How to know if an Indian movie is produced with an Atmos soundtrack?

[arnprasad]

Having watched Kantara in a PVR theater with Atmos, wasn't really sure if the movie had an Atmos sound track. Wiki page of he movie doesn't have the details nor does the basic IMDB page. How do we know if a movie has been shot in Atmos? By the time Kantara starts streaming on Prime, I would have hopefully upgraded to an Atmos receiver. Hoping someone will rip the movie and post it online as I have a tough time getting even a good DTS sound on Prime/Netflix.

Is a computer with Kodi enough to output an Atmos signal to a receiver on streaming services as I dont use the smart features on my TV nor do I have a fire stick or any such gadgets.

 

[tvreseach]

Having watched Kantara in a PVR theater with Atmos, wasn't really sure if the movie had an Atmos sound track. Wiki page of he movie doesn't have the details nor does the basic IMDB page. How do we know if a movie has been shot in Atmos? By the time Kantara starts streaming on Prime, I would have hopefully upgraded to an Atmos receiver. Hoping someone will rip the movie and post it online as I have a tough time getting even a good DTS sound on Prime/Netflix.

Is a computer with Kodi enough to output an Atmos signal to a receiver on streaming services as I dont use the smart features on my TV nor do I have a fire stick or any such gadgets.

Even though movie has a Atmos sound track. We should be luck that they play the Atmos version. There is a cost difference between among the versions they play. There is no mechanism for us to verify this. After knowing this, stopped going to movie theatres. Source: friend of mine works in theatre technology side for qube.

 

[nagbbv]

Most of the movies are releasing in Atmos soundtrack for theaters. You can check the details in main/end titles which company/person is worked for that soundtrack and you can't get anywhere uncompressed atmos tracks. Few OTT's only offering atmos with limited bitrates for some Indian movies.

 

[htfan17]

Even if u find out produced with atmos via end credits, there is no way to find if it's played in atmos or usual 5.1. /7.1. We see speakers on ceiling in atmos theatres but there is no way to find out if they r actually functioning during any particular movie. The only way u can figure this out is in home theatre where u can disconnect all speakers other than ceiling and see if it's working in any "atmos" file or movie on ott

 

[jayantadak]

Having watched Kantara in a PVR theater with Atmos, wasn't really sure if the movie had an Atmos sound track. Wiki page of he movie doesn't have the details nor does the basic IMDB page. How do we know if a movie has been shot in Atmos? By the time Kantara starts streaming on Prime, I would have hopefully upgraded to an Atmos receiver. Hoping someone will rip the movie and post it online as I have a tough time getting even a good DTS sound on Prime/Netflix.

Is a computer with Kodi enough to output an Atmos signal to a receiver on streaming services as I dont use the smart features on my TV nor do I have a fire stick or any such gadgets.

I think the movie audio language part plays a major role in it. The movie 'Kantara' is predominantly a Kannada language movie. If the movie is seen in Hindi, Telugu or Malyalam languae the audio is compromised due to the language dubbing. I guess that may be the case, that you were not able to enjoy the Atmos track in the movie.

 

[arnprasad]

I am a Kannadiga and I dont think dubbing will screw up the "atmosness" of the soundtrack. - unless I am missing some technicalities in dubbing that I am not aware of. They just dub the human voices. not the sound separation. I mean I did hear some dialogues from back left or back right and all that and frankly I hear better separation from my 5.1 at home. Hence difficult to judge if we are paying any premium at the cinemas to hear the Atmos. In fact I paid twice the price for this PVR compared to an adjacent single screen just because it had Atmos.

Like others have commented, difficult to judge. Lets hope this gets released on blu ray and someone rips it and uploads. Generally are Indian movies released on blu ray? not the big budgeted ones like Bahubali or RRR, but in general.

 

[htfan17]

Dubbing used to matter in the 90s when a dub track was only recirded in 2.1. Not anymore. Dubbed or not atmos is very much doable and is done.

You will hear good stereo separation in cinemas provided you are centered enough in ur position.

I have done enough experiments repeat watching some movies and ironically sometimes usual theatres sound better than so called atmos ones its just a difference of configuration/ set up/acoustics in first time calibration so there is no way to say for sure an atmos theatre will have better effect than usual one

Indian movies save for baahubali likes do not get blu ray releases anymore. If u see an atmos track on the ott file same will get ripped by torrenters and get uploaded as Webrip for downloads

 

[arnprasad]

Yeah. I dont want Indian movies much due to them being dubbed in the studio rather than being shot in Sync Sound. Spoils the whole authentic feel. Worse is when they dub a different line in the studio than what was spoken during shooting - because the writer came up with a better line during dubbing!!! happens only in India. Even low budget Hollywood movies costing 5-6 million dollars shoot in sync sound. Guess Indian movies means over the top everything.

 

[zero7]

I went to watch Kantaara at PVR in VR Mall, Bangalore. I hardly go to theaters and I went to a theater after 3 years. I was not happy with the sound there at all. I have felt this with few multiplexes that I went. I found some of the single screens having better sound than these multiscreen ones. As I recall Urvashi Theater had best sound. Haven't been there in ages though.

 

[arnprasad]

I too went to a theater after 6-7 years after all the glorious reviews on YouTube on how this movie is above Oscars and other such awards. Sound was ok..at least there was no distortion. Just not sure if it was Atmos coz I don't know how Atmos sounds like

 

[RajithKumar]

Having watched Kantara in a PVR theater with Atmos, wasn't really sure if the movie had an Atmos sound track. Wiki page of he movie doesn't have the details nor does the basic IMDB page. How do we know if a movie has been shot in Atmos? By the time Kantara starts streaming on Prime, I would have hopefully upgraded to an Atmos receiver. Hoping someone will rip the movie and post it online as I have a tough time getting even a good DTS sound on Prime/Netflix.

Is a computer with Kodi enough to output an Atmos signal to a receiver on streaming services as I dont use the smart features on my TV nor do I have a fire stick or any such gadgets.

Even if u are watching Atmos movies in Commercial Theaters ,Unless if u are not seated in the sweet spot ,u may not experience the Atmos fully. In commercial theaters the chances are very less to find out whether it's been played as Atmos .
Also Atmos is an added feature,only by proper sound editing and sound mixing the whole effect can be attained.
There are some movies in which the Atmos is not utilized properly.
Also please note that Atmos is not only height effects ( many thinks that Atmos is only for height effects) ,it's whole sound immersion in the given 3D space.
Coming to your question. U can use your System to stream OTT,but not sure through KODI. IMO an Amazon 4k firestick will do the job very very conveniently . I have tried both and found fire stick to be more convenient and sound wise also it's good.
But remember in streaming you will only get Atmos via Dolby digital+ which is a compressed audio track,where as Bluray or BR Rips will have Atmos via Dolby TruHD which is an uncompressed track. Sadly nowadays Blurays are not released for Indian movies.

 

[arnprasad]

Thanks. Have watched many Youtube reviews of Atmos Blu Rays and seems even Hollywood biggies do not get it right as they dont want to spend the time and money.

 

[jayantadak]

Yeah. I dont want Indian movies much due to them being dubbed in the studio rather than being shot in Sync Sound. Spoils the whole authentic feel. Worse is when they dub a different line in the studio than what was spoken during shooting - because the writer came up with a better line during dubbing!!! happens only in India. Even low budget Hollywood movies costing 5-6 million dollars shoot in sync sound. Guess Indian movies means over the top everything.

Though being a Maharashtrian I prefer watching South Indian movies in their native language with English sub-titles, despsite of their being available in hindi language. It applies for other language movies too, it is always better to watch it in its origninal language format with English subs. The Hindi dubbed track appears lack lustured, lifeless and often un-intentionally preachy and comic. The flat sound-pitch deprives the authentic feel of any engaging scene.

 

[arnprasad]

Though being a Maharashtrian I prefer watching South Indian movies in their native language with English sub-titles, despsite of their being available in hindi language. It applies for other language movies too, it is always better to watch it in its origninal language format with English subs. The Hindi dubbed track appears lack lustured, lifeless and often un-intentionally preachy and comic. The flat sound-pitch deprives the authentic feel of any engaging scene.

What I meant was about dubbing in the core language itself. Maybe you know this already. During shooting they record the sound as well. In Hollywood and elsewhere, they use the same sound in the final cut except few scenes where it doesnt work. However in India, except for few Aamir khan or ayushman khurana movies....they dub the dialogues in the studio which is not the right thing to do and hence final cut audio doesnt sound natural as it is dubbed in the studio. I do see more and more movies moving into sync sound, which is a good thing

 

[prem]

What I meant was about dubbing in the core language itself. Maybe you know this already. During shooting they record the sound as well. In Hollywood and elsewhere, they use the same sound in the final cut except few scenes where it doesnt work. However in India, except for few Aamir khan or ayushman khurana movies....they dub the dialogues in the studio which is not the right thing to do and hence final cut audio doesnt sound natural as it is dubbed in the studio. I do see more and more movies moving into sync sound, which is a good thing

Most Bollywood movies are shot in sync sound. I don’t know where you got the info that the dialogues are dubbed in a recording studio. A Thursday which I had produced was done completely in sync sound. Two small parts which amounted to about 5 min was dubbed because of some extraneous noise.

 

[arnprasad]

Wow. Did not know we had a professional in our midst. I frankly do not watch many Indian movies - but when I play a movie to my family - Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and English, I do watch for few minutes and am put off by the terrible dubbing. I guess more percentage of South Indian films are dubbed compared to Hindi. Like I mentioned in my post - I have observed Aamir Khan, Rajkumar Rao, Ayushman Khurana type movies to use sync sound and these are the kind of movies I watch not the Salman/Shahrukh types. But majority of the mainstream movies seem to dub. Again I dont have data to prove it. Let me watch few big budget masala movies and figure it out. But if more and more movies are moving towards sync sound, that is very good news.

Did a quick search on the internet including this funny incident of a dubbed movie given the national award for sync sound

May make more films in sync sound: Mani Ratnam

Mani Ratnam plans to make more movies in sync sound as he did for "O Kadhal Kanmani".

indianexpress.com

Dubbing or Sync Sound | Low Budget Filmmaking - Ashik Satheesh

Shoud you record sound on location or go for dubbing it later in a studio? When you have limited resources, which do you choose and why?

iashik.com

A Dummies Guide To Sound Design In Film By National Award Winner Anish John

Anish John, who has worked in films such as "Trapped" and "Pari", explains the craft of sound designing, why it is a good time for the profession in India, and the importance of silence on a film set

www.filmcompanion.in

Big Error: National award for Sync sound given to a dubbed film

A big controversy has come to the fore at the 68th National Film Awards. In this, a Kannada film has been given the award for Best Location Sound

groundreport.in

https://acfm.edu.in/subhash-sahu-gives-a-symphony-of-knowledge/ This one says 60-70% in Bollywood use sync sound

9 Telugu Movies Which Used Sync Sound Technology Perfectly - Wirally

present mana industry lo Nagarjuna, Sanjay Das ni iddharu ee sync sound ni handle chesthunnaaru yekkuva ga as of I know... Sare, aa movies yento okasaari chooddhaam.

wirally.com