Questions about 5.1 channel standards

[takearushfan]

Hi all,
Does anyone know what the "standard" (general consensus) specifications are for each channel when creating a 5.1 mix? I'll elaborate:
Let's say I want to take a favorite song and make it a 5.1 mix. How should each of the six mono channels be altered/modified/etc. from their source stereo mix? Ie., this channel has the left inverted with a phase of blah on the right, this channel is 50 left and 50 right, this channel has an echo, etc.
Also, what's the "best" way to go about creating the LFE channel for those parts you want to boost? In addition, what type of echo (if any) should be applied to (whichever) channel(s)?
Obviously I'm a bit confused here and a bit new to this. I appreciate any help you can provide.
Thanks in advance,
Justin

[3dsnar]

Hi Justin,
please follow this link
Cheers, 3d

[guns1inger]

Another possible method -> https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=292142

[takearushfan]

Wow,
Thanks for the links... that's a great deal of information for me to check out!
Though, I have a simple (?) question that I'm not sure where to ask:
I've noticed when you dissect many remastered movies to 6 mono waves, there are many times when one or more channels may have music/sounds in tact yet the vocals are either greatly reduced or completely eliminated. Then there are times when one or more channels are virtually the opposite. So...
Does anyone have any idea how this is done, considering that the films I'm thinking of were originally recorded in mono?!
Obviously, this would be rather "easy" if the sound engineers were using the original source tracks (pre-mixed) ... they can just mute whatever they please when necessary. However, from the artifacts/remnants such as clicking, hiss, etc. that you can hear in certain channels, something gives me the idea that these people are not using the pre-mixed tracks. Am I right in my guess that the engineers take the movie's already mixed mono track and use various software/techniques to do these things? ... and if so, what in the heck do they do to achieve such (often) great results?
I worded this poorly, but I'm hoping someone will understand what I'm trying to say/ask :/
Thanks again,
Justin

[daphy]

did you mean vintage movies?

[guns1inger]

There is a good, albeit brief, doco on how they did the 5.1 mix for the restored version of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. They basically cut the original into very small pieces, rebuilt it, and then added extra effects to cover problem cuts and mixing issues. Very time consuming.

[takearushfan]

Hi again,
I'm talking about any film that was originally in mono. Though, the two films I had in mind were A Nightmare on Elm Street (1) and The Terminator (1).
With ANoES, they seemed to be able to lower Nancy's voice a lot, but Freddy's stands out like a sore thumb. It honestly sounds a lot like what I've done in Audition. I'm assuming Nancy's voice was very centered and Freddy's was off to who knows where. This would result in what I'm hearing, right? *clueless shrug*
With The Terminator, my favorite scene is when the torso jumps out at Linda Hamilton. This one sounded like they did a LOT of work, but, like I said, there are still some channels that have weird sounds to them. It's almost as if they couldn't help but remain there when they used whatever technique they did.
Guns1inger, do you know where I can find that document you mentioned? I'd really love to read up and learn as much as possible on the process. The problem is, I can't find any info. on what I'm curious about. That's why I'm lucky to have found this site. I appreciate the replies a LOT
I noticed that, to my dismay (sp?), the original When a Stranger Calls wasn't remastered to 5.1. However, when you watch it (or listen rather), it seems understandable. There are just too many parts where it'd be a complete pain to try to use whatever techniques to remaster it.
Thanks again,
Justin
P.S. - Yeah, I can imagine how time consuming the process is. I have to give major kudos to those that do all this work.

[guns1inger]

With the more modern films, such as the two you mentioned, the original material may well have been available to build from. This would simplify things to a degree, in that they would not have to seperate the original mono, just rebuild it from the original elements. This is still a major job, but removes the need to disassemble the original before beginning the new mix.

The documentary is on the remastered version with the extra 18 minutes of restored footage added. Over here it was released under the MGM label, but I believe the restoration was funded by a US cable channel.

[takearushfan]

Hello again,
Would it be possible to provide a link to a 5.1 mix I attempted or is this against the rules? To be honest, I don't yet have a 5.1 setup, so I'd like someone else to hear the ac3 I created and tell me if I'm anywhere close to properly creating a 5.1 mix.
Thanks,
Justin