Bouncing Surround Audio in Pro Tools – Are You Doing it Wrong?

Compared to other DAWs, Pro Tools already has a much steeper learning curve, with many of its processes functioning completely uniquely. There’s no exception when it comes to bouncing and exporting in Pro Tools, especially multi-channel surround sound projects.

Pro Tools doesn’t adopt such a unique workflow for no reason, and it can actually provide a more cohesive way of working with more intensive and advanced audio projects. In this article, we’ll explain how  you can use the functions Pro Tools provides when it comes to bouncing surround sound projects, including 7.1.2 format projects, Dolby Atmos and more.

The simplest way to bounce surround audio out of Pro Tools

If you haven’t heard of Dragout 2, pay attention to this: it’s an AudioSuite plugin that lets you select tracks and drag their contents out of Pro Tools. It lets you choose your output format, with choices including stereo, quad, 5.1 and 7.1.2 so that you can translate one stereo format to another in no time. You can even use it as a stereo translator within a project, dragging surround files into a stereo render.

Should I bounce mono summed or interleaved in Pro Tools?

These two options for exporting audio in Pro Tools may leave you scratching your head. Effectively, Mono Summed means you will export a mono audio file (a single-channel file), whereas Interleaved means you will export a single stereo file that consists of two channels (left and right).

Bouncing Dolby Atmos in Pro Tools

Pro Tools also features the ability to work on Dolby Atmos surround sound projects. So, you’re able to import, mix and export audio to fit that format. Bouncing Dolby Atmos master files is relatively straightforward, as it follows the same File> Bounce Mix process you’d normally use to bounce a regular stereo master. However, the option to bounce Dolby Atmos won’t appear unless you have a few settings in place first.

The main thing you’ll need to have in order to bounce Dolby Atmos audio in Pro tools is to actually have your project set up to incorporate the internal Dolby Atmos Renderer. To do this, navigate to Setup>I/O in the top menu bar. Then, click on the Dolby Atmos settings tab. Proceed to select Internal Renderer from the drop-down menu, and then click the green tick box next to the drop-down menu.

Now, you’ll be able to send your tracks’ outputs to the bed inside of the Dolby Atmos Renderer, as well as format them to objects inside of the renderer. To view the Dolby Atmos Renderer, navigate to Window>Dolby Atmos Renderer. Your Pro Tools project is now ready to export/bounce a Dolby Atmos master file. Simply go to File>Bounce Mix, and you’ll be able to select WAV (Dolby Atmos) from the File Type selection. You’ll then see the Dolby Atmos settings added to the Bounce Mix settings panel for you to customize at your leisure.

Why does Pro Tools bounce left and right?

The reason Pro Tools bounces files in left and right mono format is because it’s designed to be integrated with professional studio setups, where analogue gear and multi-sound-source monitoring systems are part of the studio environment. Traditionally, when routing audio signals through mixing desks and between outboard gear in a studio, the channels are in mono. This is because it would be counter-intuitive to sum numerous signals together when we need ultimate control over their routing, positioning and processing.

Even when a stereo signal is sent, it’s technically just two mono signals split into left and right. That’s why on the back of an audio interface you have L & R outputs separately to your main studio monitors, even though you can select them as one stereo source digitally on your computer. 

When we route a stereo signal to a mixer, we can simply run the left signal into one mono track, panning it to the left, and we can send the right signal to the next free mixer track, panning it fully to the right. This way, we achieve the exact same result, but we have much greater control over the two signals. 

Of course, when listening to a fully finished track, we want both left and right signals to experience a simulation of a whole field of music, spanning from left to right. We even take this further when listening to surround sound setups, with five or more speakers. Pro Tools accounts for this in its design, with much better integration for multi-sound-source projects. The good news is, you can also interleave left and right signals upon export, so you can bounce stereo audio files too.

How to bounce multiple stems in Pro Tools

One simpler way to bounce multiple stems out of Pro Tools may be to use Dragout 2. With your tracks loaded into this AudioSuite plugin, you can drag a single track’s right-hand handle to export it as an individual file, and hold shift to get all other files. You can also render the summed tracks by dragging from the bottom item on the Dragout 2 interface.

To bounce multiple stems in Pro Tools, we first need to finalise any tracks, prepping them for export, through the processes of Consolidating and Committing. Consolidating our tracks will embed new starting and stop timestamps onto the audio Clips, so we can ensure they all run from the production’s start and end point. Committing the tracks will likewise embed any real-time processing FX we’ve applied through our mixer onto the Clips.

Once you’ve Consolidated and Committed your tracks as new Clips, you can select the Clips from the Clips List window, right-click (or Ctrl+click on Mac) them and choose Export Clips as Files. Then, set your file type and directory. Finally, confirm your export by clicking the blue ‘Export…’ button

Keep in mind, you should make sure your tracks are 100% ready to be finalised and exported as stems, because, once you Consolidate and Commit them, you permanently embed the changes onto a new audio clip within your Pro Tools project. Don’t worry too much… you can still access the original, unedited Clips within your Clips List window. The FX will also still be loaded onto whatever mixer track you were originally using.

It’s important to understand Pro Tools does not treat Clips and Tracks the same when exporting. Clips are a unique component to Pro Tools and they’re also not to be confused with audio files.

Bouncing stereo in Pro Tools

As mentioned previously, you’re able to choose between bouncing stereo tracks together as a summed source in a single, or as two separate mono sources, as two different files. To export all stereo tracks together, simply choose the Interleaved option when exporting. Alternatively, you can choose the Mono option to separate the channels into two distinct mono files.

In any case, It’s important to consider what your intentions are and how this choice will impact re-importing the bounced files into a new project or different software.