Sources & Rooms Module
Source module
Sources’ modules are very important and unique ones. This is where the object-oriented mixing of SPAT Revolution takes in.
Sources’ modules associated metadata to incoming audio streams. Because of their object-oriented nature, they can only input and output channel-based streams. In practice, this means you cannot patch, for example, an ambisonic stream to a room, even if the room in question is ambisonic itself. It first needs to be transcoded by using an input transcoder.
The so-called metadata is the source parameters, such as position and reverberation information. All these parameters are explained in the section Source properties 27.
One source can be connected to several rooms. This is one of the advantages of object-based mixing: it allows the creation of different mixes in different formats with the same exact information.
Name
Allows renaming a source. By default, it takes the name of the input patched into it.
IO Configuration
Allows selecting the speaker arrangement used by the source. It can be selected from the list or user-defined.
Multi-channel sources are one of the unique SPAT Revolution features.
If you struggle to understand why we talk about speakers at this stage, simply consider them as “virtual” speakers that will be emitting in a “virtual” room.
A source can and should only be channel-based!
Tracking
SPAT Revolution can receive data from RTTrPM open protocol tracking systems. This protocol is supported by BlackTrax™. BlackTrax™ is a vision-based system that connects to different third-party applications, such as robotic lights, media servers, and SPAT Revolution. OSC is the other very good method to use for tracking, and various tracking systems support it natively.
RTTrPM protocol is not available with the Essential license of SPAT Revolution.
When you have correctly set up the BlackTrax protocol (see BlackTrax Integration section 50) then you can directly assign Tracking Number to virtual sources, and also to listener position (see Listener position section 4) for advanced virtual reality interactive audio projects.
Gain
Change the input gain of the source. Also includes a phase toggle switch to invert the polarity of the signal.
Levels
Basic true peak metering for each block’s channels.
Room module
If sources are where localization information is stored, rooms are where the “interpreting” happens. A room is defined by two main criteria: its output stream type and its reverberation. Simply, a room module looks at all the information stored in sources and then acts as a renderer for a given format.
It is a classic case of object-based mixing, where source modules associate metadata to channels, and room modules interpret them.
Only source modules can be connected to room modules.
The first thing to notice is that we can add any number of rooms. SPAT revolution offers flexibility, to encompass different workflow ideas or experimental approaches. For example, the same virtual sources may be assigned into multiple rooms, with multiple end destinations. Or as in the screenshot above, virtual sources might exist in different spaces that get summed together.
The Essential license limits the number of active (processed) rooms to one (1). The others are deactivated (not processed).
Name
Allow renaming a room.
Rooms cannot share the same name!
IO Configuration
Allow selecting the rendering type and the associated options.
Stream Type:
- Channel Based
- HOA
- Binaural
- MS
- B-Format (depreciated, please use HOA 1st order room connected to a master transcoder to transform it on B-Format standard)
Tracking
Gain
Change the output level of the room. Also includes a phase toggle switch to invert the polarity of the signal.
Levels
Basic true peak metering for each block’s channels.