With the introduction of Dolby Atmos into Pro Tools, Avid developed various features, which extends the fold-down option for going down from 7.1 to 5.1 to stereo and takes it one stage further for Dolby Atmos, handling objects, so that you can continue to work on Atmos Sessions in Pro Tools without needing a Dolby Atmos Renderer.

Bed/Object Fold Down Path

Dolby Atmos mixes are normally monitored from the Dolby Atmos Renderer, whether that is in the form of software with the Dolby Atmos Production Suite, or a dedicated computer and the Dolby Atmos Mastering Suite or a dedicated hardware Renderer.

If Pro Tools is disconnected from or cannot communicate with the Renderer, you can still monitor the mix, including the objects in Pro Tools over the output path designated as the Bed/Object Fold Down Path. With this path set, when Pro Tools cannot recognise a connection to the Renderer, it can automatically re-route all object output paths and fold them down to the selected output format using standard coefficients for downmixing and panning.

Once you have set the Bed/Object Fold Down Path in the Output tab of the Pro Tools I/O Setup window to the appropriate path, usually the same path as the Monitor Path above, then make sure that Pro Tools is not connected to a Renderer, start playback and you will hear all object audio downmixed to the selected Bed/Object Fold Down Path.

• Note: Because the Bed/Object Fold Down Path uses an invisible internal bus, it cannot be metered on a Master Fader or the Edit Window Output Meter Path display.

Just like the automatic fold-down for tracks, introduced with Pro Tools 12, this ability to fold down the objects into a bed path, means that you can continue to work on a session with objects on a system, like a laptop, that doesn’t have a renderer installed or attached.

That said, you can configure Pro Tools to use the Bed/Object Fold Down Path even when the Renderer is present.

In the Dolby Atmos tab of the Pro Tools Peripherals page, there are two options to choose from…

1. Active When Renderer Disconnected - When selected, Pro Tools will only use the Bed/Object Fold Down Path when the Renderer is disconnected.

2. Always Active - When selected, Pro Tools can use the Bed/Object Fold Down Path whether or not the Renderer is connected. With the Render connected, you can use the Render for monitoring the full Dolby Atmos mix and the Bed/Object Fold Down Path for separately monitoring the mix folded down for non-mixing tasks (such as editing).

How To Configure And Backup The I/O Setup Window In Pro Tools

In the next article, How To Configure And Backup The I/O Setup Window In Pro Tools, we cover how to set up the I/O Setup window, the best order to do things, like hardware inputs and outputs first, then buses and the importance of saving and backing up your I/O Settings file.