Cinenow FR Cinenow UK Cinenow ES

DOLBY ATMOS in demonstration at CineEurope 2013

July 06, 2013 — Article

At the recent CineEurope 2013 Event in Barcelona, we were offered an exceptional opportunity to experience first hand a Dolby Atmos demo in Soundub, a sound mixing studio that was the first one in Spain as well as the second one in Europe to implement this new multichannel audio format at the end of 2012.

Last year we were impressed when Dolby introduced the Atmos concept and this time we were able to see live just how the sound is mixed to all of the channels. We were shown just how easy it is to program the sounds using the sophisticated Dolby software. Over 100 different sounds can be mixed simultaneously! But thanks to the software the time involved in creating this new dimension in a sound experience we were told by the professionals using it that, in fact, it takes no longer than for a classical film. In addition, as studios get more familiar with the software potential they “invent” new techniques for the mixing, offering the film directors even more options for creativity.

Dolby Atmos is able to move the sound smoothly using up to 64 speakers, depending on the Cinema configuration, allowing film makers to perfectly recreate scenes like in real life. The addition of the speakers over the top of a cinema clearly give an additional dimension for those scenes not only with helicopters but also with sounds of nature like with bees where we assisted live how this was done simply by selecting the sound and moving it around the Dolby interface in all directions!

Cinema equipped with Dolby Atmos system

It is awesome to experience bullets whistle over our heads, or how a bee flies around us, or the rumble of a thunder right above where we were sitting. We could hear the footsteps of the person upstairs walking above us not just on the same level like with present sound systems. From now on we will “see” the sound as a three-dimensional object which is a big change from what we were accustomed to. Clearly Dolby Atmos makes a difference, as when the same film was played using a traditional sound format as a comparison you realized all that you were missing.

Dolby Atmos Demo

Soundub Studio with Dolby Atmos

We are going to have a lot of opportunities to experience the Dolby Atmos sound very soon considering the significant number of theatres that are already making use of Atmos, over 200 worldwide today with about half in the US, and growing quickly everywhere. In addition, more movies are being produced or remixed. There are about 50 todate but many more coming soon like Life of Pi, The Hobbit: An Unespected Journey, Oblivion, GravityStar Trek into Darkness or Elysium…

We are looking forward to enjoying more and more the Dolby Atmos system as well as the additional creativity that film makers will do with this new dimension, and that will find its way into the high-end home cinemas too, for those Happy Few with dedicated rooms. You need to experience it to hear the whole picture.


All about ...

Dolby