Hello Ben,

Welcome to the forum! Have you had a look at this tutorial? http://youtu.be/yLmGRC7-yBA It's listed at the top of the ADR forum index page.

Though I cannot claim direct experience of this using AudioDirector, it looks like ADR could do what you want.

Other forum members, I'm sure, would benefit from your findings with multi track recording & production.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Yes, I saw that tutorial, thanks. It does not address producing or 5.1/7.1 - only how to record individual wave files.

I was able to get a 5.1 quick test dvd produced, then reproduced and burned with PowerDirector 8, and the surround sound worked correctly. Since, at this point, I'm really just interested in the audio, I imported a "dummy" video track into the project and then DA allowed me to produce a video file. I also discovered in the top right corner that there's an icon you can select to display the tracks as channels.

So far, so good. I still need to spend more time with DA to determine if the audio quality level is adequate and if you're given enough control to make recording as painless as possible. But, afaik, this is the only cheap way to create distributable 5.1 audio. Microsoft has free tools you can use to make surround sound audio, but you have to use windows media player to play them. In looking at upgrading to PowerDirector 11, I stumbled on DA, and I guess PD is now at a higher level on the prosumer video food chain, and thus now enables SS capability like Final Cut Pro and the others. This is good news, because the audio tools needed to produce SS that are provided by Dolby, Apple, Steinburg, etc., are very pricey. I'm hopeful that DA is a viable solution.

If anyone has insight on this, please chime in.

Thanks,
Ben Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit
Intel i7-3930K 3.20 GHz, 32 GB Ram
NVIDIA GTX 580 1.5GB Ram
INTEL 240GB 520 Series SSD, 3TB Barracuda
LG BH14NS40 BD Burner
Kodak PlaySport: 1920x1080 @ 30fps, H.264(MOV), AAC

Hello Ben,

The specific feature you are asking for (the ability to designate recorded audio tracks in the Mix room as specific channels in the final audio file) is unfortunately not available in the current version, but I believe is planned for the next version.

You can however add an imported video in the Mix room, and record audio for it directly in this room. For now, you would have to use the pan track audio feature to mimic surround sound audio, but would obviously not be the same.

For export, you can produce the video file in the MPEG-2, H.264, or MPEG-4 format. The audio can be MPEG-audio or Dolby Digital with a bitrate up to 384 Kbps.

Let me know if that's all the info you wanted, or need any clarification.
Regards,
David

Ben,

I was doing some testing in AudioDirector, and in theory you could build the 5.1 audio file you wanted in the Edit room I believe.

You could first record and produce each audio track (musical instrument) in the Mix room separately.

Next, import your video file, making sure it has 5.1 channel audio.

In the Edit room, you could then edit each individual track separate by removing the existing audio on the track and then copying and pasting the recorded instruments to the specific track you wanted.

This would take a lot of effort obviously, as for example, you would have to manually mix each channel's audio in the edit room with the volume keyframes.

Let me know if this sounds like something you'd like to experiment with, and we can try in the trial first. I'm afraid though it might be too complicated.

Also let me know if you have any questions or if I missed something.

Regards,
David

Well, after much trial and error, I was able to put together a good quality 5.1 video clip. Attached is a short snip from it. There is an audible pop in the beginning that was introduced when cutting the snip out of the original.

L=guitar
R=mandolin
C=vocal
LFE=bass
BL=background vocal
BR=B3 organ (synth)

All files are mono and panned to 0. If you listen to this on a stereo system, it will likely be downmixed to stereo. That was my experience with PowerDVD. But it worked perfectly on my home theater surround speakers. If you want to hear the entire clip (88 mb), it can be downloaded from: https://www.box.com/s/4otvpdiho1kaucargfxh

I am very inexperienced with video production. However, I have had lots of experience with audio, primarily with Cool Edit Pro, now Adobe Audition. So the difficulties I had getting this test project done may not be a problem at all for someone who has come at 5.1 production from the video side of things. Anyway, I took audio wave files from a multi-track recording project done earlier in Audition and imported them into AudioDirector. I then imported a small stereo wmv video. Here are rough steps for what I did next:

1. produce the video, changing the properties to dvd mpg-2, 5.1 and use that version vid from now on
2. delete off the L & R channels (the old stereo info) from the video
3. open each audio file in turn and select all, then copy
4. open the video file again, making sure to be in single channel mode and copy that audio file to the desired channel
(3 and 4 are done 6 times, to get all channels filled)
5. produce the video again with the same properties as above
6. open the produced video in PowerDirector and pull into timeline
7. produce in PD with hardware acceleration to hd dvd mpg-2, dolby 5.1 and SVRT cranks it through in no time flat
8. burn with the necessary properties (5.1)

I looked through the manual, which, from my audio-oriented perspective, was not detailed enough. For an old hand at video production, it may be overkill. I can say, if you're interested in music dvd production, AD may not be the only tool you'll need. While there are a ton of good looking tools that I did not try, there is no metronome, which makes it very difficult to perfectly synchronize tracks that are done at different times (overdubbing.) You can move each file in different channels horizontally to line it up with others, to correct timing errors, but then that one file has to be produced (audio) and the output pulled back in it's place to pick up the modification. This is tedious, but doable.

But the fact that good quality surround dvd audio can be achieved at this price is a winner, for me. And, as you can see from my computer specs, I'm under what's recommended for AD. However, this clip was only 1.5 minutes. I'll give 7.1 a shot when I get time.

Good luck with your projects,
Ben Windows 7 Pro, 64 bit
Intel i7-3930K 3.20 GHz, 32 GB Ram
NVIDIA GTX 580 1.5GB Ram
INTEL 240GB 520 Series SSD, 3TB Barracuda
LG BH14NS40 BD Burner
Kodak PlaySport: 1920x1080 @ 30fps, H.264(MOV), AAC

Hello Ben,

It's great to have an experienced audio editor on the team!

Thank you very much for posting the procedure you followed. Other members, I'm sure, will be able to benefit from your advice & detailed outline.

I downloaded your produced file & played it through my 7.1 system. Great job with the mix! Mandolin made it dance. It sounded great played through the right equipment.

David, thank you for chiming in. Your experience is valued!

PIX PIX YouTube channel