The Influence of Stereoscopy on the Sound Mixing of Movies: A Study on the Front/Rear Balance of Ambience

Abstract : There is a range of opinions in the cinema industry about the appropriate influence of stereoscopy on the sound mixing for movies. The present study focuses on the perception of ambience. Eight sequences—in their stereoscopic and nonstereoscopic versions, with several different sound mixes—were presented to 44 subjects. For each presentation, subjects had to judge to what extent the mix sounded frontal or “surround.” The goal was to verify whether stereoscopy had an influence on the perception of the front/rear balance of ambience. Results showed that this influence was weak, which was consistent with a preliminary experiment conducted in a mixing auditorium where subjects had to mix the front/rear balance of several sequences themselves.