Specifications

Pro Tools Reference Guide500
Surround Monitoring
In order to monitor your current multichannel
mix in a given surround format (such as DTS or
Dolby Digital), encoding and decoding equip-
ment for that format is required. Pro Tools does
not provide direct support for surround format
processing, but encoding/decoding hardware or
software is available from Digidesign and third-
party manufacturers. Contact Digidesign or
your dealer for information.
Proper speaker placement, studio calibration,
additional surround processors, monitors, and a
properly calibrated system can lessen the vari-
ables that your mix will be subjected to when
the audience eventually hears it in the theater,
in their home, or elsewhere.
The Importance of Speaker
Placement
It is very important that your surround monitor
system be installed and configured correctly.
Proper speaker placement, angling, and level
calibration are necessities for surround mixing,
so consult the manufacturer of your monitor
system. Several surround formats (especially all
of those from Dolby as well as DTS) have very
specific speaker and monitoring recommenda-
tions, so take the time to locate this information
and adhere to the suggestions they provide.
For an example of a 5.1 monitor system, see
Figure 34.
Figure 34. Example of speaker arrangement for 5.1 mixing and monitoring (SMPTE specification). Sub placement is
variable, while all other speakers should be as close to the suggested angles as possible.
110°
30°
110°
30°
Mixing position
Sub
L
C
R
Ls
Rs