiple source wavs, or add single or multiple wav files using either of the two buttons: Add Folder or Add Files.
NOTE: MMH checks the channel count is each file and ensure that matches to channel count implied by the Source Channel Layout selected. All files in a single batch must containing same number of channels matching the Source Layout (e.g 7.1.4 = 12 channels).
Once file(s) are loaded into the grid, click ‘Create Atmos Files’ to create the Atmos Master File Set(s).
NOTE: ‘Channel based’ Dolby Atmos uses fixed channel positions. To create ‘Objects’ (that can be positioned anywhere in 3D space, including movement) users will need to author using DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) software. But channel based Atmos is still very effective and easy to create for non-pro (enthusiast) for use at home. This is equivalent to traditional multichannel quad, 5.1 and 7.1 mixers produced prior to recent spatial music formats.
Encoding to Atmos with MMH Atmos Helper:
If a user has a Dolby Encoder license and either Dolby Media Encoder (DMC) or Dolby Encoder Engine (DEE) installed, selecting the ‘Use Dolby Encoder Engine (Only if installed)’ checkbox to set up an encode and create both Master File Sets and Atmos Encode jobs in batch mode using parallel threads to do concurrent encodes (faster). MMH will use up to 4 processors on your CPU (but never more than half the available number of processors).The first time a user selects the ‘Use Dolby Encoder’ checkbox MMH will pop up a dialog box to select the Dolby Encoder Engine executable (dee.exe). The DEE executable is installed with DEE and with DME. The default program folder if DME is installed is:
C:\Program Files\Dolby Media Encoder\resources\dee
Once selected, MMH stores that folder and will not ask again (unless the folder is renamed, deleted uninstalled etc). On selection MMH also checks if the dee license file (.lic) is in the same folder (as dee.exe), if not then you will be reminded to copy your license file to that folder. Without the license file in the dee folder MMH cannot use dee to encode.
Once the initial setup of DEE program location is done:
Encoder Settings:
With the DEE Settings enabled, a user can change the default settings as shown above:
Format: Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus (Blu-ray) or Dolby Digital Plus (Online)
Lossless, higher bitrate DDP or Streaming bitrate DDP (DDP for Blu-ray supports 1664kbps encodes)
Bitrate: This dropdown is only available for DDP encodes (You must select a bitrate for DDP)
Output Folder: Output is always related to the files input folder (choose one option)
DRC: Dynamic Range Compression: Therese are the standard Dolby presets (Music Light is recommended for music encodes)
Dialnorm: Users can choose from -31 to -5db (or Off no dialnorm is applied) NOTE: -31db is recommended for music encodes)
Output Type(s):
Select any (or all) of the outputs required. After DEE has encoded each input file, MMH will convert the encoded output to the selected file formats (always an Atmos stream within the selected container).
To Run the Encode Process:
Click: 'Create Atmos Files'
MMH will initially create Atmos Master File Sets for each input file, then it opens the MMH Encoder Job Queue dialog to process all the files and encode using DEE. The Job Queue starts automaticall:
The files are encoded using parallel processing (above shows 4 concurrent encodes). On completion the output files are created in the user’s Output sub-folder.
-------------------------------------------
Remix Channel Layout (new Features/Changes):
New Functionality:
Downmix/remap between files with different number of channels or channel layouts (examples: map 7.1.4 to 5.1.4, 5.1 to stereo etc)
The Remix Channel Layout tool supports > 8 channels for WAV only, with most standard layouts supported from stereo to a maximum 24 channels (spatial mixes).
The standard channel ordering in a multichannel FLAC or WAV is always:
Quad: LF, RF, SL, SR
5.0: LF, RF, C, SL, SR
5.1: LF, RF, C, LFE, SL, SR
7.1: LF, RF, C, LFE, BL, BR, SL, SR
If you are working with wav files intended for Dolby Atmos channel based encoding the Dolby Atmos Encoder uses these channel orders:
16 channel (9.1.6): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lw, Rw, Lfh, Rfh, Ltm, Rtm, Lrh, Rrh
12 channel (7.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh
10 channel (5.1.4): L, R, C, LFE, Ls, Rs, Lfh, Rfh, Lrh, Rrh)
NOTE: The Dolby Atmos bed 7.1 channel order swaps sides and rears compared to the ‘standard’ channel order above.
To define your own Remix Channel Mapping:
In version 3.5.2 a new remix option was added to allow users to define their own temporary remix definition, for example swap front and rears in a quad file. This has been significantly updated in version 6.1 to support wavs > 8 channels.Click on the checkbox [Remix (User Defined)]:
This immediately pops up the User Defined Remix channel mapping dialog:
To define a mapping:
Select your Source Channel Layout from the first dropdown (the channels will be shown after selection)
Select your Output Layout from the Output Layout dropdown (the output channels will now be shown
Add your new channel mappings by clicking an input channel and dragging the mouse to top the Output desired channel, release the mouse button.
Here is an example of Quad channels being remapped by swapping front and rears and adding 2 new silent channels for C and LFE to convert to 5.1 formatted files:
NOTE: MMH uses ffmpeg to remix the channels. As you build your mapping MMH displays the ffmpeg ‘pan’ audio filter command-line and shows it in a text box at bottom of the dialog. You can manually edit this text. The text definition always overides to diagram. So effectively the diagram just a visual aid to create the pan filter commandline. MMH passes this audio pan filter to Ffmpeg to make batch remixes for selected files in the main MMH Channel Remix tool dialog. Ffmpeg uses zero based channel numbering (the first channel is 0).
Ffmpeg audio pan filter info here:
https://ffmpeg.org/ffmpeg-filters.html#pan-1
If an output channel is not mapped to an input channel it will created as a silent channel in the output file.
Users can delete a mapping line by clicking on the line and hitting the DEL key.
To save your definition click the [Save] button. This returns you to the original Remix dialog and now you can go ahead and select the Quad files or folders containing Quad files to remix (in this example).
Advanced Channel Mixing Definitions:
MMH (and ffmpeg) also support advanced channel mixing options:
Mixing multiple Source Channels into a single Output Channel:
The above example mixes the side and rear left surround channels of a 7.1 file to rears of a 5.1 file. In the ffmpeg pan filter you will see the channel mix as: c3=0.707*c4+0.707*c5
Applying Channel Gain to any channel map:
When multiple source channels are mapped to a single Output channel, a channel gain factor is auto applied and shown as a numeric value in the mapping line (0.707 in above 1/ root 2) this ensures the output channel in the 5.1 mix has same volume as the two input channels played together in the 7.1 file.
Users can edit the gain of any channel map my clicking the gain text and entering a gain value, if ther is already a gain value, or simply clicking on the centre of any mapping line and entering a value. Values > 1 increases gain, < 1 reduces gain.
If 3 source channels are mapped to a single channel the default gain is 0.577 (1 / root 3)
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