System information
n Connect your sound cards' outputs to the appropriate inputs on a 6-channel amplifier/home theater
receiver. Connect front, rear, center, and LFE speakers to the amplifier.
Multiple sound card setups may not work with ASIO drivers. You can only use a single ASIO driver at a
time, and some ASIO drivers can conflict with other audio driver models (such as WDM and wave
drivers).
The audio cables you'll need will depend on your specific hardware. For a typical application, you'll
need three cables: each will have a 3.5 mm stereo plug on one end and dual RCA connectors on the
other.
5.1 surround panning and mixing
After you've set up your project for 5.1 surround mixing, the track headers and Mixing Console switch to 5.1
surround mode, and you're ready to start panning.
From the View menu, choose Surround Panner to toggle the display of the Surround Panner window. Use
the Surround Panner window to pan tracks, busses, and assignable effects chains.
If you have a joystick, you can use it to control surround panning. A force-feedback joystick such as the
Microsoft® SideWinder® Force Feedback 2 joystick can add a tactile element to your editing sessions. For
more information, see "Using a Joystick for Panning, Adjusting Controls, and Color Correction" on page
554.
Only the Surround Master bus accepts 5.1 channel inputs. If you assign a track to another bus, the
Mixing Console will send a stereo output to the bus, and you can perform surround panning at the bus
level.
When you apply effects to a 5.1 surround project, you can use distinct plug-in settings for each
channel (separate EQ settings for the front and surround speakers, for example) using effect
automation. For more information, see "Automating Audio Effect Parameters" on page 263. Add
multiple instances of the plug-in to the track effects chain and select the Enable check boxes in the FX
Automation Chooser for the channels you want each instance of the plug-in to affect.
Surround panning is not available for tracks or busses that are routed to a hardware output.
Muting or soloing channels
Muting a channel ensures that no audio will be played through that channel. For example, you could mute
the center channel if you want to produce a stereo image at the center listening position, or you might want
to solo the center channel when you're working with dialogue.
1.
Double-click the surround panner on the track or bus you want to pan. The Surround Panner
window is displayed.
2. Click the speaker icons to mute or include channels.
Hold Ctrl while clicking a speaker icon to solo the channel.
436CHAPTER 22