All Collections
Managing Film and TV
How to Configure Your Audio Tracks
How to Configure Your Audio Tracks
Jason avatar
Written by Jason
Updated over a week ago

The SHIFT72 uploader gives you the opportunity to configure how audio works on your platform, including the ability to add multiple audio tracks. If you don’t need to manually configure your audio tracks, see our uploading guide here.

Once a source file is selected you will see an option to Enable Audio Track Configuration

You can turn this on to manually configure your audio tracks. This can be used for any of the following:

What you will see in the configuration section is dependent on the number of audio streams in the source file, and how they are described in the metadata of your film file.

If the tracks are given identifiable names in the files metadata, our system will group them into the intended configuration. If not, this will need to be done manually.

A film with only a single mono audio stream will only have the option to use that track.

A film with multiple mono audio streams has more customisation available in how they are set up.

Several mono streams can be combined to create either stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 audio tracks. You can group audio streams by selecting the checkbox on the left hand side of the stream.

When several streams are combined into a single track, more information will be required on the intended layout.

A language and purpose will need to be specified for this audio track, as well as which stream should be played in which positions. E.g. Front Left, Front Right, Back Left, Back Right etc.

The Language will be shown to viewers of the film using the display name. The ‘Display name’ will default to the Language selection, but can be changed manually.

The purpose of the audio tracks are as follows:

Main: The track that will play with the film by default

Alternate: Alternate language tracks

Commentary: Commentary tracks

Dub: Dub tracks

Audio Descriptions: Audio description tracks

If an audio stream is specified as stereo, 5.1, 5.1 with downmix or 7.1 in the metadata, this will be automatically reflected in the audio track configuration.

If there are any problems with the audio setup, an error message will be displayed at the bottom of the screen above the upload button. These errors will need to be addressed before the film can be uploaded.

Specific use cases and setups required to achieve them

Stereo audio:

Stereo audio can be created by combining 2 mono streams into a single audio track.

Our system will allocate each stream to a layout position. If you know that the streams have been incorrectly assigned, they can be reallocated using the drop down menus.

5.1 audio:

5.1 audio can be created by combining 6 mono streams into a single audio track.

Our system will allocate each stream to a layout position. If you know that the streams have been incorrectly assigned, they can be reallocated using the drop down menus.

5.1 audio with downmix:

5.1 audio with downmix can be created by combining 6 mono streams into a single 5.1 audio track, and the additional 2 mono streams into a stereo track. These 2 audio tracks will both need to be given the same language and display names, and the purpose for both will need to be set to Main.

Our system will allocate each stream to a layout position. If you know that the streams have been incorrectly assigned, they can be reallocated using the drop down menus.

7.1 audio:

7.1 audio can be created by combining 8 mono streams into a single audio track.

Our system will allocate each stream to a layout position. If you know that the streams have been incorrectly assigned, they can be reallocated using the drop down menus.

Multiple languages:

To set up multiple languages, you will need to separate the streams into different audio tracks. One audio track purpose will need to be set to Main, while the others will need to be set to Alternate. The track set to Main will be the audio track that plays with the film by default.

Commentary:

To set up commentary tracks, you will need to separate the streams into different audio tracks. The main audio track purpose will need to be set to Main, while the Commentary tracks will need to be set to Commentary. The track set to Main will be the audio track that plays with the film by default.

Dubs:

To set up dubs, you will need to separate the streams into different audio tracks. The main audio track purpose will need to be set to Main, while the Dub tracks will need to be set to Dub. The track set to Main will be the audio track that plays with the film by default.

Audio Descriptions:

To set up audio description tracks, you will need to separate the streams into different audio tracks. The main audio track purpose will need to be set to Main, while the audio description tracks will need to be set to Audio Descriptions. The track set to Main will be the audio track that plays with the film by default.

Did this answer your question?