5.1 Surround mysteries...

[chtchege]

Ok, finally I tackled a bit this new feature and numerous questions arose...
Well, first of all what I did -- I had an old project which I started in version 7.3, and now it has finally come to an end. It contains one video stream (DV type 2 AVI's - lots of), and three audio tracks (audio from DV files in 16bit/48khz stereo; voice-overs in 16 bit/48khz mono and soundtracks (stereo CD-quality). Of course, no true surround is present, but since Ulead claim their programme can make true 5.1 sound out of stereo files... As said in the User's Manual, I changed the output format as DV surround / 5.1 surround; opened the audio mixer panel and panned the channels a bit, shifting the main audio a bit towards the front, putting the voice-over in the centre and the shifting soundtracks towards the rear. Then I created just an audio file (WAW, 5.1 channels). First problem I encountered was that I couldn't open the file - it won't be accepted neither by Audio Editor, nor by Video Editor, nor by Windows Media Player. Finally I found a piece of software that could manage this 3.2Gb audio file. It surely contained 5.1 channels, BUT - their waveforms looked exactly the same. No panning info seemed to have been saved. Well, next I did was opening my project in Video Editor again, and - what a surprise - although the project settings were exactly like I set them up (surround sound / 5.1 surround), the audio mixing panel had only two channels for each audio track, not six with colour panning dot as I'd left it. In order to invoke a 'surround-looking' audio mixing panel, I first changed the project settings back to stereo and then back to surround again - voilà, surround panel again, but the colour dots were in the centre and two sliders (for LFE and centre) were in top position and not as I left them (BTW, the writing was enabled from the audio mixer for each channel). All above considered, these are the questions:

1) Why does the audio mixing panel behave in this way, not saving itself in the surround mode and switching back to stereo each time I leave Video Editor and re-open it again? How can I make it remember its form?

2) Why doesn't the panning information be saved when I save the project file?

3) How can I make the panning info be saved in the output WAV?

Thanks in advance for any idea...

[Devil]

I admit that audio seems to be the hairiest part of MSP8, including 5.1 sound and, even though I've been trying to master it from the earliest beta stages, I haven't got very far, yet.

First of all, forget Audio Editor for surround sound; it is strictly 2.0.

Secondly, to get your settings to "stick" in the AM Panel, you have to use the "Pencil" icon when you change them and then the "Apply" check mark.

My experience is that there is about -20 dB "leakage" from any one corner to the two adjacent corners. However, worse, there is at least +6 dB pushed up to the centre, or, rather, the "corners" are attenuated where the centre isn't. Quite frankly, I have not understood how this really works; it sounds very different from 5.1 sound on commercial DVDs.

I'm waiting for the final version (I'm told that the box should arrive this week) and will re-test with that, as I understand there are some differences, compared with the beta build I'm still working on.

I've never tried recording a 5.1 WAV file: in fact, I haven't yet tried to build a 5.1 sound video project, I've only done sporadic tests in the course of beta testing, so I can't say I'm a master of 5.1 in MSP8, but my fellow beta-testers tell me I'm trying, VERY trying!

I'm hoping that there will be some improvements to the audio features some time in the future but, in the meanwhile, I think users will have to work round the limitations. Sorry, can't be more helpful.