With more time than ever before to watch and engage with entertainment, consumers are accelerating their interest in and consumption of immersive audio and video content. Our studies have shown that consumers are even willing to pay more for content with advanced picture and sound.

At the same time, content creators are showing increased interest in Dolby Atmos®, and the top local and global streaming platforms are demanding more content be created in Dolby. This is true for not only film and TV, but also for music. In fact, the growth in music has been dramatic and as new Dolby Atmos-enabled platforms emerge, the need for Dolby Atmos music will only grow. This demand from consumers, creators, and service providers is driving a groundswell of demand for Dolby Atmos content and for people who can create it.

To meet this demand, it is critical that the pool of trained mixers, sound engineers, and facilities grow proportionately. Understanding this, it is critical for Dolby Atmos training to be accessible everywhere and to anyone, from beginners to experienced mixers and sound engineers who want to learn about immersive audio mixing in Dolby Atmos.

Dolby is committed to growing the community of Dolby Atmos creatives and continues to invest in the tools and resources needed for education around Dolby Atmos. To this end, Avid and Dolby partnered to bring to market an online Pro Tools Dolby Atmos learning program for Dolby Atmos. Working with Avid, Dolby created the learning content and certification exams for the course, and Avid provided the platform to host the content and to support the global availability of this training.

Together, we have created a training program that makes it easier for participants to learn about creating content in Dolby Atmos for film, TV, and music, enabling them to realize their full creative intent in Dolby. With programs like this, we will be ready to support the volume of content creators needed as the demand for Dolby Atmos content continues.

Get Started with Pro Tools and Dolby Atmos

The Pro Tools Dolby Atmos Production course is designed for educators and students looking to learn about Dolby Atmos content creation, early career and professionals who are transitioning from traditional surround formats to Dolby Atmos, as well as experienced mixing engineers, studio technicians, and facility owners who are interested in deepening their skills and learning best practices.

The training, PT210D Pro Tools Dolby Atmos Production, is available from Avid here—select "View Schedule" to see the latest course offering dates and to register for a class. The course thoroughly covers essential tools, as well as comprehensive professional workflows.

The goals of the training include:

• Introduction to the benefits of object-based audio
• Outlining simple workflows for creating immersive audio in Pro Tools
• Teaching Pro Tools users currently working in 5.1 surround sound how to produce content in Dolby Atmos
• Configuration of Pro Tools and the Dolby Atmos Renderer
• How to import and export ADM BWF Dolby Atmos content

As part of the Avid Learning Central platform, the PT210D course is available from Avid and through Avid partnerships with resellers, studios, and educational institutions to make the training easily accessible to anyone who wants or needs it.

Get Started Now, Wherever You Are

COVID-19 has changed everything, and this is especially true when it comes to how we learn and teach. As schools from pre-schools through graduate schools and technical institutions have transitioned from in-person to online models, so has professional education. To that end, the live element of the course will be conducted via Zoom and the audio mixing will be done remotely and monitored using headphones by those who do not have access to a Dolby Atmos studio.

This blended training course will consist of three elements:

• Self-paced learning content and exercises (duration: 24–40 hours to complete)
• Virtual Instructor Led Training (VILT) live training (duration: 18 hours across three days)
• Professional Certification exam

By providing the ability to complete the training remotely, individuals who are looking to improve their skills will be able to do it from their home without worrying about having to access a Dolby Atmos facility.

Also, Avid and Dolby have made the software needed for the training available as a trial that will allow students to complete the class without having to buy the software. To get started, students will be able to access both a 90-day free trial of the Dolby Atmos Production Suite and a 30-day free trial of Pro Tools | Ultimate software. So, for those individuals who want to get started, they can complete the class without having to pay for the tools demonstrated in the training.

Get Recognized

Recently, we've focused on certifying Dolby Atmos facilities. We are at a point now where we are confident that there is a critical mass of qualified facilities and have established benchmarks for high-quality rooms within the industry. Now the challenge is to help individuals who want to show that they understand how to work in Dolby to demonstrate their skills.

The PT210D course prepares candidates for the Pro Tools | Dolby Atmos Professional Certification exam and once passed, the candidate will earn the "Avid Certified Professional: Pro Tools | Dolby Atmos" certification credential. This is the first time that there will be an individual certification for Dolby Atmos mixing, and it will allow users to demonstrate their fundamental competency in Dolby Atmos editing and mixing with Avid Pro Tools. Doing so will let them stand out from the crowd as they vie for opportunities on exciting upcoming projects. For employers, this certification will allow them to quickly assess candidate skill level and find the right person for their projects and facilities.

While our team at Dolby has trained many people, we don't have a way of tracking all the people who have been trained in Dolby Atmos content creation or the ability to provide recognition to them. One of the benefits of this training program is that there will now be a Professional Certification available to people who want to highlight their expertise in creating immersive audio in Dolby using Pro Tools and the Dolby Atmos Production Suite plugin for Pro Tools. And it will be easy for employers to find these individuals, as Avid provides a list of all the people who have attained an Avid Certification, and employers can search this list by using the Find a Certified Professional search tool that Avid provides.

Dolby realizes that many existing audio professionals will not need the benefits of an instructor-led online course or certification and so we have also made the training material available on our Professional Support learning pages. Interested individuals can access the 10-module course material and review it at their own pace. This way, those professionals who are looking to just improve their skill level can do so when time permits.

So, What Are You Waiting for?

We asked ourselves: how do we best serve content creators—everyone from artists to athletes, storytellers to sound engineers, the teams behind documentary films and reality TV? What tools do they need to inspire us and bring their vision to life?

To address these questions, Dolby and its partners, like Avid, are working to make sure that all content creators have access to Dolby tools. No matter what genre you work in, or your level of expertise, Dolby wants to help you take your work further.

We see this training program as a gateway to help you go deeper into the creative process to deliver new experiences to your audiences. We hope that you take advantage of this opportunity to learn more and use it to help you create and deliver amazing audio experiences.