M & E Stems

General Notes and Recommendations

  • If M&E Stems are created as part of the creation M&E workflow, they should be archived.
  • Summing the M&E Stems at unity gain should equal the Main M&E. Peak limiting may be used at the discretion of the mix team.
  • There should be a set of M&E stems for each Main M&E audio configuration created.
  • Anything removed from the Main M&E and put in Optionals should not be in the M&E stems.
  • The Dialogue stem should be modified to mute all Dialogue, keeping all PFX that are in the clear. This is often called a “Flip” stem in the vernacular, hearkening back to the days when Dialogue was cut on mag and flipped over as a way of muting it, keeping everything in sync.
  • Fill can be added to the “flipped” M&E Stem, or can there be a separate fill stem.
  • There should be a separate set of M&E’s Stems for Theatrical and Nearfield.

Formatting Recommendations

  • The M&E Stems should follow the same layout as the Printmaster Stems.
  • It is common to put all M&E Stem types into one DAW session for a given audio configuration. Each stem type can be delivered separately if delivery requirements dictate.
  • 7.1 and 5.1 M&E stems must be individual consolidated channels as Broadcast Wave (.wav) files and in separate workstation sessions. The workstation session may contain a 7.1 or 5.1 session track, or it may contain individual mono tracks. Each track must be named to reflect its audio configuration and channel assignment.
  • Theatrical and Nearfield M&E Stems should have the same layout for consistency.
  • Immersive M&E Stems should be delivered as multiple wide beds with any associated objects in its own DAW session.
    • In an immersive Mix, the Re-Recording mixer may configure M&E stem beds and object channel configuration as desired, but in general it is best to have a close match with the printmaster stems.
    • Each M&E Stem type must have separate beds and objects.
    • In general, the first M&E stem bed track begins at track one and goes to track 10, 12 or 14 respectively. The next stem bed follows. After all stem beds, the objects then start at the next numbered track.
    • All objects for the program should be contained in the M&E stems session. Dialogue objects should be muted.