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User16829085362331958135 (Customer) asked a question.

May 30, 2023 at 2:46 AM
I've split a single ATMOS file for use in a gapless album, but now what?
I'm attempting my first album that contains gapless content (continuous content that still needs separate songs).

In another thread, it was cleverly suggested that I record one long DAMF file, then use "Dolby ATMOS Conversion Tool" to split that into separate files. I've done this (to a degree) as seen in the screenshot here (This is just a test file, so please ignore the lengths.):
https://www.dropbox.com/s/yl07v10w9fkauc2/DolbyAtmosConversionToolSPlitv01.jpg?dl=0

Even after reading the documentation, I can't figure out what to do next. If I press "Convert" it just combines all these "splits" back into one file again. And I don't see any way to export these splits as individual files.

I feel I'm getting close, but am definitely missing something.

Thanks for any help!
  • 7 answers

  • AdamP (Dolby Labs)

    Hi,

    You can use Markers in the Album Assembler to build a list and export the individual songs ADM BWFs at once. If you already have corresponding stereo files from these songs you could also bring those in and use the "insert markers at stereo clip boudaries" to make sure the Atmos aligns with stereo files after being split. Once you have individual ADM BWFs for each song you can import these into a new Album Assembler project to apply processing as needed (gain, EQ, limiting) and also perform loudness measurement.

    Thanks,
    Adam
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    Selected as Best

  • AdamP (Dolby Labs)

    Hi,

    The composition of the export window will convert everything in the timeline. You'd need to do this in multiple stages. Import the master file so it is present in the left pane. Drag to the timeline and trim or split/remove the rest of the content. Convert. Right click to reset to original and trim or split/remove around the second song.

    Best,
    Adam

  • AdamP (Dolby Labs)

    Hi,

    I understand it is an additional purchase but if you have the Dolby Album Assembler this would be a more efficient way as well as providing additional mastering and monitoring functions. Might be worth getting a trial license from     https://customer.dolby.com/content-creation-and-delivery

    Best,
    Adam

    • User16829085362331958135 (Customer)

      Thanks I actually have the Album Assembler but haven't gotten that far. I thought I needed to split the long (entire album) into individual files first.

      For what I'm trying to do (full album of gapless audio) this is not very intuitive. Splitting the file in the conversion tool really seems to be more complicated than recording individual files in the first place. In the Conversion Tool, I'd really have to undo all the splits and redo them with exact numbers. A much better approach would be to export the splits that I've made, as shown in the screenshot. But it seems by resetting and manually splitting each file out leaves a lot of room for error.

      But as you can guess, I'm quite the beginner at prepping this for submission to streaming services. I've got the master content prepared but getting the tracks split out correctly is really confusing. I can't find any guides on how to do it. And I need to avoid clips and pops between tracks.
      Expand Post

  • AdamP (Dolby Labs)

    Hi,

    You can use Markers in the Album Assembler to build a list and export the individual songs ADM BWFs at once. If you already have corresponding stereo files from these songs you could also bring those in and use the "insert markers at stereo clip boudaries" to make sure the Atmos aligns with stereo files after being split. Once you have individual ADM BWFs for each song you can import these into a new Album Assembler project to apply processing as needed (gain, EQ, limiting) and also perform loudness measurement.

    Thanks,
    Adam
    Expand Post
    Selected as Best

  • User16829085362331958135 (Customer)

    Wow that's much easier and works like I'd hoped. Thanks a million!

    Now the hopefully final newbie question on this topic. It's OK to rename the Finder-level names of the split & exported files correct? That won't mess with any metadata I presume.

    Again thank you!

  • AdamP (Dolby Labs)

    Cool. Glad that worked.

    For ADM BWF files you can rename in Finder as needed as long as you aren't trying to keep the Album Assembler project. It won't mess with anything. Otherwise, it is best to rename the export prior to bringing the files into another project.

    For .atmos filesets recorded by the Renderer (vs ADM BWF bounced out of a DAW or converted to ADM BWF on Renderer) I would discourage renaming in finder as all three files need to be renamed and you'd need to edit the .atmos file in text edit to point to the updated file names. Doable but not recommended.

    Best,
    Adam
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