5.1 mixing

[King Cheung]

Dear all,
I'm mixing a film by 5.1. I wonder if I should put all the dialogues in the front center monitor or all thee front monitors. Then where should I put the frontal ambient sound, only both left and right or all three frontal monitors?
Thanks a lot in advance.
King

 

[Marc Wielage]

Aside from telling you not to try to mix your own film (and hiring professionals in a calibrated workspace), I would advise you to read the large number of discussions on the Gearslutz Sound Post-Production section:

https://www.gearslutz.com/board/post-production-forum/

Levels and balance have to be very carefully maintained, and there are industry standards for loudness and individual track stems. I think it's fair to say the majority of dialogue generally goes in the center channel, but there are always exceptions. There are distributors who frown on dialogue that pans to the left and right speakers, as well as the problem of placing any dialogue in the surrounds, because this can be problematic for viewers who watch on stereo TVs or on computer displays without surround speakers. Stereo/surround compatibility can be tricky for broadcast as well.