5.1 help appreciated!

That quarantine life has me going through and essentially redoing every edit I've ever done because I have a much better grasp on how to render and convert but still maintain sharp video image and good audio quality. This will probably sound dumb but when I first started using Final Cut, I didn't actually realize you could edit in 5.1 so all my edits were rendered in stereo. 

I don't really have an ear for audio and I don't have any time of surround sound set up in my house. I'm currently redoing my Dark Knight edit and now I'm super curious about something. For the most part I don't have to do any type of channel manipulation in my edit except near the end when Gordon and Batman are talking about Batman taking the fall for Dent. I've had to split the audio into six mono channels and only use one of them. Here's my question - If this audio is only a mono channel (and will have music added in stereo), how jarring will that change from 5.1 be to someone watching? Any advice would really be appreciated.

Ryantology said:

I've had to split the audio into six mono channels and only use one of them. Here's my question - If this audio is only a mono channel (and will have music added in stereo), how jarring will that change from 5.1 be to someone watching? Any advice would really be appreciated.

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Jarring.

You will need to create audio in the other tracks. This usually involves stealing from other channels/parts of the film and adding in score and foley.

Agreed, you need continuity of volume in all channels.

If you get stuck, PM me the scene with the original sound and your selection of mono channel and music. Loading it all into Audacity, I'll be able to see how difficult (or easy) the solution is.

ThrowgnCpr said:

Jarring.

You will need to create audio in the other tracks. This usually involves stealing from other channels/parts of the film and adding in score and foley.

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I appreciate the response. This won't be a big deal for my Dark Knight remaster as it's only one very minor segment (maybe a minute long). It's going to be a freaking nightmare for my Batman Begins edit that I'm concurrently starting. For that I'm talking 3-4 whole scenes, some of them major. So, looks like I'll just going to go bash my head into a wall for a bit.

Ryantology said:

I've had to split the audio into six mono channels and only use one of them. Here's my question - If this audio is only a mono channel (and will have music added in stereo), how jarring will that change from 5.1 be to someone watching? Any advice would really be appreciated.

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I think it really all depends on how your NLE handles the creation of 5.1 audio. In Vegas Pro you can set the placement of an audio track. I usually have six separate channels that I then pan Front L/R,  Front Center, Rear L/R, LFE. If you pan your stereo track slightly forward and center, it could possibly simulate the correct volumes for each channel (Front L/R & Rear L/R). Again, that's if your NLE can produce a 5.1 mix from the placement rather than a strict track/channel assignment. I was able to create a 5.1 mix for Shipwrecked using audacity's vocal remover, some Vegas filters and adjusting the volumes for each track to simulate the front and rear channels. So, as long as you can pan the sound to simulate what you would get and can manipulate/augment/filter your stereo track, you just might be able to get away with going from 2.0/2.1 to 5.1.

moneygroup said:

How do I learn to overlay sound on another sound?

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It all depends on what program(s) you are using and what the specific intent and desired outcome is. Sometimes it's as simple as adding another track and placing the sound there. Others you might want to crossfade.