Practical implementation of automated next generation audio production for live sports

Moulson, Aimée; Walley, Max; Grewe, Yannik; Oldfield, Rob; Shirley, Ben; Scuda, Ulli

Abstract

Producing a high-quality audio mix for a live sports production is a demanding task for
mixing engineers. The management of many microphone signals and monitoring of various
broadcast feeds mean engineers are often stretched, overseeing many tasks simultaneously.
With the advancements in Next Generation Audio codecs providing many appealing features,
such as interactivity and personalization to end users, consideration is needed as not to create
further work for production staff. Therefore, the authors propose a novel approach to live
sports production by combining an object-based audio workflow with the efficiency benefits
of automated mixing. This paper describes how a fully object-based workflow can be built
from point of capture to audience playback with minimal changes for the production staff. This
was achieved by integrating Next Generation Audio authoring from the point of production,
streamlining the workflow, and thus removing the need for additional authoring process later
in the chain. As an exemplar, the authors applied this approach to a Premier League football
match in a proof-of-concept trial.

Citation

Moulson, A., Walley, M., Grewe, Y., Oldfield, R., Shirley, B., & Scuda, U. (2024). Practical implementation of automated next generation audio production for live sports. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 72(7/8), 517-525

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Feb 7, 2024
• Publication Date: Jul 9, 2024
• Deposit Date: Aug 16, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 27, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1549-4950
• Publisher: Audio Engineering Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 72
• Issue: 7/8
• Pages: 517-525
• Publisher URL: https://aes2.org/publications/elibrary-page/?id=22648