+
Ardour's VBAP panner is currently in development, and its semantics may
- change in the near future, possibly affecting your mixes. Please do not
- rely on it for important production work while the dust settles.
+ change in the near future, possibly affecting mixes using it. It is advised not
+ to rely on it for important production work while the dust settles.
+ The Panner only works in fixed static mode, it does not support
+ automation playback.
- VBAP + VBAP is a versatile and straightforward method to pan a source around over an arbitrary number of speakers on a horizontal polygon or a 3D surface, even if the speaker layout is highly irregular. @@ -13,9 +15,9 @@
- VBAP was developed by Ville Pulkki at Aalto University, Helsinki, in 2001. + VBAP was developed by Ville Pulkki at Aalto University, Helsinki, in 1997. It works by distributing the signal to the speakers nearest to the desired - direction with appropriate weightings, aiming to create a maximally sharp + direction with appropriate weightings, aiming to create a maximally sharp phantom source by using as few speakers as possible:
- Thus, if you move the panner onto a speaker, you can be sure that only
- this speaker will get any signal. This is handy when you need precise
- 1:1 routing.
- The drawback of VBAP is that a moving source will constantly change its
- apparent sharpness, as it transitions between the three states mentioned
- above.
+ Thus, if the panner is moved onto a speaker, only this speaker will get any
+ signal. This is handy when precise 1:1 routing is needed.
- A horizontal VBAP panner has one parameter, the azimuth - angle. A full-sphere panner offers an additional + The drawback of VBAP is that a moving source will constantly change its + apparent sharpness, as it transitions between the three states mentioned above. +
++ An horizontal VBAP panner has one parameter, the azimuth + angle. A full-sphere panner offers an additional elevation angle control.
More elaborate implementations of VBAP also include a - spread parameter, which will distribute the signal over a - greater number of speakers in order to maintain constant (but no longer - maximal) sharpness, regardless of position. Ardour's VBAP panner does not + spread parameter, which will distribute the signal over a + greater number of speakers in order to maintain constant (but no longer + maximal) sharpness, regardless of position. Ardour's VBAP panner does not currently include this feature.
+ - Each VBAP panner is specific to its speaker layout - — the panner has + Each VBAP panner is specific to its speaker layout—the + panner has to "know" about the precise location of all the speakers. A complete VBAP implementation must therefore include the possibility to define this layout.
-
+
Ardour currently uses a simplified approach: if a track or bus has more - than two output channels (which implies stereo), it assumes that you - have N speakers distributed in a regular N-gon. That means that for - irregular layouts such as 5.1 or 7.1, the direction you dial in will - differ a bit from the actual auditory result, but you can still achieve - any desired spatialisation. + than two output channels (which implies stereo), it assumes that there are + N speakers distributed in a regular N-gon. That means that for + irregular layouts such as 5.1 or 7.1, the direction dialed in will + differ a bit from the actual auditory result, but any desired spatialisation + can still be achieved.
-
+
+
+ For tracks with 10 outputs, Ardour will currently assume a 3-dimensional speaker layout corresponding to Auro-3D 10.1, which is a horizontal 5.1 @@ -74,13 +89,18 @@ panner with 10 outputs, in experimental 3D mode"/> "voice-of-god" speaker at the zenith.
-
+
+ For tracks and busses with more than one input, Ardour will (for now) assume that - you wish to distribute the inputs symmetrically along the latitude around + the inputs are distributed symmetrically along the latitude around the panner direction. The width parameter controls the opening angle of the distribution sector.
-