•The Film mode allows you to pan between pairs of adjacent speakers in 5.1 surround projects using a constant power model. This mode is optimized for theater-style speaker placement. In stereo projects, Film mode functions identically to Constant Power.

As you drag the pan point to the center speaker, the sound becomes diffused through the front and rear speakers. When the track is panned fully to the center speaker, there is no output from the front and rear speakers.

Dragging the pan point to the center of the surround panner sends the signal to all speakers.

Note: If you're panning fully to a single speaker in Film mode, you may notice that some signal is mixed to the opposite speaker. This is because the ideal placement for surround speakers does not match the representation in the surround panner. For example, panning to the front-left speaker produces a low-level signal in the rear-left speaker.

This is because your front-left speaker should be positioned 30° left of center and the speaker in the surround panner is located 45° left of center. To produce a true 45° left-of-center pan, the signal is panned between the front- and rear-left speaker.

Using the grid to monitor panning

The grid in the Surround Panner window helps you to visualize how your panning will sound. The grid's spacing changes to match the current pan type.

The vertical lines represent the points where the left-to-right signal ratio is 6 dB, 0 dB, and -6 dB respectively: at the far-left line, the left channel is 6.0 dB louder than the right channel.

The horizontal lines represent the points where the front-to-rear signal ratio is 6 dB, 0 dB, and -6 dB respectively. As you adjust the Center fader, the lines move forward or backward to compensate for the center-channel gain.

Note: The grid assumes that you're using a correctly set-up surround system (matched speakers and ideal positioning). Variations in your monitoring system will cause inconsistencies between the graph and perceived output.

Automating panning

You can automate panning on a track or mixer control by adding keyframes. Keyframes are similar to envelope points in that they mark specific locations in the track where settings change. However, unlike envelope points, keyframes appears just below the track to which they apply.

To add panning keyframes to a mixer control, you must first view the mixer control in track view. From the View menu, choose Show Bus Tracks to view the bus track at the bottom of the track view.

Turning on panning keyframes

Before adding individual keyframes, you must first turn on the panning keyframes for the track or bus track.

1.Select the track or bus track for which you want to automate panning.

2.From the Insert menu, choose Envelopes, and choose Surround Pan Keyframes from the submenu.

An additional row appears below the track with a single keyframe positioned at the beginning of the project. This single keyframe represents the current panning settings for the track.

Keyframe

Adding panning keyframes

With panning keyframes turned on, you can add keyframes at any location along the track or bus track.

1.Position the cursor where you want to begin panning the track.

2.Select the Automation Settings button ( ) on the track you want to pan.

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