Organising Our Audio Objects

In this chapter we organise our objects to assist us with our programming

Assigning Colours & Names

One of the simplest things we can do to assist us to recognise objects within the workspace is to assign them colours and short form names.

If we imported from our DS100 or R1/Arraycalc file we will already have the names imported from the file/device. In terms of workflow this is the least labour intensive as it allows the naming of the object once within the initial R1/Arraycalc file and then using them throughout our workflow.

Atlas allows us to assign a short 4 character name to each object or group. These will then be displayed in the programmer and overview to aid identification.

Changing Object Name - Applicable if we did NOT import our names from the R1/Arraycalc File.

To change the short form name of within our workspace; Select the "Objects" tab within the show settings and select "Spatial ID1"

Select the text field box and type the name by which we wish to identify "Spatial ID 1"

Repeat this step for all objects.

Changing Short Form Name

To change the short form name of within our workspace; Select the "Objects" tab within the show settings and select "Character 1"

By default Atlas will have assigned the first 4 characters of the long name to be the short name and be displaying this greyed out below the long name.

To rename "Character 1"; Click in the greyed out box and type the new short form name "Ch-1"

The icon will change to show you how the short form name will display.

Repeat this step for all the objects with appropriate short form names.

Changing Colours

Select "Character 1" thru "Character 4" by clicking on the objects whilst holding down the ⌘ key.

We can now change the colour of these 4 selected objects by clicking on the "Object Colour" selector and choosing a colour from the colour selector that has appeared.

Repeat this step for each object. Colours can be chosen for individual objects or for collections of objects based upon user preference.

Close the colour picker by selecting the close window icon.

Creating Sets

We can also arrange collections of objects into sets.

Select the objects named "Character 1", "Character 2", "Character 3" & "Character 4" using the multi select method from the last step.

In the "Sets" window click on the "+" icon to create a new set. Click on the newly created set labelled "New Set". This has now assigned those objects to that set.

To rename the set; Right-Click on the set - "New Set" and select "Rename" from the pop-up menu that appears. Rename the set "Main Cast" and hit enter to commit the change.

Sets provide a great way of selecting a collection of objects when programming as well as allowing us to view only the objects we want within the programmer and overview windows.

Repeat this step for all the objects by creating and assigning sets using the following titles:

Main Cast
Chorus
Band
Playback
Reverb

Objects can belong to multiple sets so users can arrange by any selection they require. (For example: By type of sound source or by cast members in a given scene(s)).

Groups

Collections of objects that we wish to move as one can be assigned to "Groups". Unlike sets groups are programmed collectively with position offsets.

Any child of a group can be programmed independently so assignment to a group doesn't limit the individual object within programming or overview.

Creating Our Groups

Sometime it is desirable to be above to move multi format audio sources. A group will allow us to move the stereo playback objects as one.

Select both of the objects associated with playback Left and Right using the multi select method from above.

At the bottom of the window select the button "Make Group" button. This will now make a group of objects within our workspace.

The newly created group will appear at the top of the Object List.

Name the newly created group "Playback" and assign a short form name.

Select the newly created group and, following the same procedures as above, assign the group a full name, short form name, colour and assign it to the set "Playback".

Next click on the "Group Config" tab; this will now allow us to configure our group.

By default our Stage Close space will be selected as the default space. We can select a different space to view and layout our groups from the dropdown menu at the top.

Highlight the group icon called "Playback" and select a position in the centre of the stage to determine the centre point of our stereo group.

Next highlight the object "Playback Left" and position this where our nominal left source would sit within a stereo system. Repeat this procedure for the object "Playback Right".

Groups are not limited to two objects and can be used to group components of instruments, chorus's and other objects that are used together.

Lets repeat the steps above but this time for the drum objects within our workspace.

Select all of the objects associated with our drums using the multi select method from above.

At the bottom of the window select the button "Make Group" button. This will now make a group of objects within our workspace.

The newly created group will appear at the top of the Object List.

Name the newly created group "Drums" and assign a short form name.

Select the newly created group and, following the same procedures as above, assign the group a full name, short form name, colour and assign it to the set "Band".

Next click on the "Group Config" tab; this will now allow us to configure our group.

Highlight the group icon called "Drums" and select a position to determine the centre of the drum group.

Sequentially highlight the objects associated with the group "Drums" and position accordingly.

Object positions within groups can be taken from live positions. Spreads can be offset and changed relatively to each other.

More information can be found in Group Configuration.

Close the "Show Settings.

Go to "File" and select "Save As"

Title your file and save following standard OS X procedures.

Now we have organised our objects we can move onto Creating Our First Cue.

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Last updated 2 years ago