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Surround sound file not playing properly

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BabaG
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I'm  trying to do something simple that I've actually done before and am having no success this time. 

What I want to do is to sync four (later to expand to six but, for now, four) XD234 players, each with a 4k video out. Only the Leader player will have audio, in the form of a 5.1 surround track. In the surround track, we're only using the front left and right and the rear left and right channels.

When, in the past, I created a very similar setup, I used ac3 as the audio source. That was some ten years ago and was authored before Brightauthor Connected, using simply BrightAuthor.

BAC has been a big learning curve for me but I seem to have a pretty good handle on using it for my current purpose now. The trouble is that, when I believe I'm doing everything right, the project fails to function as intended, failing to play our audio as designed.

I found this video, which guided me through the Bright Wall creation process:

https://vimeo.com/632074533

The part that is relevant to me starts at 25min into the video.

The first issue that I've had has to do with updating the firmware or BrightOS. When I create a setup for my players and include the update option, then apply that setup, on powerup of the player no update is applied. I later found that there is another place to apply an update. That is in the publishing schedule page, at the bottom right of the screen. If I publish, select my player model, and opt to update there, the update is applied. No idea what that was about and it took forever to find but it seems to work.

The major issue, once I got past the BrightOS updating, is that my surround track is either not playing anything at all or it is mixing down the surround channels to stereo.

I tried these four options in order to trace the issue but have had no luck figuring it out:

AC3 audio with passthrough
AC3 audio without passthrough (I selected PCM as that seemed to be the only option other than passthrough. I know it seems wrong but saw no other choices.)
PCM audio with passthrough
PCM audio without passthrough, selecting PCM instead

Respectively, the results were thus:

no audio output
no audio output
stereo mixed down from the four channels we use in the surround file
stereo mixed down from the four channels we use in the surround file

I'm not in front of BAC right now but I believe it's right below the passthrough option that there is an option for mixing down the audio to stereo, left channel, or right channel. I believe it defaults to stereo. I saw no way to opt out of that and suspect that this might be the source of the issue with the PCM audio playing as stereo.

Here is the mediainfo output for my file with AC3 audio:

Complete name                            : MUXED_07min_16x09_h264_ac3.mov
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   0000.02 (qt  )
File size                                : 3.69 GiB
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 70.7 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf58.76.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L5.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=59
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 70.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 768 kb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.282
Stream size                              : 3.66 GiB (99%)
Language                                 : English
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : AC-3
Format/Info                              : Audio Coding 3
Codec ID                                 : ac-3
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 640 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L C R Ls Rs LFE
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Compression mode                         : Lossy
Stream size                              : 34.2 MiB (1%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1


And, here is the mediainfo output for my file with PCM audio:

Complete name                            : MUXED_07min_16x09_h264_pcm.mov
Format                                   : MPEG-4
Format profile                           : QuickTime
Codec ID                                 : qt   0000.02 (qt  )
File size                                : 3.90 GiB
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Overall bit rate mode                    : Variable
Overall bit rate                         : 74.6 Mb/s
Frame rate                               : 29.970 FPS
Writing application                      : Lavf58.76.100

Video
ID                                       : 1
Format                                   : AVC
Format/Info                              : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile                           : Main@L5.1
Format settings                          : CABAC / 2 Ref Frames
Format settings, CABAC                   : Yes
Format settings, Reference frames        : 2 frames
Format settings, GOP                     : M=1, N=59
Codec ID                                 : avc1
Codec ID/Info                            : Advanced Video Coding
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Bit rate mode                            : Variable
Bit rate                                 : 70.0 Mb/s
Maximum bit rate                         : 768 kb/s
Width                                    : 3 840 pixels
Height                                   : 2 160 pixels
Display aspect ratio                     : 16:9
Frame rate mode                          : Constant
Frame rate                               : 29.970 (30000/1001) FPS
Color space                              : YUV
Chroma subsampling                       : 4:2:0
Bit depth                                : 8 bits
Scan type                                : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame)                       : 0.282
Stream size                              : 3.66 GiB (94%)
Language                                 : English
Color range                              : Limited
Color primaries                          : BT.709
Transfer characteristics                 : BT.709
Matrix coefficients                      : BT.709
Codec configuration box                  : avcC

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : PCM
Format settings                          : Little / Signed
Codec ID                                 : sowt
Duration                                 : 7 min 28 s
Bit rate mode                            : Constant
Bit rate                                 : 4 608 kb/s
Channel(s)                               : 6 channels
Channel layout                           : L R C LFE Ls Rs
Sampling rate                            : 48.0 kHz
Bit depth                                : 16 bits
Stream size                              : 246 MiB (6%)
Default                                  : Yes
Alternate group                          : 1


How do I fix this so I can get my audio playing properly? Later there will be an issue with seamless looping but, for now, I need to get the audio worked out.

thanks,
babag

Date Votes

6 comments

  • Avatar
    Brandon Official comment

    For Series 4 players you should not exceed L4.2 for AVC (H.264) or L5.1 for HEVC (H.265), and for audio that the player can decode (AAC, PCM) with more than 2 channels, you will need to use the Multichannel HDMI Output plugin.  Note that as of this writing, this plugin currently does not work properly on Series 5/newer.

    _________________________________________________________________________
    Friendly reminder, the community forum is intended for user-to-user discussion.  It is not regularly monitored. For troubleshooting problems and to ensure a timely answer from a BrightSign representative, please submit a support ticket

  • 0
    Avatar
    BabaG

    I should add that we have an hdmi audio extractor for pulling the audio out of the hdmi stream. On that unit is a light that illuminates when it sees a 5.1 signal incoming. In the four example I listed above, the 5.1 light never goes on. Interestingly, if we engage in no authoring whatsoever and just pop in a freshly formatted sd card in the leader unit and put the AC3 file directly on that card, we get playback of all of our channels, in their correct positions, and the light goes on on the extractor. So, there's something.

    babag

  • 0
    Avatar
    BabaG

    Thanks so much for the reply, Brandon. Much appreciated! I'll be looking into the Main@L5.1 vs Main@L4.2 issue soon. 

    Our players appear to be Series 4 as they are XD234 units. I hope that's correct.

    I also looked at the link you supplied for the Multichannel HDMI Output plugin but am unsure as to how to proceed with that. The link took me to a paqe with a bunch of files but I don't know which to use of how or if I should download them all. The readme file doesn't help mush in this regard. Is there a specific file I use? Do I include it somehow in the authoring process? Do I just copy it to the card? Where? The root? Any clarification is appreciated.

    There is also info about needing to author in a dummy file in order to give the plugin time to activate. In the vimeo link to the tutorial in my original post, the presenter authors a countdown of five seconds before the video begins. As I recall, he doesn't say why he does so but I have followed this practice. Would that work in terms of allowing for the plugin to engage, or do I need to do more?

    And, lastly, although our video is L5.1, it does seem to play correctly. Might the L5.1 be affecting things like smoothe looping or the playback of multichannel audio? Curious as it does seem to play well.

    thanks again,

    BabaG

  • 0
    Avatar
    Brandon

    Get all the files and open the example presentation to see how the plugin is loaded on the presentation settings and how the zone with content is set up.
    The bpf is a BrightAuthor Classic project file, the bpfx is for brightAuthor connected.

  • 0
    Avatar
    BabaG

    thx!

  • 0
    Avatar
    BabaG

    Ok. Before I spend a couple of hours driving to the location where this setup is being tested, I thought I should just double check here.

    I just looked at the multichannel plugin example project and am seeing a few things, some of which I think I already have set properly and some of which are new to me. From what I'm seeing, I'm assuming I'll be using the PCM audio I have for this project rather than the AC3 I also tested with.

    First, I already have a timeout set. Mine is for five seconds rather than the six in the example but I'm hoping five is sufficient. It's what was suggested in the linked tutorial in my first post.

    Second, I'm seeing that, when I select the media file in my presentation and look at Presentation--->Audio, the setting is "Fixed." Wondering if that is manditory.

    Third, the Zone Properties--->Audio Output is set to both Analog Stereo and HDMI, with the HDMI set to "Passthrough." I already have Passthrough set on my presentation's zone. I do not have the Analog Stereo option selected, though. Should I?

    Fourth, under Presentations--->Support Content, I see the multipcm plugin listed by name, along with its path. I'm guessing this is something I need to replicate in my project (using the "+" sign, I assume). Or, if I put the plugin into my root, will it be auto-detected? Clarification on these two options would be appreciated as this would seem to be central to my audio issue.

    Thanks for any help with these remaining questions (and thanks for the link to the plugin!),

    BabaG

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