Select and Create your Source
The Source Menu provides the ability to select and upload audio WAV or ADM files to be encoded. Once saved, these files are organized as sources within the system. Each source consists of one or more audio files, accompanied by metadata such as format and layout information. This allows for efficient management and organization of audio sources, making it easier to configure and process them for encoding tasks according to the desired settings and requirements. By providing a user-friendly interface for managing audio sources, the Source Menu streamlines the encoding workflow, enabling users to quickly and effectively prepare their audio files for the encoding process.
Figure 3 – 2 | Source Menu Overview
1. Management Buttons and Status
The Management Buttons, located at the top right corner of the menu, provide options to add, edit, and delete the sources.
When the Edit or Add Button is pressed, the source menu switches to Edit Mode, which is indicated by a white frame that flashes around the menu, providing a visual notification of the mode change. This helps users easily identify when they are in Edit Mode for making modifications or additions to the sources.
Pressing the Save Button will switch the mode back to Selection Mode, which allows users to navigate and select existing sources. In Selection Mode, users can browse and choose from the available sources without making any modifications, providing a streamlined experience for managing and selecting sources within the source menu.
Based on the current mode, relevant Management Buttons are filtered to ensure ease of use.
• Save Button: When the Save Button is pressed, it stores the current source and switches to Selection Mode, while keeping the current source selected for convenience. It’s worth noting that the Save Button remains greyed out if no files are specified in the Upload Area, ensuring that only valid sources with specified files can be saved and selected, maintaining data integrity and preventing errors.
• Cancel Button: Pressing the Cancel Button will discard all current changes and switch to Selection Mode, allowing users to cancel any modifications made to the source without saving.
• Edit Button: The Edit Button switches to Edit Mode, enabling users to modify the currently selected source, making it convenient to edit source details such as audio files or metadata.
• “+” Button: Clicking the “+” Button creates a new source and switches to Edit Mode with a blank new source to populate, making it easy to add new sources and configure them according to the desired settings.
• “-” Button: The “-” Button deletes the currently selected source. However, note that a source cannot be deleted if it is currently used in the Queue List, preventing accidental deletion of sources that are being actively used.
• “IN USE” Status: If the selected source is currently being used by any of the Encodings in the Queue List, an “IN USE” flag appears, indicating that the source is in use and cannot be deleted or modified until it is no longer being used. This helps prevent unintended modifications or deletions of sources that are actively being used in encoding tasks.
2. Source Name Field and Source Presets Drop Down Menu
The name input text field in the Source Menu is used to specify the name of a source. It is a required field and must be a non-empty string, meaning it cannot be left blank. Furthermore, the name must be unique and different from any other source within the system to avoid conflicts.
Once the source is saved, the specified name becomes a preset available within the Source Name Drop Down Menu in Selection Mode. This allows users to easily select and switch between different sources by name, making it convenient to manage and select from multiple sources during the encoding process.
3. File Type Drop Down Menu
The File Type Drop Down Menu in the Source Menu allows users to select the file format of a particular source.
There are three possible types of file formats:
• mono channel WAV: Multiple mono WAV files.
• multi channel WAV: A single multi channel WAV file.
• ADM: A single ADM file.
4. Layout Drop Down Menu
The Layout Drop Down Menu provides options for the user to specify the speaker configuration of the input file(s).
The available choices include:
• Auro 8.0 (4.0+4H)
• Auro 9.0 (5.0+4H)
• Auro 9.1 (5.1+4H)
• Auro 10.1 (5.1+4H+T)
• Auro 11.0 (5.0+5H+T)
• Auro 11.0 (7.0+4H)
• Auro 11.1 (5.1+5H+T)
• Auro 11.1 (7.1+4H)
• Auro 13.0 (7.0+5H+T)
• Auro 13.1 (7.1+5H+T)
More information about AURO-3D® Speaker Configurations can be found HERE.
5. Import Method Drop Down Menu
The Import Method Drop Down Menu is exclusively available when the AURO-3D® Encoder is operating on the local server. If the web interface is running on the same machine as the encoder application, users have the option to choose between copying the input files or specifying the file paths, which can help save disk space.
On macOS, the files are copied into the Users/Shared/AES folder.
On Windows, the files are copied into the Users/Public/AES folder.
• Copy Files: This option allows you to make duplicates of the input files and store them in the designated AES folder.
• Use Paths: This option enables the application to read the input files directly from their original locations without making any copies.
Important: In Remote Mode, the “Use Path” option is not available and the “Copy” option is automatically applied.
6. Upload Area
The Upload Area provides a user-friendly interface to easily create sources in the system. You can see at a glance what files are expected to be uploaded and click on the folder-shaped icon adjacent to each list element to select the desired file(s) for upload using the file chooser.
If the Import Method is set to “Copy File”, you can also directly drag and drop the files into the input fields.”
The Upload Area behaves differently according to the selected File Type:
• Creating a Source based on multiple Mono Channel WAV Files:
When the File Type is set to “mono channel WAV”, it is necessary to upload as many files as needed for the selected Layout. The number of input fields and the corresponding channel order depend on the selected Layout and Channel Order Type. When multiple files are simultaneously imported into the input fields using the folder-shaped icons, the system will attempt to automatically sort them based on their file suffix. However, if the file suffix recognition fails, the unrecognized file will be discarded. If only a single file is selected, no automatic sorting will be performed and the file will be added to the corresponding row. Note that the automatic sorting feature is not only applicable when using the folder-shaped icons to import multiple mono files into the input fields, but also when opting to drag and drop the input files onto the source fields.
• Creating a Multi Channel WAV File source:
Figure 3.6 – 1 | Uploading a multi channel WAV File Type
The Auro-3D Encoder Service supports uploading of multi-channel WAV-files with up to 14 channels with ITU, SMPTE, or custom channel orders. If the provided WAV file contains a defined channel mask, the system will automatically detect and apply the channel format and layout as defined in the WAVEX specification, which is also refered to as the ITU channel order. This is demonstrated in Example “A” of Figure 3.6 – 1. However, you are still free to change the order of the channels if necessary, using the folder-shaped icon located next to each input field, as shown in Example “C”.
For files without a defined channel-mask, you will be prompted with a message that states “No format info found. Please verify the layout and channel order.” The system will then automatically select the most likely format for the number of channels and the related SMPTE channel order. You can then manually verify and reorganize the channel order as needed. This user-friendly interface gives you the flexibility to import multi-channel files according to your specific needs, regardless of the used channel order.
• Creating a Source based on a single ADM File:
The “ADM File” upload provides to option to import ADM-BWF-files according to the “Audio Definition Model” standard (ITU-R BS.2076-2). Multiple ADM profiles are supported, including the “Emission Profile”.
ADM-BWF files can contain object-based audio that will be automatically rendered into the selected AURO-3D format when selecting the “Auro-Codec” or “Conversion” Encoder Types from the Configuration menu.
Remark: To prevent user-errors and ensure a smooth encoding process, adding encoding to the queue is not allowed in Edit Mode. You must first exit the Edit Mode by saving the current Source or discarding the changes you made.
