Using single bitstream to produce tailored audio device mixes

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9900720-B2
Application number	US-201414779391-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 25, 2014
Priority date	Mar 28, 2013
Publication date	Feb 20, 2018
Grant date	Feb 20, 2018

Abstract

Audio stems are generated to contain audio content to be mixed by recipient devices. Multiple sets of mixing instructions for multiple audio channel configurations are determined, for example, based on input of audio producers. Each set of mixing instructions is to be used for mixing the audio stems for rendering in a corresponding audio channel configuration. A bitstream is generated to carry both the audio stems and the sets of mixing instructions. A recipient device receives the bitstream as the input. The recipient device determines a specific audio channel configuration to be used for rendering the plurality of audio stems. Based on that determination, a specific set of mixing instructions is retrieved from the bitstream and used to mix the audio stems.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method, comprising:
generating a plurality of audio stems;
receiving a plurality of sets of mixing instructions for a plurality of audio channel configurations, each set of mixing instructions in the plurality of sets of mixing instructions to be used for mixing the plurality of audio stems for rendering in a corresponding audio channel configuration in the plurality of audio channel configurations;
wherein each such set of mixing instructions for the corresponding audio channel configuration comprises a mixing instruction for each audio stem in the plurality of audio stems to generate an individual submix from each such audio stem for the corresponding audio channel configuration; wherein the individual submix for each such audio stem in the plurality of audio stems is to be included in a respective final mix for the corresponding audio channel configuration; and
generating at least a portion of a bitstream, the portion of the bitstream carrying both the plurality of audio stems and the plurality of sets of mixing instructions.

2. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of audio stems is generated based at least in part on one of: premixing audio tracks or decoding previously mixed audio data.

3. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein at least one set of mixing instructions in the plurality of sets of mixing instructions is received from one of: users or audio mixing units.

4. The method as recited in claim 1 , further comprising outputting the portion of the bitstream to a downstream media device that supports at least one audio channel configuration in the plurality of audio channel configurations.

5. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the bitstream does not comprise audio data encoded into a plurality of target audio channels for a target audio channel configuration.

6. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the plurality of audio stems is a part of media data comprising one or more of: audio content only, video content only, or both audio content and video content.

7. The method as recited in claim 1 , wherein the portion of the bitstream further carries at least a set of instructions for post-processing operations.

8. A method, comprising:
inputting at least a portion of a bitstream, the portion of the bitstream carrying a plurality of audio stems and a plurality of sets of mixing instructions for mixing the plurality of audio stems for rendering in a plurality of audio channel configurations;
determining a specific audio channel configuration to be used for rendering the plurality of audio stems;
determining, based on the specific audio channel configuration, a specific set of mixing instructions that correspond to the specific audio channel configuration; and
mixing the plurality of audio stems carried in the portion of the bitstream based on the specific set of mixing instructions into a final mix of the plurality of audio stems;
wherein each such set of mixing instructions for the corresponding audio channel configuration comprises a mixing instruction for each audio stem in the plurality of audio stems to generate an individual submix from each such audio stem for the corresponding audio channel configuration; wherein the individual submix for each such audio stem in the plurality of audio stems is to be included in a respective final mix for the corresponding audio channel configuration.

9. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the bitstream does not comprise audio data encoded into a plurality of target audio channels for a target audio channel configuration.

10. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the plurality of audio stems is a part of media data comprising one or more of: audio content only, video content only, or both audio content and video content.

11. The method as recited in claim 8 , wherein the portion of the bitstream further carries at least a set of instructions for post-processing operations.

12. The method as recited in claim 8 , further comprising rendering the final mix of the plurality of audio stems.

13. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising performing pre-processing operations in relation to the plurality of audio stems.

14. The method as recited in claim 9 , further comprising performing post-processing operations in relation to the plurality of audio stems.

15. A method, comprising:
generating multiple audio stems from multiple input audio tracks;
in response to receiving user input specifying how the audio stems should be mixed in multiple target audio channel configurations, generating multiple sets of mixing instructions respectively corresponding to the multiple target audio channel configurations;
wherein each such set of mixing instructions for the corresponding audio channel configuration comprises a mixing instruction for each audio stem in the plurality of audio stems to generate an individual submix from each such audio stem for the corresponding audio channel configuration; wherein the individual submix for each such audio stem in the plurality of audio stems is to be included in a respective final mix for the corresponding audio channel configuration;
generating a media data bitstream that carries all of the multiple audio stems and the multiple sets of mixing instructions; and
sending the media data bitstream to a downstream audio rendering device with any audio channel configuration of the multiple audio channel configurations to cause the downstream audio rendering device to select a set of mixing instructions, based on the audio channel configuration of the downstream audio rendering device, from the multiple sets of mixing instructions to render the multiple audio stems.

16. A media processing system configured to perform the method recited in claim 1 .

17. An apparatus comprising a processor and configured to perform the method recited in claim 1 .

18. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising software instructions, which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of the method recited in claim 1 .

Assignees

• Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corp
• Dolby Int Ab

Inventors

• Grant Michael
• Addy Timothy
• Hoffmann Michael
• Nanda Sachin

Classifications

• H04S2400/03

  Aspects of down-mixing multi-channel audio to configurations with lower numbers of playback channels, e.g. 7.1 -> 5.1 (H04S2400/01 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04H20/89

  using three or more audio channels, e.g. triphonic or quadraphonic · CPC title

• H04S3/004

  For headphones · CPC title

• H04S2400/01

  Multi-channel, i.e. more than two input channels, sound reproduction with two speakers wherein the multi-channel information is substantially preserved · CPC title

• H04N21/8113

  comprising music, e.g. song in MP3 format · CPC title