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Delivering Sound Design and Foley for 5.1 and Dolby Atmos

Writer: Big Bite Records
Big Bite Records
Sep 25
3 min read

Delivering sound design for a cinematic 5.1 or Dolby Atmos mix (this all applies to stereo delivery as well) is different from sending a finished stereo SFX track. The main thing we need is separation. We want to decide where those sounds live in the room during the final mix. Our Atmos template is built around the idea of full sound design immersion. Our OTT (Over The Top) mixing methodology is designed after countless experimentations to ensure high quality cinematic results acorss all formats.

The better the source material is organised, the more control we have once we start mixing and the faster the turn-arround.


Sound Design Routing


1. Timeline Alignment

Every file should start at the same point and run to the same end point. If the first sound doesn't happen until 30 seconds into the film, export the silence before it. Don't trim the file to the first sound.This lets us drop the files directly into the Atmos template without having to line everything up manually.


The same applies to Foley, ambience, spot effects, vehicles, weapons, and designed sounds.

If you're working in Pro Tools, consolidate the clips to the full delivery range before exporting. Other DAWs have equivalent functions.


And please keep the file names useful. CAR_PASSBY_01.wav is much more helpful than Audio_247_FINAL_FINAL.wav


2. How Our Sound Design Minxing Template Is Organized


Here is the template at a glance. Export your sound design to match these sections wherever possible.


  • Spot FX

  • Vehicles

  • Weapons and Explosions

  • Gore / Flesh

  • Foley

  • Walla

  • Sci-Fi / Designed FX

  • Ambiences


3. Mono or Stereo?

For sounds that may become Atmos objects, mono is often the most useful starting point.

A mono source gives us full control over where the sound sits in the room.

There are times when stereo makes more sense. A wide designed texture, stereo room element, or effect where the internal left-right relationship is part of the sound may be better left stereo. Our template has dedicated stereo object positions for this reason.

So don't collapse something to mono just because you've heard that Atmos objects should be mono. Use mono when the sound needs to behave like a point source. Keep stereo when the width is part of the sound itself. Worst case senario we can always control this on our end.

4. Keep Important Effects Separate

If you've built a sound with a lot of processing, try to give us some control over it.

For example, if you've designed a huge sci-fi impact using a dry hit, distortion, reverb, and delay, don't automatically print everything into one stereo file. Where practical, separate the important components. This is especially useful when the dry sound needs to be placed in one part of the room while its reverb or delay is treated differently.That doesn't mean every little sound needs six stems. Use some judgement. If separating the layers gives us more control, separate them. If the processing is an inseparable part of the sound design, keep it together and tell us what you've done.


5. File Preparation

Before exporting, make sure:

  • Every file starts at the same timeline position

  • Every file runs to the same end point

  • Files are clearly named

  • Foley is separate from sound effects

  • Walla is separate from backgrounds

  • Ambiences are separated into useful layers

  • Spot FX are separate from general FX

  • Moving sounds are exported separately where possible

  • Important dry and wet elements are separated when useful

  • Any unusual processing or sound-design decisions are clearly labelled

  • Files are delivered as WAV unless we have agreed on another format


6. OMF / AAF Delivery

If you're a filmmaker or director sending us an existing sound-design session, please let us know if OMF or AAF is the only delivery option available. These formats can be useful, but they often create problems with sync, file naming, session organisation, and compatibility, especially when the person receiving the session did not build the original sound design. Rebuilding and organising an OMF or AAF can take considerably more time than working from clearly named WAV files. If OMF or AAF is the only option, please organise the audio according to the sections above before exporting, and keep the track layout as clean and consistent as possible. A properly named WAV delivery is strongly preferred, as it gives us a much cleaner starting point and allows us to place the material directly into our Atmos template.


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