Chuck’s notes about BGs in the overhead speaker is right on. As soon as they become noticeable it’s too much. I’ll often raise them just to the point of intelligibility and then back off a bit. The subtly will definitely still be there and it’s noticeable when switching between Atmos & 7.1 without being distracting.

Cutting specific BGs for overheads is also a must in Atmos. Not only does it give greater clarity and specificity to each area of the room, it can also help avoid potential BG buildup with making the subsequent 7.1, 5.1, 2.0 fold-down versions.

Since Pro Tools doesn’t currently support 9.1 panning, having the Atmos overhead tracks as an Aux send on the BG tracks is a useful way to send just some level to the overheads when needed, similar to a panner.

I usually ask an editor to provide a minimum of five different BG tracks for any active BG scene, at least one each for: Center (usually a mono BG), Left-Right, Surround Sides, Surround Rears, Atmos Overheads. This gives me plenty of flexibility to create a full Atmos bed and then use Atmos Objects additionally to fine-tune the space.

Thanks, Gabe