Export a ProRes 4444 sequence with a 5.1 mix?

[lorenm84878416]

Of course, before posting, I hit the docs. No dice. There are vague references to 5.1 audio tracks, here and there... I guess to assure us Adobe knows they exist because today they're everywhere.

I have to deliver a ProRes 4444 master with 5.1 mix track to a DCP outfit for an upcoming festival screening. Should be simple as soup, right? 

Using V 23.4 (Build 56), under Ventura 13.4, on an M1 Ultra Mac Studio desktop beast with 64 GB RAM, and lotsa GPU power. 

Well, in Export mode, neither "Match Source" under the Video Settings popup,  nor "Match Sequence Settings" selection in the Format menu work! Nada!

I get a stereo L,R track as result, which seems to echo my track mapping of the 5.1 for monitoring on stereo hardware- which works well, but that shouldn't affect exports, right?  Otherwise, I'd see something to cancel out the track mapping, something unusual, convenient, like, oh, maybe a chekbox labeled PASSTHROUGH EXISTING SEQUENCE VIDEO AND AUDIO FORMAT FOR EXPORT, right? Right?

This would be very helpful during deadline episodes.

Now to really twist the issue... I notice I can export the 5.1 if it's part of an H264 timeline export. So I'm not expecting PPro to peform functions it can't manage. I do a Get Info (Command-I) on the resulting MP4 QuickTime Player window and it reports all six tracks are a part of the file. But this is going to a DCP packager who works with highest resolutions and a full surround track. What am I doing wrong?

I'm running out of hair to pull out. Please help save Uncle Loren's hair.

Gratefully.

Best as always,
Loren

[MyerPj]

I found this with a quick google.

https://community.adobe.com/t5/premiere-pro-discussions/export-a-qt-prores-422-with-5-1-audio-correc...

[lorenm84878416]

Thank you Meyer PJ. Tutorials like that, 5 years old,  are exactly my problem, it doesn't relate to current versions.

But it provided clues, and eventually I nailed it!

Adobe doesn't stand still, but its docs and both internal and external how-to’s are often outdated, and the frustration piles up locating the what’s and where's. At the pace Adobe delivers these days, anything over a year can be seriously outdated. Here we’re discussing V 23.4, (Build 56)- and that’s already been updated to V 23.5 (Build 56).  Fortunately changes don't affect the procedure here.

Exporting a ProRes 4444 at 24 fps (not the original 23.976) plus passthrough of a premixed 5.1 WAV track, can all be accomplished relatively easily:

You have to create a new sequence.  In my case, there's no preset for ProRes flavors, so it's "Custom."

You have to specify 24 fps under Video.

Under Audio, specify Multchannel.

You then hit the drop-down menu just below to choose exactly the track system you need: Stereo, 5.1— whaaa? There it is! When you choose that, it defaults to 6 tracks and this cannot be edited.

You also have a choice of speaker layouts, such as L,C,R, NFE, RS, LS.  I chose the first but ultimately, exact specs will be up to our DCP packager, who will turn the video into a still image sequence, and leave the audio intact, and then package the files on a hard drive with a key code for festivals and theaters. 

Then you populate your empty sequence timeline with your basic two elements: 

• the ProRes 4444 you received from the colorist, converted from RED camera originals;
• the 5.1 mixdown WAV file from the sound house.

As in earlier versions, the mixdown goes to its own clearly delineated 5.1 track. You can stretch this vertically to see all six subtracks.

If you have new sequence default empty audio tracks 1-4 above this you can delete them with no damage. I see no way to edit the imported WAV if I wanted to; it seems hermetically sealed.

The timeline may indicate yellow (playback challenged) or red (really challenged).  Render any color except green. Render the timeline using a matched Video Preview codec in Sequence Settings, in my case ProRes 4444.

23.976 fps renders as flat 24. I saw no visible artifacting, so I guess the source video description of “Progessive Interlaced” includes both formats.

Change to the Export page, confirm these settings in the Output file description, and you should see the 5.1 speaker config listed. And off it goes.

In the resulting .mov file’s Get Info (in QuickTime Player), under Audio Details, the 6 tracks in the mix are listed in the config chosen. This is practically the PASSTHROUGH I was hoping for.

And there you go, from Premiere Pro V 23.4 (Build 56). Once you learn where the location of important settings have changed this is actually easy, and you can save on a wig.

Best as always,

Loren