Dolby Atmos Home Mix

Original Language Mix for Streaming and Archive

The Dolby Atmos® Original Language Home Mix must meet the following requirements:

• At a minimum, must be mixed in a 7.1.4 room
• Dolby Certification is not required for Home Atmos® mix rooms
• Atmos® delivered in IMF (IAB) supports 23.976, 24, 25 and 30 frames per second.
• This is a nearfield mix. The most common monitoring levels for nearfield are 79db or 82db
• Must conform to Netflix loudness spec (-27db LKFS +/- 2 LU 1770-1 dialog-gated)
• Peaks should generally not exceed -2dBFS true-peak. To achieve this, we recommend setting true-peak limiters on all beds and objects at -2.3 or lower. Loudness and peaks should be measured via a 5.1 rerender
• For Atmos® mixes, delivering 5.1 is required and 2.0 audio is optional. The 5.1 and 2.0 rerender outputs must conform to Netflix loudness specification. 5.1 and 2.0 must conform to the Netflix peak specification only if they are delivered for streaming. We suggest achieving this by limiting the output from the renderer, rather than lowering beds and objects.
  • Atmos® - Delivered to picture finishing facility for IMF creation and streaming.
  • 5.1 - Delivered to Content Hub for dubbing reference. Optional to deliver for streaming.
  • 2.0 - Optional.
• All beds and objects are encoded and will always be audible. A printmaster may utilize a composite of all bed material OR multiple beds, but not both
• For all series/doc/unscripted/comedy content, beds and objects must be separated by Dialog, Music and Effects. For film content, DME separation should be maintained whenever possible
• If an 85 db reference theatrical mix is created, two complete sets of deliverables are required. One for theatrical, one for nearfield
• Leader and sync pop are preferred but not required. The IMF vendor will sync Atmos® in the IMF. Program must match the final IMF picture, including 1 second of black at head and tail.
• Final Home Theater Print Master
  • Dolby Atmos® BWAV ADM File
    • All bed channel configurations are acceptable 
    • 48 kHz sample rate, 24-bit

M&E Mix for Localization

The Dolby Atmos® Home M&E Mix must meet the following requirements:

• At a minimum, must be mixed in a 7.1.4 room
• Dolby Certification is not required for Home Atmos® mix rooms
• This is a nearfield mix. The most common monitoring levels for nearfield are 79db or 82db
• Peaks should generally not exceed -2dBFS true-peak. To achieve this, we recommend setting true-peak limiters on all beds and objects at -2.3 or lower. Peaks should be measured via a 5.1 rerender
• The 5.1 M&E rerender is required and must conform to Netflix Peak specification
• Optional tracks are required in addition to the Atmos® M&E when necessary
• All beds and objects are encoded and will always be audible. A printmaster may utilize a composite of all bed material OR multiple beds, but not both
• M&E bed and object configuration should match the Atmos® printmaster. Dialog beds and objects should contain only production effects and no discernable language.
• If a 85db reference theatrical mix is created, two complete sets of deliverables are required. One for theatrical, one for nearfield
• Leader and sync pop are preferred but not required. Program must match the final IMF picture, including 1 second of black at head and tail.
• M&E Mix
  • Dolby Atmos® BWAV ADM File or Pro Tools Recorder Session
    • All bed channel configurations are acceptable
    • 48 kHz, 24-bit
    • Single or multiple M&E Options stems as separate WAV file(s) or marked clearly as Optional or OPT within the Pro Tools session, along with any other content-specific labels
      • Channel format should be determined by the re-recording mixer to match the intent of the original mix

Alternate (Dubbed) Language Mix for Streaming and Archive

The Dolby Atmos® Dubbed Language Home Mix must meet the following requirements.

• At a minimum, must be mixed in a 7.1.4 room
• Dolby Certification is not required for Home Atmos® mix rooms
• This is a nearfield mix. The most common monitoring levels for nearfield are 79db or 82db.
• Must conform to Netflix loudness spec (-27db LKFS +/- 2 LU 1770-1 dialog-gated)
• Peaks should generally not exceed -2dbfs True Peak. To achieve this, we recommend setting True Peak limiters on all beds and objects at -2.3 or lower. Loudness and peaks should be measured via a 5.1 rerender. 
• For native Atmos® mixes, the 5.1 and 2.0 rerenders must conform to Netflix loudness and Peak specification.
• All beds and objects are encoded and will always be audible. A printmaster may utilize a composite of all bed material OR multiple beds, but not both.
• For all series/doc/unscripted/comedy content, beds and objects must be separated by Dialog, Music and Effects. For film content, DME separation should be maintained whenever possible.
• If a 85 db reference theatrical mix is created, two complete sets of deliverables are required. One for theatrical, one for nearfield.
• Dubbed Language Atmos® files shall match final IMF picture length exactlyas long-play and not separate reels. Leader and sync pop shall be removed.
• FFOA must be left at default - leave “Add FFOA” box unchecked. For pre-3.0 renderer software, leave red dashes in FFOA value.
• Final Home Theater Print Master
  • Dolby Atmos® BWAV ADM File
    • All bed channel configurations are acceptable
    • 48 kHz, 24 bit

Change Log History

Change Log v2.1

General

• Changed original version mix to Atmos in IMF delivery workflow requirements
• Added specification for Alternate (Dubbed) Language mix
• Added delivery table with Content Hub/Source Management/QC information
• Clarified that all tracks may be used for objects or beds

Change Log v2.0

General

• Removed Atmos Stem requirement
• Added requirement for series content to maintain DME separation
• Added requirement that FFOA box remain unchecked & additional context
• Added Pro Tools option for M&E delivery
• Removed M&E DAMF Requirement

Change Log v1.9

General

• Clarified that Tracks 11-128 may be used for beds or objects
• Recommended measurement via 5.1 rerender rather than 7.1
• Removed channel layouts as assignments are determined by renderer
• Changed loudness spec to 1770-1 dialog gated -27 LKFS
• Advised use of True Peak limiters set to -2.3
• Allowance for LCR and 5.0 beds added
• Removed requirement to edit metadata to 00:00 start
• Removed Pro Tools Atmos recorder file requirement

Change Log v1.8

Loudness & Peak Requirements

• Specified Atmos as a Nearfield deliverable that must meet average loudness and peak audio requirements.

Theatrical Mix Deliverables

• Added language that two full sets of deliverables are required for Theatrical Atmos mixes