Encoding and reproduction of three dimensional audio soundtracks

1. A method of encoding an audio soundtrack, comprising the steps of:

receiving a base mix signal representing a physical sound;

receiving at least one object audio signal, each object audio signal having at least one audio object component of the audio soundtrack;

receiving at least one object mix cue stream, the object mix cue streams defining mixing parameters of the object audio signals;

receiving at least one object render cue stream, the object render cue streams defining rendering parameters for rendering the object audio signals in a target spatial audio format;

encoding the object audio signals by a first audio encoding processor to obtain encoded object audio signals that contain encoded audio objects;

decoding the encoded object audio signals by a first audio decoding processor;

utilizing the decoded object audio signals and the object mix cue streams to combine the audio object components with the base mix signal, thereby obtaining a downmix signal; and

multiplexing the downmix signal, the encoded object audio signals, the object render cue streams, and the object mix cue streams to form a soundtrack data stream.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the downmix signal is encoded by a second audio encoding processor before being multiplexed.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the second audio encoding processor is a lossy digital encoding processor.

4. A method of decoding an audio soundtrack, representing a physical sound, comprising the steps of:

receiving a soundtrack data stream, having:

a downmix signal representing an audio scene;

at least one object audio signal, the object audio signals having at least one audio object component of the audio soundtrack;

at least one object mix cue stream, the object mix cue streams defining mixing parameters of the object audio signals; and

at least one object render cue stream, the object render cue streams defining rendering parameters for rendering the object audio signals in a target spatial audio format;

utilizing the object audio signals and the object mix cue streams to substantially remove at least one audio object component from the downmix signal, thereby obtaining a residual downmix signal;

applying a spatial format conversion to the residual downmix signal, thereby outputting a converted residual downmix signal, wherein the spatial format conversion utilizes spatial parameters determined by the target spatial audio format;

utilizing the object audio signals and the object render cue streams to derive at least one object rendering signal; and

combining the converted residual downmix signal and the object rendering signal to obtain a soundtrack rendering signal.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the audio object component is subtracted from the downmix signal.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the audio object component is substantially removed from the downmix signal such that the audio object component is unnoticeable in the downmix signal.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the downmix signal is an encoded audio signal.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the downmix signal is decoded by an audio decoder.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein the object audio signals are mono audio signals.

10. The method of claim 4 , wherein the object audio signals are multi-channel audio signals having at least 2 channels.

11. The method of claim 4 , wherein the object audio signals are discrete loudspeaker-feed audio channels.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the audio object components are voices, instruments, or sound effects of the audio scene.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the spatial audio format represents a listening environment.

14. An audio encoding processor, comprising:

a receiver processor for receiving:

a base mix signal representing a physical sound;

at least one object audio signal, each object audio signal having at least one audio object component of the audio soundtrack;

at least one object mix cue stream, the object mix cue streams defining mixing parameters of the object audio signals; and

at least one object render cue stream, the object render cue streams defining rendering parameters for rendering the object audio signals in a target spatial audio format;

a first audio encoding processor for encoding the object audio signals to obtain encoded object audio signals that contain encoded audio objects;

a first audio decoding processor for decoding the encoded object audio signals;

a combining processor for combining the audio object components with the base mix signal based on the decoded object audio signals and the object mix cue streams, the combining processor outputting a downmix signal; and

a multiplexer processor for multiplexing the downmix signal, the encoded object audio signals, the object render cue streams, and the object mix cue streams to form a soundtrack data stream.

15. The audio encoding processor of claim 14 , wherein the downmix signal is encoded by a second audio encoding processor before being multiplexed.

16. An audio decoding processor, comprising:

a receiving processor for receiving:

a downmix signal representing an audio scene;

at least one object audio signal, the object audio signal having at least one audio object component of the audio scene;

at least one object mix cue stream, the object mix cue streams defining mixing parameters of the object audio signals; and

at least one object render cue stream, the object render cue stream defining rendering parameters for rendering the object audio signals in a target spatial format;

an object audio processor for substantially removing at least one audio object component from the downmix signal based on the object audio signals and the object mix cue streams, and outputting a residual downmix signal;

a spatial format converter for applying a spatial format conversion to the residual downmix signal, thereby outputting a converted residual downmix signal, wherein the spatial format converter utilizes spatial parameters determined by the target spatial audio format;

a rendering processor for processing the object audio signals and the object render cue streams to derive at least one object rendering signal; and

a combining processor for combining the converted residual downmix signal and the object rendering signal to obtain a soundtrack rendering signal.

17. The audio decoding processor of claim 16 , wherein the audio object component is subtracted from the downmix signal.

18. The audio decoding processor of claim 16 , wherein the audio object component is partially removed from the downmix signal such that the audio object component is unnoticeable in the downmix signal.

19. A method of decoding an audio soundtrack, representing a physical sound, comprising the steps of:

receiving a soundtrack data stream, having:

a downmix signal representing an audio scene;

at least one object audio signal, the object audio signal having at least one audio object component of the audio soundtrack; and

at least one object render cue stream, the object render cue stream defining rendering parameters for rendering the object audio signals in a target spatial format;

utilizing the object audio signals and the object render cue streams to substantially remove at least one audio object component from the downmix signal, thereby obtaining a residual downmix signal;

applying a spatial format conversion to the residual downmix signal, thereby outputting a converted residual downmix signal, wherein the spatial format converter utilizes spatial parameters determined by the target spatial audio format;

utilizing the object audio signals and the object render cue streams to derive at least one object rendering signal; and

combining the converted residual downmix signal and the object rendering signal to obtain a soundtrack rendering signal.