Auro Technologies introduced updated Auro-3D Authoring tools and its new Reference 3D Sound Processor Auriga PRO at the AES Convention in Berlin. With the integration of the Auro-Codec Encoder into the Auro-3D Authoring Tools, the tools provide a system to create native 3D audio.
The Auro-3D Authoring Tools allow users to create immersive 3D sound without interfering with existing workflows, while making the 3D content available through a single file distribution to be played back in digital cinema or home theater via Blu-ray. The move from two-dimensional surround sound (5.1/7.1) to Auro-3D is achieved by adding the missing dimension of height. The Auro-3D format uniquely adds both a height and top layer to create a realistic three-dimensional soundscape and the new integrated Auro-3D Authoring Tools allow content creators to work across all of these dimensions in sound.
The Auriga PRO is the reference processor for Auro-3D decoding and allows the user to reproduce the full immersive 3D cinema sound experience.
The Auro-3D Authoring Tools consist of a set of plugins, including 3D panning and mixing with support for all Auro-3D formats and various surround formats, as well as encoding with the Auro-Codec. A basic Auro-3D session consists of the Auro-Panner, Auro-Bus, Auro-Mixing Engine and Auro-Return plugins. Each plugin is inserted on its own DAW audio track and connects to the A3DHost processor. The Auro-Panner sends its track’s audio to a selected Auro-Bus, which routes the signals to one or more Auro-Mixing Engines. The Auro-Mixing Engine lets users set Auro-3D and down-mix configuration settings, mixes the audio, and then sends it back to the DAW using the Auro-Return plug-ins for monitoring and bouncing of the mix. It also contains the Auro-Codec Encoder to immediately output the encoded deliverable.
This set of plugins is designed to be integrated into any existing content-creation workflow, while solving technical limitations present in DAW stations, such as limited bus widths and the lack of 3D panning. All tools allow the creative to work within the uncompressed audio domain, and multiple masters, in different formats, can be mixed at the same time.
