First line,left:Lu Hongyao, Wang Zexiang, Liu Zili, Sui Chunli, Jia Maoshen, Yang Yuhui; Second line, left: Wang Ligang, Dong Jian, Hao Xinya, Zhao Qian, Shen Ruixiue, Haiwei, Li Dongmei, Wang Chen, Feng Jingchi, Wang Hao; Third line, left: Yan Zhiyuan, Zhang Chenhui, Fu Yufeng, Wang Huan, Liu Bo, Miao Qiang, Wang Shusen
Section Activity Report for the 6th meeting 2018,Beijing China
On December 5, 2018, the AES Beijing Section held the last seminar of the year. The seminar was very special and was held at the International Stadium, a large-scale panoramic sci-fi work "Daring Dinosaurs".
As usual, the members who attended the meeting first briefly introduced their names and occupations, especially the story involved AES. Today, there are: Li Guoqi, Lu Hongyao, Jia Wei, Wang Shusen, Wang Zexiang, Liu Zili, Qi Chunli, Feng Jingyi, Luo Fei, Wang Wei, Dong Jian, Wang Ligang, Zhang Huicheng, Wang Jin, Yan Zhiyuan, Wang Chen, Fu Yufeng, Miao Qiang, Liu Bo, Li Dongmei, several students from Communication University of China, and the staff of "Daring Dinosaurs".
Part of the participants:
First line,left:Lu Hongyao, Wang Zexiang, Liu Zili, Sui Chunli, Jia Maoshen, Yang Yuhui;
Second line, left: Wang Ligang, Dong Jian, Hao Xinya, Zhao Qian, Shen Ruixiue, Haiwei, Li Dongmei, Wang Chen, Feng Jingchi, Wang Hao;
Third line, left: Yan Zhiyuan, Zhang Chenhui, Fu Yufeng, Wang Huan, Liu Bo, Miao Qiang, Wang Shusen
In the membership meeting, Mr. Wang Shusen first reported on the participation in the AES 145th New York Convention, and then proposed the next step to carry out capacity training among members. He invited members present, especially teachers and experts from several universities, to advise on the on-the-job training of practitioners. Professor Li Guoqi from Beijing University of Technology first spoke. While engaged in academic education, he is very concerned about and supports on-the-job education, and is often invited to train employees for business units. He made three suggestions for the AES training program:
1) Cognitive education of sound should start from the three levels of physics, psychology and aesthetics. In summary, acoustic problems are scientific, technical, and artistic;
2) Regarding audio technology training, there has been a training system for Audio technicians and senior sound engineers in the past, but it is still not perfect enough to be studied in details;
3) Regarding the listening training subject, we have already accumulated a certain amount of experience. The software of "The Ears - Listening Training System" has been well received by everyone.
Prof. Sui Chunli, a senior expert with rich training experience, added that skills training is an important part of activities and should be vigorously carried out. It is recommended that the AES section be able to provide standardized courses and qualified faculty for a variety of training institutions. He put forward his own views on the "listening evaluation" training. He believes that training should be started from the "listening evaluator" and wait until he has the ability and sufficient experience before being promoted to a listening appraiser.
Luo Fei explained the necessity of training practitioners from the development of the business. He also suggested that the AES should also give positive guidance on the quality of the training courses and promote the standardization of the training market.
Teacher Li Guoqi and Teacher Sui Chunli
After the membership meeting, the symposium officially began. Today's theme is "algorithm." The keynote speaker at the first lecture were Yang Yuhui and Feng Jingyi who had traveled from Hong Kong to Beijing to attend the seminar. The topic they addressed was "New Algorithm regarding Stereo up mixing to Multi-Channel."
They presented and demonstrated an algorithm that extracts sound direction from stereo audio content by calculating an estimated angle of incidence of sound in each subband in each time slice using intensity and phase difference data from STFT in a simple equation. The algorithm is then able to assign each subband in each time slice to suitable speaker(s) in an N-channel surround sound system on the horizontal plane and reconstitute the full stereo signal in a logical and audibly convincing surround upmix using relatively few computational resources with low latency.
Yang Yuhui and Feng Jingyi gave their presentation
block diagram for Yang Yihui and Feng Jingyi's "algorithm" process
Schematic diagram of the "algorithm" mask scheme of Yang Yuhui and Feng Jingyi
They demonstrated some stereo works on the spot through their own software, which was transformed into an 8-channel effect after their algorithm processing. Everyone felt very satisfied, the width of the sound image was turned on, and it did not affect the positioning of the original main sound source. Wang Chen was very interested in this, on the spot expressed the hope to try this software in the next project they undertake.
In the afternoon, in order to add some necessary knowledge of algorithms and mathematical calculations, we asked the secretary of the section, Dr. Jia Maoshen from Beijing University of Technology to give us a "mathematics class". Dr. Jia talked about the Fourier transform of continuous signals and the Fourier transform of discrete signals from the Fourier series of periodic signals. A method for analyzing the spectrum of an audio signal using discrete Fourier transform is introduced. Later, he combined his own research work to describe two examples of Fourier transform in specific audio signal processing: multi-channel audio object coding method using signal sparsity characteristics and multi-sound source localization method based on sparse characteristics.
Dr. Jia Maoshen's live lecture
The graphic "Fourier transform" principle provided by Dr. Jia Maoshen
After today's theme "the Algorithm", the listening evaluation section of "AES Engineer Training Camp" began. Today, Wang Zexiang and Liu Zili have brought their latest research results. They used a short reverb source for testing the sound quality of the hall (usually recorded in a semi-anechoic environment), adding different reverberation time through the software to simulate different hall acoustic effects. This method can be used in the listening evaluation course to guide the participants to listen to the influence of different reverberation time on the source of the program. Everyone thinks their demo is very rewarding.
Workshop held by Wang Zexiang and Liu Zili
Then, the event reached today's highlights---introduction and observation of the panoramic technology used in "Daring Dinosaurs."
This session was initiated and planned by Huang Weiwen, the founder and general manager of WFS Acoustic Holographic System Technology. He himself failed to rush to the event because he was performing in the field. Under the careful organization and arrangement of Mr. Huang, his cooperation team took on the task of reception and presentation. First of all, Jiang Jiahui, the deputy manager of the equipment department of "Dragon Dinosaur" and the head of the general control system, introduced the development process of the "Dragon Dinosaur" project through many precious pictures. Everyone was attracted by his vivid explanation, and was eager to see the event at the scene.
Jiang Jiahui, "Daring Dinosaurs", introduces the project details.
Then, the chief producer of "Daring Dinosaurs", the famous large-scale real-life creative expert Mr. He Lide came to the meeting to share with us the creative concept of the play, the challenges encountered in the implementation process and the final solution. Mr. He Lide and Zhang Yimou co-produced "Impression - Liu Sanjie" and successfully made the performance into a business name card of Guilin Tourism through market operation. When he talked about the hard process of creating "Dragons in the Distance", he mentioned the importance of sound effects and the difficulty of making them. He proposed a research and development topic for AES members - the sound of asteroids hitting the earth. Wang Shusen accepted the request of General He, and planned to collect sound works from members to contribute to the wisdom and wisdom of AES members for the quality improvement of the performance.
Mr. He Lide, the founder of "Daring Dinosaurs", introduced the concept of creation to the scene.
Simulating the scene of an asteroid hitting the earth
Next, Jiang Jiahui and the head of the total control sound system, Tang Jianbo, led the guests to visit the on-site master control center. The control center is located above the show stand, which is the performance process command center and the sound and light image control center. The whole performance process is pre-programmed, and is automatically controlled by the host program. Some of the voice-over passages need to be controlled by humans to ensure accuracy and smooth flow. Members carefully asked the field engineers about the architecture of the sound system and learned about the configuration of the WFS system.
Jiang Jiahui and Tang Jianbo lead members to visit the venue
Live performance control center
After visiting the control room, the members came to the audience to watch the whole show. Members were impressed by the exquisite performance and the stunning sound effects.
Members affirmed the effect of the WSF system in the performance, and also proposed some aspects that need improvement. Everyone believes that such a live performance does bring an immersive feeling to the audience. However, due to the venue and safety considerations, it is necessary to make various efforts to achieve a true "immersive" effect.
Opening scene of "Daring Dinosaurs"
One of the real scenes of "Daring Dinosaurs"
Finally, the members expressed their satisfaction with the organization of the event and hoped to organize more technical seminars with the form of visits.
Thanks again to Huang Weiwen for providing such meaningful learning opportunities to the members! We all would like to thank the creative team of the "Dragon Dinosaur" crew for their support and cooperation and wish "Daring Dinosaurs" has a satisfactory market expectation, and hope that the production team will further improve the sound effects and make greater contributions to the sound production of immersive live performances!
AES Beijing membership report
Writer: Wang Shusen
Information provided: Huang Weiwen, Wang Zexiang, Liu Zili, Jia Wei, Jiang Jiahui, Yang Yuhui, Feng Jingyi
Photo courtesy of Dong Jian, Wang Shusen, Jiang Jiahui, Jia Wei, Yang Yuhui
December 2018 Beijing
