Hi folks,
As AmbiX are not natively supported yet, I’ve always wondered what the best way is to rotate stereo atmos in relation to player orientation.
I stumbled on a way to do this and wondered if anyone had further thoughts on if this method is a good or bad idea.
By adding the spatialiser to the Event Master, removing attenuation and automating 2D Pan Mix Axis with built-in Event Orientation param, the soundscape rotates with the listener, and the Mix knob offers a blend between 0% (less spread/with) and 100% (full spread/width of a normal non-spatialised 2D sound).
I think 0% is more naturalistic, as there would be crosstalk/HRTF stuff in real life too, but I’m curious to know if anyone has more experience doing this than i do.
Here’s the automation in FMOD:
and the end result, first with test file then game atmos (Mix was set to 100% here, so bit extreme):
That seems to be an effective way, I found I can do the same thing with less setup using Panner effects on my tracks, up-mixing them to 7.1 and using a default spatializer on the Master track to handle orientation. For example:
Right track
Master track
Your approach opens up more possibilities for things like emulated hrtf and other more nuanced effects.
Jeff, could you go into how you’d emulate HRTF? This is something I wasn’t aware you could do with the Spatializer. Are you talking about using a 3rd-party plugin to downmix multichannel to binaural?
Nothing as sophisticated that- I just mean you could boost frequencies based on head orientation to emulate hrtf. A drop in high end frequencies when the event is behind the listener and a boost in the upper mids when facing the event for example.
There are plugins that can perform realistic HRTFs however, Resonance Audio is an example of this.
