[Merle Becker]

I should also clarify (or, re-emphasize), that the only “Direct Out” 4 channel Quicktimes we’ve successfully exported have had 4 MONO tracks.

[Merle Becker]

Hi Michael, thank you for your response. Unfortunately, we’ve tried the Mixdown / Direct Out method a few different ways, each with no luck. Here’s what was tried:

– We mixed down the entire show to one stereo track, mixed down the M&E’s to one stereo track, then deleted all stems so that the sequence only had two stereo mixdowns (the whole show, and just the M&E’s). We then did an export with “Direct Out” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which resulted in (as one might expect) two interleaved stereo tracks (which, the network is asking for four tracks, not two):

NETWORK REQUIREMENTS:
CH 1: LT – Full Mix (Left Total)
CH 2: RT – Full Mix (Right Total)
CH 3: Music & Effects (Left)
CH 4: Music & Effects (Right)

– (Just for kicks) We also mixed down the entire show to two mono tracks, mixed down the M&E’s to two mono tracks, deleted all stems so that the sequence only had four mono mixdowns, panned each track as follows (to achieve a “fake stereo”: A1-L A2-R A3-L A4-R). We then did an export with “Direct Out” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which, (as I guessed it would), resulted in 4 mono tracks.

– And, as per Avid Tech’s suggestion we mixed down the entire show to one stereo track, mixed down the M&E’s to one stereo track, then deleted all stems so that the sequence only had two stereo mixdowns (the whole show, and just the M&E’s). We then did an export with “Stereo” selected under Export Settings > Audio Format, which also resulted in two interleaved stereo tracks (as you might guess), not four.

(FYI, the video setting was “Same As Source” for all of the above exports).

So, it seems as if, by nature, “Direct Out” won’t split two stereo tracks into four independent tracks, which is what the Network is asking for. We’re still trying to figure out a way to accomplish the above network deliverables, though. Any additional thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

And, thanks again Michael for the response.