FA C E B O O K 3 6 0

S PAT I A L W O R K S TAT I O N
Spatial Workstation Guide

User Guide.

v1.3.0. 30th January 2017.

Copyright 2017 Two Big Ears Ltd.

Support, Bug Reports and Help: Support Group

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Contents

Introduction 4

Getting Started 7

Workflow 9

Components 11

Using Pro Tools HD 21

Using Reaper 27

Using Nuendo 32

Video Player 36

Encoding Assets 39
Introduction

What did you download?

Thanks for downloading the FB360 Spatial Workstation. The suite consists of plugins for DAWs, a VR video
player and a cross-platform native engine that makes it easy to design and deliver content for cinematic VR and
360 video projects. For any issues, help or bug reports, go to the support group.

Binaural Audio

Real-time binaural audio works using HRTFs (or Head Related Transfer Functions). HRTFs work by filtering an
audio signal to recreate the complex cues that help us, as humans, localise sounds. The cues are influenced by
multiple factors, including the listening environment and the shape of your body, head and ears. In reality, we
move our heads and reorient ourselves to localise sounds. We constantly try to bring sounds (or the objects that
are creating such sounds) into our line of sight to overcome the ambiguity of spatialisation. Some of the long
standing problems of binaural audio can be overcome with head tracking technology, as found on virtual and
augmented reality devices. The FB360 Spatial Workstation allows you to position sounds in 3D space within
your DAW and then export the mix into a range of formats, including Ambisonics used by popular 360 and
VR video platforms and the .tbe format which can be used with the FB360 audio engine within your app to
reconstruct a full 3D audio mix based on the users head orientation.

Ambisonics and B-format Audio

Ambisonics is a way of describing a full 3D sound field. It uses a number of interdependent audio tracks which
can be decoded into various other end-user formats for consumption, e.g. binaural or 5.1, meaning only one
Ambisonic recording or mix needs to be made for multiple different use cases. Another major feature is that an
Ambisonic mix can be dynamically decoded to incorporate the the listeners head rotation. Currently, first order
Ambisonics is widely used in spatial audio and this requires four channels of audio, which is often called a B-
format. Care should be exercised as there are currently two different common channel ordering and weighting
conventions for the B-format:
Spatial Workstation Guide

1. The traditional B-format, as output by many commercial microphones, is defined using the channel ordering
and weighting proposed by Furse and Malham (often abbreviated to FuMa). We will refer to this convention
as B-format (FuMa).

2. A more extendable convention to the traditional B-format (FuMa) has been proposed, know as ambiX.
This is characterised by a different channel ordering and weighting. We will refer to this convention as B-
format (ambiX).

Depending on how your recorded your B-format audio you may need to rotate it: see Rotating the Ambisonic
field for details.

Technical details

The Ambisonic field must be defined on a set of 3D axes (X, Y, Z). For a listener at the centre of the field, the
B-format convention used is X: front to back, Y: left to right, and Z: up-down. The X, Y, Z Ambisonic chan-
nels contain information about the sound field along the corresponding axis (they essentially represent what a
figure-of-eight microphone might pick up along that axis). The W channel can be thought of as an omni direc-
tional channel.

B-format (FuMa) lists the channels in order: W, X, Y, Z. The W channel also has a -3 dB gain applied.

The ambiX convention lists the channels using the Ambisonics Channel Number (ACN) ordering: W, Y, Z,
X. The channels also use SN3D normalisation (which for first order Ambisonics simply means that the four
channels have a uniform gain normalisation).

Room Modelling

A majority of the binaural solutions only take into account HRTF measurements made in an anechoic chamber.
In reality, we listen to sounds in live environments that alter our sense of localisation. Real-time room model-
ling, with binaurally spatialised reflections can overcome this. A full real-time room modelling solution can be a
CPU intensive process, but FB360 takes the best of both worlds. The room modelling algorithm in FB360 recre-
ates only the reflections that are essential for a convincing 3D audio experience. The room modelling algorithm
in FB360 generates the first few orders of reflections inside a simple room model. This helps greatly with the
externalisation of sound sources and also improves some common binaural rendering problems such as front/-
back confusion and elevation perception.
You can control the level of these reflections as well as the reflection order (i.e. the number of individual
reflections allowed in one reflection path around a room) using the sliders on the Spatialiser plugin. The size
of the room being modelled is controlled globally in the Control plugin. These early reflections can be used
effectively with any of your favourite reverberation plugins without any problems. Adding a small pre-delay

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Spatial Workstation Guide

to the reverb system (30-60ms) allows the early reflections to stand out and greatly enhance the spatialisation
effect.

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Getting Started

Requirements

Pro Tools HD 10.3.5+ (including 11 and 12) or a VST based DAW such as Reaper or Nuendo

macOS 10.7+ or Windows 7+ 64 bit

A HMD is recommended but not compulsory. The following headsets are supported:

macOS: Oculus Rift DK1, Oculus Rift DK2

Windows: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive

Setup (macOS)

1. Run the FB360 Spatial Workstation installer (SpatialWorkstation_1.3.0_OSX.mpkg)

2. The following user files are installed, depending on your choices during the installation process:

(a) AAX Plugins in Mac HD/Library/Application Support/Avid/Audio/Plug-Ins

(b) VST 2.x Plugins in Mac HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Audio/VST

(c) VST 3 Plugins in Mac HD/Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Audio/VST3

(d) VR Video Player in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Video Player

(e) Encoder app in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Encoder

(f) A Reaper template/example project in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Reaper

(g) A Nuendo example project in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Nuendo

(h) A Pro Tools HD example project in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Pro Tools HD

(i) Pro Tools HD template project and I/O settings in ~/Documents/Pro Tools

(j) A copy of this document in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation

For VST based DAWs, please consult your DAW documentation for information on setting plugin search paths
Spatial Workstation Guide

Setup (Windows)

1. Run the FB360 Spatial Workstation installer (SpatialWorkstation_1.3.0_Win64.exe)

2. The following user files are installed, depending on your choices during the installation process:

(a) AAX Plugins in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Avid\Audio\Plug-Ins

(b) VST3 Plugins in C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3

(c) VR Video Player in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Video Player

(d) Encoder app in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Encoder

(e) A Reaper template/example project in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Reaper

(f) A Nuendo example project in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Nuendo

(g) A Pro Tools HD example project in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Pro Tools HD

(h) Pro Tools HD template project and I/O settings in ~\Documents\Pro Tools

(i) A copy of this document in C:\Program Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation

Working With The Tools

It is recommended that you read the information in Workflow before setting up your DAW.
For setting up a project in Pro Tools HD, see Using Pro Tools HD, for Reaper, see Using Reaper and Nuendo,
see Using Nuendo.

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Workflow

The FB360 Spatial Workstation is divided into five major components:

1. FB360 Spatialiser plugin

This plugin is meant to be instantiated on every audio channel. You can think of it as an advanced panner
that helps you position audio in 3D space with binaural and room simulation algorithms. Behind the scenes,
the panner plugin codes the audio into a format with metadata that is then used to construct the full mix.

2. FB360 Control plugin

This plugin should be instantiated on an aux channel. Ensure only one instance is present in your project. All
tracks processed with the Spatialiser plugin must be routed to this auxiliary channel. The Control plugin
also facilitates communication with the VR Video Player and controls parameters for room modelling.

3. VR Video Player
The player is a standalone app that communicates with the DAW to ensure good synchronisation with your
project. This enables you to mix directly to the VR video while previewing and navigating the video in 360
degrees, either on your desktop or with a head-mounted display.

4. FB360 Encoder
The encoder converts the mix from your DAW into a variety of formats that can be deployed with the VR
app, including the .tbe format that can decoded with the FB360 Audio Engine to achieve high quality spatial
audio.

5. FB360 Audio Engine

The audio engine must be integrated in the VR app. The mix designed in the DAW is reconstructed binaur-
ally by taking head-tracking information from the VR device into account. The audio engine is not included
with the Spatial Workstation.

An extra utility plugin called the FB360 Converter plugin can also be used to rotate a spatial mix in your
DAW. This plugin must be instantiated in the signal chain after the Spatialiser plugin but before the Con-
trol plugin.
Spatial Workstation Guide

The workflow for mixing and delivering content can be divided into three major stages, as illustrated in the
image below.

Design

The design stage is where you as a sound designer and mixer would spend most of your time. You will be us-
ing the FB360 Spatialiser and Control plugins in conjunction with the VR Player to mix in binaural in
realtime. The tools have been developed to do all the heavy lifting behind the scenes so that you can focus on
designing and delivering great content to a deadline.

Delivery

This is for the final mastering and delivery of content. The mix from the DAW is encoded into a format that the
FB360 audio engine uses to reconstruct a binaural mix in real-time on the target device. All audio and metadata
is compressed into a single file format that is designed specifically for mobile and desktop devices to ensure low
CPU and memory usage. Alternatively, you can deliver your mix into other formats supported by 360 video and
VR platforms. See Encoding Assets.

Playback

Depending on the output format, your mix can be deployed to popular 360 video and VR platforms or with a
VR app using the FB360 Audio Engine integrated. The FB360 Audio Engine is cross-platform and works with
both native apps and game engines.

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Components

FB360 S PAT I A L I S E R

The FB360 Spatialiser plugin replaces the conventional DAW panner to give you full 3D positioning, dis-
tance attenuation and room modelling parameters. It must be the last plugin inserted on the audio channel. All
audio processing (such as compression and equalisation) must happen before it. All channels with the Spatial-
iser plugin must be routed to an aux channel which has the FB360 Control plugin instantiated on it.
Spatial Workstation Guide

Parameters

Input: The channels or format used for processing. In Pro Tools, the available options depend on the number
of channels supported by the track (e.g. a stereo track will let you choose Left, Right or Mixdown but you
cannot select other options which require a higher channel count).

Left: The left channel is used for processing

Right: The right channel is used for processing

Mixdown: A mono-mixdown of both channels is used for processing

B-Format (FuMa): For processing pre-recorded 4 channel, 1st order Ambisonics material in the Furse/Mal-
ham B-format. This is the channel configuration output by Soundfield microphones. See Ambisonics and
B-format Audio for more information.

* Source Roll: (visible only with B-Format input) Tilt the B-Format recording (like tilting your head
from side to side).

* Source Pitch: (visible only with B-Format input) Rotate the B-Format recording in the vertical plane
or up-down. A positive value is up, while a negative value is down.

* Source Yaw: (visible only with B-Format input) Rotate the B-Format recording in the horizontal plane
or left-right. A positive value is right, while a negative value is left.

* Envelopment: (visible only with B-Format input) Control the diffuse field of the sound.

B-format (ambiX): For processing pre-recorded 4 channel, 1st order Ambisonics material in the am-
biX format. This format is output by the Zoom H2n recorder in spatial audio mode, for example. See
Ambisonics and B-format Audio for more information.

* Source Roll: (visible only with B-Format input) Tilt the B-Format recording (like tilting your head
from side to side).

* Source Pitch: (visible only with B-Format input) Rotate the B-Format recording in the vertical plane
or up-down. A positive value is up, while a negative value is down.

* Source Yaw: (visible only with B-Format input) Rotate the B-Format recording in the horizontal plane
or left-right. A positive value is right, while a negative value is left.

* Envelopment: (visible only with B-Format input) Control the diffuse field of the sound.

Stereo: For positioning both channels of a stereo file independently. All channels are used for processing.

4.0: For positioning 4 channels of a quad file independently. All channels are used for processing.

5.0: For positioning 5 channels of a 5.0 file independently. All channels are used for processing.

6.0: For positioning 6 channels of a 6.0 file independently. All channels are used for processing.

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Spatial Workstation Guide

7.0: For positioning 7 channels of a 7.0 file independently. All channels are used for processing.

Azimuth: The position of the sound on the horizontal plane. 0 degrees is when the sound source is directly
in front of the listener, 90 degrees is hard-right, -90 is hard-left and +/-180 is directly behind

Elevation: The position of the sound on the vertical plane. 0 degrees is when the sound source is directly in
front of the listener, 90 degrees is directly above and -90 is below

Distance: The distance of the sound source from the listener in metres. Room modelling and distance atten-
uation parameters are affected by this value.

Spread: The width or spread of the sound in space. A value of 0.1 results in the sound being treated as a
point source. A value greater than 0.1 would create a diffused sound that is spread out in space and can also
give the impression of a sound being closer to the listener.

Attenuation: Enable or disable distance based attenuation of the sound

Minimum Distance: The distance value after which the amplitude attenuation starts

Maximum Distance: The distance value after which the amplitude attenuation stops

Factor: The attenuation curve. A value of 1 is a 6dB drop every time the distance is doubled (this is how
most sounds work in the real world). A value greater than 1 results in a steeper rolloff.

Doppler: Toggle Doppler effect. This also enables delayed time of flight, i.e, the sound is delayed based on
its distance from the listener. This can greatly improve the localisation quality if room modelling is enabled

Doppler Level: Intensity of the doppler effect.

Room: Enable or disable room modelling. This can greatly enhance the spatialisation effect and quality. See
Room Modelling for more information. The room parameters can be controlled through the FB360 Control
plugin.

Reflection Order: The number of individual reflections allowed in one reflection path around a room.
A higher value results in more reflections.

Reflection Level: The level of the reflections.

Panner: The panner interface on the right can be used to position sounds on a 2D map and is linked to the
Azimuth and Distance sliders. The +/- buttons can be used to zoom in and out of the map.

Arrange: Arranges the channels into a speaker configuration determined by the Input setting

Channel Tabs: Organised on the left-hand side of the plugin these contain the parameters for each channel.
Clicking on a dot in the panner interface will open up the corresponding channels tab.

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Spatial Workstation Guide

Rotating the Ambisonic field

When an Ambisonic input format is selected, the FB360 Spatialiser plugin include sliders to re-orient an
Ambisonic recording. For example, if the default perspective of the 360 degree video (i.e, the perspective with
which the video starts) does not match the recorded sound field (if the microphone was positioned differently
on set, for example), the pitch-yaw-roll sliders can be used to re-orient the sound field. In most cases only the
yaw (rotation on the horizontal plane in the left or right direction) and pitch (rotation on the vertical plane or
up-down direction) sliders would be required to re-orient the recording.

Using Multiple Input Channels

You can use FB360 Spatialiser to position each channel of a multichannel track independently. This can be
used for playing back a multichannel mix or using a multichannel reverb by inserting the Spatialiser plugin
on an aux channel.

1. Set up a track with the following settings. The routing of multichannel audio behaves differently depending
on your DAW:

Pro Tools: make sure the number of track channels matches the audio file you wish to use (e.g. 5.0 track
for 5.0 audio file)

Reaper: set the number channels for the track to 8, regardless of the number of channels in your input
audio

Nuendo: set the track channel configuration to 7.1, regardless of the number of channels in your input
audio

2. Set the Input in the FB360 Spatialiser plugin to the appropriate number of channels for your audio file

3. Import your multichannel recording onto the track

4. You can position the individual channels by dragging the numbered dots in the panner or by using the para-
meters within the corresponding tab on the left

5. Click Arrange to automatically position the channels into a speaker configuration as determined by the
Input setting

FB360 C O N V E R T E R

Occasions may arise where a spatial mix or sub-mix needs to rotate to follow what is happening in a scene, or
perhaps an 8 channel spatial mix already exists but is incorrectly oriented relative to the video and needs to be

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Spatial Workstation Guide

corrected. The Converter plugin is a simple utility which can be inserted between the FB360 Spatialiser plu-
gin and the FB360 Control plugin to allow yaw rotation of the 8 channel FB360 spatialiser output. Input to
the FB360 Converter plugin is the 8 channel spatial audio and the output is the 8 spatial audio rotated by the
specified number of degrees. You can locate the plugin in various places in the signal chain, or a combination
thereof:

on a single DAW track after the FB360 Spatialiser plugin in order to rotate all sources contained on that
track (e.g. to rotate a full 5.1 mix without having to automate each speaker source separately);

on an 8 channel bus receiving the output from multiple FB360 Spatialiser plugin tracks. This would rotate
the spatial mix for all of these tracks;

on the same track as the FB360 Control plugin (must be located before the FB360 Control plugin) to
rotate the entire spatial mix.

Parameters

Yaw Rotation: Set the number of degrees to rotate the spatial mix input by.

The Yaw Rotation parameter in the FB360 Converter plugin can be automated and controlled via a control
surface.

FB360 C O N T R O L

The FB360 Control plugin must be instantiated on an aux channel that receives audio from all the other spa-
tialised channels in your project. Make sure you have only one instance of the plugin in your project. All audio
processing (such as mastering, compression and equalisation) must be applied to the signal before it reaches the
plugin.
Note that whilst the room size is controlled globally here from the control plugin, the room modelling reflec-
tions are mixed into the 8 channel output from the spatialiser plugin and thus exist in the 8 channel export mix,
along with any other effects applied before the Spatialiser plugin. The focus and listener orientation controls are
provided for mixing and previewing your audio and do not get applied to the 8 channel export mix: focus and
listener orientation are applied in real time during video playback.

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Parameters

Room

Room Width: A global setting that changes the width of the room in metres. All sounds that have Room
enabled in the FB360 Spatialiser will be affected by this.

Room Length: A global setting that changes the length of the room in metres. All sounds that have Room
enabled in the FB360 Spatialiser will be affected by this.

Room Height: A global setting that changes the height of the room in metres. All sounds that have Room
enabled in the FB360 Spatialiser will be affected by this.

Room Amp: Amplitude of early reflections in the room

Room HF: High frequency absorption within the room. 1 is maximum high frequencies.

Focus: Focus effects are not baked into the mix. These parameters can be controlled from your app in
real-time using the FB360 Audio Engine.

Mix Focus: If enabled, a portion of the mix will be focused on

Follow Head: If enabled, the focus orientation will follow the the listeners gaze

Focus Azimuth, Elevation: The orientation of the focus, if Follow Head is disabled. These values
are relative to the listener point of view

Focus Size: Angle controlling the size of the area included within the focus

Off-focus Level: Attenuation level of the mix when not within the focus area

Listener

Get From Video: If enabled, the listeners orientation is automatically queried from the VR Video
Player

Listener Roll, Pitch, Yaw: The orientation of the listener in 3D space. These values are automatable if
Get From Video is disabled.

Misc

Send Timecode: If enabled, the timecode from the DAW session is sent to the VR Video Player

Frame Delay: Creates a delay for the VR Video Player in relation to the DAW

Decode Binaural: If enabled, the mix is decoded to binaural.

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Using Focus Control

The focus effect is meant to be used in real-time within your VR application. The parameters available in the
Control plugin are only for preview. To get the focus control working within your VR app:

1. Use the FB360 audio engine in your app and follow the instructions provided with the engine

2. Specify the value of the Focus Size and Off-focus Level For Engine (displayed in the control plugin) in the FB360
audio engine API

VR V I D E O P L AY E R

The Video Player is installed in Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Video Player on macOS and C:\Program
Files\FB360 Spatial Workstation\Video Player on Windows. Read Opening A Video and Video Format And Codec
for more information on setting up the player.
The Video Player can be used in either Slave or Standalone mode.

Slave Mode

Slave mode synchronises video playback with your DAW.

Load or drop video file: Browse for or drop the video file that needs to be opened

Select Format

Mono: Non-stereoscopic video. This is usually a video that has a single display

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Spatial Workstation Guide

Over-under: Stereoscopic video, where the video for the left eye is displayed in the top-half and the
video for the right eye is displayed in the bottom-half

Side-by-side: Stereoscopic video, where the video for the left eye is displayed in the left-half and the
video for the right eye is displayed in the right-half

Display Mode

Desktop: The video will be played back in a format that can be viewed on a regular computer display

VR: The video will be displayed in a format that is compatible with Oculus Rift DK1/DK2 on macOS or
Oculus Rift/HTC Vive on Windows

Connect to DAW: The computer/DAW the video player is currently connected to. The Video Player op-
tionally can be run on a computer that is different from the one hosting the DAW.

Open: Opens the video in a new window. The player by default works as a slave and the video will not
playback until it receives timecode from the DAW.

Remote DAW Connection

The Video Player and the Control plugin use Bonjour to easily establish a connection whether they are on the
same host or different hosts on the same network, even hosts using different operating systems. For example,
the Video Player can be run on a Windows host with a VR headset, and the DAW can run on a macOS host.
Each detected host with a Control plugin will be listed in the Connect to DAW drop-down. The network
interface is displayed in parentheses; for acceptable video latency ensure that you use a wired ethernet connec-
tion, not a wireless connection.
If the expected host does not show up in the drop-down, here are some troubleshooting steps:

Ensure that the DAW is in fact running with the Control plugin loaded.

Ensure that the hosts are on the same local area network.

Ensure that the firewall on both hosts is configured to allow network traffic on at least UDP ports 6100, 5125,
and 5353. (If in doubt, temporarily disable the firewalls entirely.)

On Windows, the Bonjour service is installed by the Spatial Workstation installer. If you opted out, or you or
your administrator has since disabled that service, you will need to reenable or reinstall it. You may reinstall
the Spatial Workstation, or download and install Bonjour Print Services for Windows from Apple.

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Standalone Mode

Standalone mode is independent of a DAW and is to preview an encoded .tbe file with a video.

Load or drop video file: Browse for the video file that needs to be opened

Load or drop .tbe File: Browse for the .tbe file that needs to be opened

Video Format

Mono: Non-stereoscopic video. This is usually a video that has a single display

Over-under: Stereoscopic video, where the video for the left eye is displayed in the top-half and the
video for the right eye is displayed in the bottom-half

Side-by-side: Stereoscopic video, where the video for the left eye is displayed in the left-half and the
video for the right eye is displayed in the right-half

Display Mode

Desktop: The video will be played back in a format that can be viewed on a regular computer display

VR: The video will be displayed in a format that is compatible with Oculus Rift DK1/DK2 on macOS or
Oculus Rift/HTC Vive on Windows

Open: Opens the video in a new window.

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Using Pro Tools HD

An example Pro Tools HD project and template are automatically installed on your computer. The example
project is located in the installation folder, along with a backup copy of the Pro Tools HD template and I/O
settings . Use the example project to familiarise yourself with the FB360 Spatial Workstation.

Creating A New Project

To create a new project with the provided template and I/O options:

Pro Tools 12

1. Open Pro Tools HD

2. Create a new project

3. Select Create From Template

4. Choose Post-Production from the Template Group drop-down menu

5. Select FB360 3D Audio from the list of options

6. Set the sample rate and bit depth of your session (see Sample Rate Considerations for information about
target sample rates)

7. Select FB360 3D Audio from the I/O Settings drop-down menu

8. Click Create

Pro Tools 11

1. Open Pro Tools HD

2. Create a new project

3. Select Create Session From Template...

Spatial Workstation Guide

4. Choose Post-Production from the drop-down menu

5. Select FB360 3D Audio from the list of options

6. Set the sample rate and bit depth of your session (see Sample Rate Considerations for information about
target sample rates)

7. Click Ok

Pro Tools 10

1. Open Pro Tools HD

2. Go to File > Open Project and open Mac HD/Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Pro Tools HD/Session Tem-
plates/Post Production/FB360 3D Audio.ptxt on macOS or C:/Program Files/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Pro Tools
HD/Session Templates/Post Production/FB360 3D Audio.ptxt on Windows

3. Choose your session sample rate and bit depth

4. Pro Tools will now prompt you to save the template as a new session

5. Save your project

Project Structure

The FB360 Spatialiser plugin accepts mono, stereo or multi-channel inputs and outputs 8 channels of audio.
These 8 channels of audio must be routed to the FB360 Control plugin for further processing. Make sure you
have only one master channel and instance of the FB360 Control plugin in your project. You can create as
many mono, stereo or quad tracks with the FB360 Spatialiser plugin as your project requires. There are no
limitations. You can also use the separate FB360 Converter plugin to rotate the 8 channel audio output from
the FB360 Spatialiser plugin, or any 8 channel sub-mix before being input to the FB360 Control plugin.
The template project consists of spatialised tracks that have the FB360 Spatialiser plugin inserted and
normal stereo audio tracks. The spatialised tracks are meant for full binaural panning and are routed to a
channel called 3D Master, while the stereo tracks are meant for head-locked stereo panning and are routed to a
channel called Head-locked Master. It is recommended that you stick to this project structure as it makes it easier
to export, debug and deliver mixes. Any audio track in your project must either be routed to 3D Master or Head-
locked Master.

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Mastering

The template project includes two master channels: 3D Master for all 3D elements in the mix and Head-locked
Master for all non-spatialised elements in the mix. The 3D Master channel is a master auxiliary channel that
receives audio from all FB360 Spatialiser channels. Use it just as you would use a master fader master
volume automation, mastering EQ, etc. The Head-locked Master channel functions in a similar way, but receives
audio from all head-locked stereo tracks. Your mastering chain would need to be applied separately on both
masters.

3D And Head-locked Stereo

It is quite common that some elements in the mix such as the background score or voice overs might not
need to be spatialised in 3D or react to head-tracking. The two masters, 3D Master and Head-locked Master fa-
cilitate this workflow. Note: some spatial audio formats do not support head-locked stereo/non-spatialised
audio.

Mixing

For the spatialised tracks, make sure that the FB360 Spatialiser is the last plugin in the chain (except if you
use the FB360 Converter plugin, which must be located in the signal chain after the FB360 Spatialiser
plugin, but before the FB360 Control plugin). Panning can be controlled and automated through either the
sliders or the 2D panner. All parameters in the FB360 Spatialiser plugin can be automated and controlled via
a control surface.

Sub-Mixes

You can create sub-mixes by routing audio from FB360 Spatialiser channels to an 8 channel (7.1) aux channel.
This aux channel would then need to be routed to 3D Master.

Previewing Your Mix

The audio from the 3D Master aux is routed to the Control Plugin aux which has the FB360 Control plugin
instantiated on it. The Control plugin is used for setting global parameters (such as room modelling) and for
communicating with the video player. See FB360 Control for more information.

Creating New Tracks

To create a new spatialised or head-locked stereo track, duplicate one of the existing tracks in the project. If you
need to manually create and setup a spatialised track:

1. Create a new mono or multichannel track

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2. Instantiate the FB360 Spatialiser by going to multichannel plug-in/Soundfield/FB360 Spatialiser in the insert
plugin drop-down menu

3. Set the tracks output to To 3D Master bus

When using a multichannel audio file make sure the number of track channels matches the number of channels
on the audio file.

Sample Rate Considerations

You can create your Pro Tools HD project with any sample rate of your choice, although, 48000Hz is recommen-
ded.

Ambisonics/B-format

The FB360 Spatialiser plugin can also handle and decode Ambisonics material in either the B-Format
(FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) formats. Heres how you get it working:

1. Create a a new quad track

2. Insert the FB360 Spatialiser plugin

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Spatial Workstation Guide

3. Set the tracks output to To 3D Master bus

4. In FB360 Spatialiser, set the Input drop-down menu to B-format (FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) de-
pending on your source material

5. Import your 4 channel B-format recording onto the track

6. The B-format data will automatically be spatialised to binaural by the FB360 Control plugin

For more information about Ambisonics and B-formats see the Ambisonics and B-format Audio section or for
information on rotating the B-format recording, see Rotating the Ambisonic field.

Working With Video

Once you have the video opened and loaded in the VR Video Player, playing back your session in Pro Tools
HD should automatically synchronise playback of the video. Pro Tools HD is always master and the video
player is slave. Make sure your project or your first frame of action starts at 00:00:00:00. See Opening A Video
and Navigating A 360 Video for more information.

Exporting A Mix

To export your spatialised and head-locked stereo mix stems:

1. Record enable the 3D Stem and Head-locked Stem tracks. Make sure they are muted.

2. Record your session

3. Export the regions in the 3D Stem and Head-locked Stem tracks by selecting the regions and pressing Cmd +
Shift + K on your keyboard. Ensure the export format is set to Interleaved.

Both files will now need to be processed and coded before being deployed to the app using the external encoder
application. See Encoding Assets.

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Using Reaper

Open the example Reaper project SpatialWorkstation.RPP installed in the FB360 Spatial Workstation in-
stallation folder. Go to File/Save Project As.. in the menu bar. Specify a name and location for your project. It is
recommended that you use SpatialWorkstation.RPP as a template for all projects that use the Spatial Workstation
plugins.

Project Structure

The project consists of spatialised tracks that have the FB360 Spatialiser plugin inserted and normal stereo
audio tracks. The spatialised tracks are meant for full binaural panning and are routed to a channel called 3D
Spatial Workstation Guide

MASTER, while the stereo tracks are meant for head-locked stereo panning and are routed to a channel called
HL MASTER. It is recommended you stick to this project structure as it makes it easier to export, debug and
deliver mixes. Any audio track in your project must either be routed to 3D MASTER or HL MASTER.
The CONTROL PLUGIN audio channel is a master auxiliary channel with the FB360 Control plugin inser-
ted. Make sure you have only one master channel and instance of the FB360 Control plugin in your project!
No additional plugins should be added to the CONTROL PLUGIN channel!

Creating New Tracks

To create a new spatialised or head-locked stereo track, duplicate one of the existing tracks in the project. If you
need to manually create and setup a spatialised track:

1. Create a new track

2. In the Mixer view, click on the I/O button

3. Set Track Channels to 8

4. Click on the Add New Send.. drop down menu and select 3D MASTER

5. Under the options for this newly created send, set Audio to Multichannel source > 8 Channels > 1-8.

6. Uncheck/disable the Master/parent send option at the top-left of the window

Mastering

The template project includes two master channels: 3D MASTER for all 3D elements in the mix and HL MAS-
TER for all non-spatialised elements in the mix. The 3D MASTER channel is a master auxiliary channel that
receives audio from all FB360 Spatialiser channels. Use it just as you would use a master fader master

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Spatial Workstation Guide

volume automation, mastering EQ, etc. The HL MASTER channel functions in a similar way, but receives audio
from all head-locked stereo. Your mastering chain would need to be applied separately on both masters.

Mixing

For the spatialised tracks, make sure that the FB360 Spatialiser is the last plugin in the chain (except if you
use the FB360 Converter plugin, which must be located in the signal chain after the FB360 Spatialiser
plugin, but before the FB360 Control plugin). Panning can be controlled and automated through either the
sliders or the 2D panner. All parameters in the FB360 Spatialiser plugin can be automated and controlled via
a control surface.

Ambisonics/B-Format

The FB360 Spatialiser plugin can also handle and decode Ambisonics material in either the B-Format
(FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) formats. Heres how you get it working:

1. Create a a new track with the settings specified in or duplicate an existing track (ensure the track has 8 chan-
nels, even though only four channels will have audio)

2. Insert an instance of the FB360 Spatialiser plugin, if one isnt present already

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Spatial Workstation Guide

3. In FB360 Spatialiser, set the Input drop-down menu to B-format (FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) de-
pending on your source material

4. Import your 4 channel B-format recording into the track

5. The B-format data will automatically be spatialised to binaural by the FB360 Control plugin

For more information about Ambisonics and B-formats see the Ambisonics and B-format Audio section or for
information on rotating the B-format recording, see Rotating the Ambisonic field.

Working With Video

Once you have the video opened and loaded in the VR Video Player, playing back your session in Reaper
should automatically synchronise playback of the video. Reaper is always master and the video player is slave.
Make sure your project starts at 00:00:00:00. See Opening A Video and Navigating A 360 Video for more inform-
ation.

Exporting/Bouncing A Mix

To export your spatialised mix:

1. Use Reapers Time Selection to specify the area you would like to bounce. Make sure the selection starts at
00:00:00:00

2. Select the 3D MASTER track (and no other track)

3. Go to File/Render in the menu bar

4. In the Render To File window that shows up, choose Stems (selected tracks) in the Source drop-down menu

5. In the Bounds drop-down menu, choose Time Selection

6. Specify the file name and output directory

7. Under Options, specify 8 in the Channels option

8. Click Render 1 file..

The spatialised mix should now be exported. Next, export the head-locked stereo mix:

1. Select the HL MASTER track (and no other track)

2. Go to File/Render in the menu bar again

3. In the Render To File window that shows up, choose Stems (selected tracks) in the Source drop-down menu

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Spatial Workstation Guide

4. In the Bounds drop-down menu, choose Time Selection

5. Specify the file name and output directory

6. Under Options, specify 2 in the Channels option

7. Click Render 1 file..

Both files will now need to be processed and coded before being deployed to the app.

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Using Nuendo

Open the example Nuendo project SpatialWorkstation.npr from the FB360 Spatial Workstation installation
folder. Go to File/Save As.. in the menu bar. Specify a name and location for your project. It is recommended
that you use SpatialWorkstation.npr as a template for all projects that use the Spatial Workstation plugins.

Project Structure

The project consists of spatialised tracks that have the FB360 Spatialiser plugin inserted and normal stereo
audio tracks. The spatialised tracks are meant for full binaural panning and are routed to a channel called 3D
MASTER, while the stereo tracks are meant for head-locked stereo panning and are routed to a channel called
HL MASTER. It is recommended you stick to this project structure as it makes it easier to export, debug and
deliver mixes. Any audio track in your project must either be routed to 3D MASTER or HL MASTER.
The 3D MASTER audio channel is a group track with the FB360 Control plugin inserted. Make sure you
have only one 3D group track and instance of the FB360 Control plugin in your project!
Spatial Workstation Guide

Creating New 3D Tracks

To create a new spatialised track, duplicate one of the existing tracks in the project. If you need to manually
create and setup a spatialised track:

1. Create a new track by going to Project > Add Track > Audio..

2. Set the configuration of the track to More > 7.1 Cine

3. Specify a track name and click on Add Track

4. Set the output of the track to 3D MASTER

Creating New Head-locked Stereo Tracks

To create a new head-locked stereo track, duplicate one of the existing tracks in the project. If you need to
manually create and setup a head-locked stereo track:

1. Create a new track by going to Project > Add Track > Audio..

2. Set the configuration of the track to Stereo

3. Specify a track name and click on Add Track

4. Set the output of the track to HL Master

Mixing

For the spatialised tracks, make sure that the FB360 Spatialiser is the last plugin in the chain (except if you
use the FB360 Converter plugin, which must be located in the signal chain after the FB360 Spatialiser
plugin, but before the FB360 Control plugin). Panning can be controlled and automated through either the
sliders or the 2D panner. All parameters in the FB360 Spatialiser plugin can be automated and controlled via
a control surface.

Ambisonics/B-Format

The FB360 Spatialiser plugin can also handle and decode Ambisonics material in either the B-Format
(FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) formats. Heres how you get it working:

1. Create a a new track with the settings specified in or duplicate an existing track

2. Insert an instance of the FB360 Spatialiser plugin, if one isnt present already

33
Spatial Workstation Guide

3. In FB360 Spatialiser, set the Input drop-down menu to B-format (FuMa) or B-format (ambiX) de-
pending on your source material

4. Import your 4 channel B-format recording into the track

5. The B-format data will automatically be spatialised to binaural by the FB360 Control plugin

For more information about Ambisonics and B-formats see the Ambisonics and B-format Audio section or for
information on rotating the B-format recording, see Rotating the Ambisonic field.

Working With Video

Once you have the video opened and loaded in the VR Video Player, playing back your session in Nuendo
should automatically synchronise playback of the video. Nuendo is always master and the video player is slave.
Make sure your project starts at 00:00:00:00. See Opening A Video and Navigating A 360 Video for more inform-
ation.

Exporting/Bouncing A Mix

To export your spatialised mix:

1. Open the FB360 Control plugin. Disable Render Binaural. Minimise the plugin, do not close it.

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Spatial Workstation Guide

2. Use Nuendos Time Selection to specify the area you would like to bounce. Make sure the selection starts at
00:00:00:00

3. Select the 3D MASTER track (and no other track)

4. Go to File > Export > Audio Mixdown

5. Select 3D MASTER from the Channel Selection box

6. Specify the file name and output directory

7. Click Export

The spatialised mix should now be exported. Next, export the optional head-locked stereo mix:

1. Select the HL MASTER track (and no other track)

2. Go to File > Export > Audio Mixdown

3. Select HL MASTER from the Channel Selection box

4. Specify the file name and output directory

5. Click Export

Both files will now need to be processed and coded before being deployed to the app.

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Video Player

The video player by default works as a slave to the DAW. Once a file is opened and loaded, playback will be
controlled from and synchronised to your DAW.
A list of known issues is maintained in the Knowledge Base and can be found here.

Video Format And Codec

While the video player can load and playback a variety of formats, the following is recommended:

ProRes HQ: On both macOS and Windows this results in higher quality playback with quick frame-by-frame
scrubbing and seeking

Cineform (Windows Only): On Windows this results in higher quality playback with quick frame-by-frame
scrubbing and seeking

Frame-by-frame scrubbing and seeking would be important when you want the video player to synchronise
to the timeline selection/playhead position in the DAW when you arent playing back your session (such as
when editing or synchronising edit points). Refer to this Knowledge Base article for details on the recommended
frame rate and resolution.

Encoding With FFmpeg Droplets

On OSX, you can use an Automator droplet with FFmpeg to encode your video files with the recommended
settings that work with the video player. On Windows you can can use any video encoding software and follow
the codec recommendations listed here in the Knowledge Base.

1. Download the automation droplet file from here.

2. Unzip the archive and place Convert_ProRes.app in a folder on your hard disk

3. Download FFmpeg binaries for OSX from http://www.ffmpegmac.net/

4. Unzip the download

Spatial Workstation Guide

5. Copy ffmpeg to the folder that contains Convert_ProRes.app

6. Drag and drop the video you would like to convert over Convert_ProRes.app.

7. A terminal window should open up and show progress

8. The converted file (named converted_prores.mov) will be placed on your desktop

9. Done!

Encoding With FFmpeg And Command Line

We recommend using FFmpeg (http://ffmpegmac.net/) with the settings specified below. FFmpeg is usually
used as a command line utility using the Terminal application on a Mac:

Apple ProRes:
1 ffmpeg y p r o b e s i z e 5000000 i YOUR_INPUT_FILE vcodec p r o r e s p r o f i l e : v 3 q s c a l e : v 11 an
YOUR_OUTPUT_FILE . mov

-vcodec Specifies prores as the output codec

-profile:v 3 ProRes HQ profile

-qscale:v 11 Sets the quality and file size tradeoff

-an Disables audio. Removing this option will retain the audio track in the video file (if present)

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Spatial Workstation Guide

Opening A Video

Slave Video Playback

Open the Video Player app from the installation folder. Load the video file, specify the playback options and
click Open. For more information about the options, see VR Video Player. If Slave is selected playback will
automatically be controlled from your DAW.

Standalone Video Playback

Open the Video Player app from the installation folder. Load the video file and the .tbe file. Select the play-
back options and click Open.

Navigating A 360 Video

If VR is selected as the Display Mode, you will need a VR headset connected to your computer. The video will be
displayed on the device (provided it is setup correctly) and the information from the head-tracker will automat-
ically be sent to the video player and the FB360 Control plugin. If you have chosen the Desktop display mode,
you can use your keyboard and mouse to navigate the video.

Key Commands

Left-click and drag your mouse to change orientation (Desktop Mode)

Use W, A, S or D keys to change orientation. Additionally holding shift increases the rate of rotation (Desktop
Mode)

Use R to reset the camera/listener to the default position (VR and Desktop Mode)

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Encoding Assets

The Encoder application is installed in Mac HD/Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Encoder on macOS and Mac
HD/Applications/FB360 Spatial Workstation/Encoder on Windows. It can be used to convert your mix to a variety of
formats or create a file that can be uploaded to Facebook 360.

Additional Requirements (Windows Only)

The Encoder requires Mp4Box and Python 2.7 installed on your Windows computer.

1. The Python 2.7 installer can be downloaded from here. Follow the instructions with the installer.

2. Mp4Box can be installed using the GPAC installer from here. The GPAC installer includes Mp4Box and other
components. Installing the additional components is optional

Encoding For Facebook 360

1. Open FB360 Encoder

2. For uploads to Facebook, ensure that OUTPUT FORMAT is set to Facebook 360 Video

3. Drop or load the multichannel spatial audio wav file. This is the audio that will rotate and respond when
looking around a 360 video. The wav file can be of any sample rate, but is ultimately converted to 48000Hz
samples per second
Spatial Workstation Guide

4. Ensure you specify the spatial audio format. It can be one of these five:

(a) Spatial Workstation 8 Channel: If you have used the Spatial Workstation to design your audio mix,
this would be the output of the 3D master from your audio session

(b) B-format ambiX 1st order: First order ambisonics with ACN ordering and SN3D normalisation, from
any other mix or tool (4 channels)

(c) B-format FuMa 1st order : First order ambisonics with Furse-Malham ordering, typically the B-
format audio from ambisonic microphones (4 channels)

(d) B-format ambiX 2nd order: Second order ambisonics with ACN ordering and SN3D normalisation,
from any other mix or tool (9 channels)

(e) B-format FuMa 2nd order : Second order ambisonics with Furse-Malham ordering, typically the
B-format audio from ambisonic microphones (9 channels)

5. Ensure the From Pro Tools checkbox is ticked if the 8 channel spatial audio file is from Pro Tools

6. Optionally, you can also drop or load a stereo file for head-locked audio. This is audio that will not rotate
when looking around a 360 video

7. Drop or load the video file. Ensure that the video is encoded as H.264 within a mp4 container

8. Set the layout for the video file:

(a) Monoscopic: A monoscopic video, where the same frame will be displayed to both eyes when viewing
in 3D

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Spatial Workstation Guide

(b) Top-Bottom Stereoscopic: A stereoscopic video, where the top half of the video will be displayed to
the left eye and the bottom half of the video will be displayed to the right eye when viewing in 3D

(c) Left-Right Stereoscopic: A stereoscopic video, where the left half of the video will be displayed to
the left eye and the right half of the video will be displayed to the right eye when viewing in 3D

9. For videos encoded in Facebook 360 format, you can optionally enable Focus for the video which will give
more prominence to the audio objects in the viewers field of view and will attenuate objects outside of it:

(a) Focus: Enables the focus feature

(b) Focus Size: The size of the angle of the focus cone in degrees (ranged from 40 to 120)

(c) Off-focus Level: The attenuation of objects outside of the focus area in decibels (ranged -24.0 to 0.0)

10. Click the Encode button and save your file

11. Upload the encoded file to Facebook

Encoding To Other Formats

The Encoder app can also be used to convert an existing mix from the Spatial Workstation to other formats.

Facebook 360 Video: Encoding audio and video for Facebook 360, as specified above

.tbe: Encode the eight channel spatial audio mix from the Spatial Workstation (the output from 3D Master)
and head-locked audio for the Facebook 360 Audio Rendering SDK. Note: the video is not used.

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Spatial Workstation Guide

B-format (FuMa): Convert your mix B-format FuMa. Note: the head-locked audio is ignored and the video
is not used

B-format (ambiX): Convert your mix B-format ambiX. Note: the head-locked audio is ignored and the
video is not used

Quad-binaural: Convert your mix to quad-binaural (four binaural mixdowns at 0, 90, 180 and 270 degrees).
Note: the head-locked audio is ignored and the video is not used

YouTube Video (with 1st order ambiX): Encoding audio and video for uploading to either YouTube
or Facebook 360. Supports first-order ambiX. For your convenience you can also choose Spatial Workstation
8-channel input which will be converted to first order ambiX, at a loss of quality.

1. Open FB360 Encoder

2. Select the output format

3. Drop or load the 8 channel spatial audio wav file from the Spatial Workstation

4. Ensure the From Pro Tools checkbox is ticked if the 8 channel spatial audio file is from Pro Tools

5. Click the Encode button and save your file

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