Studio layout advice requested

Thanks everyone for your kind, gracious technical and business input and advice.

The "field of dreams/hopes" can be a bad influence for sure. Even if my income were to stay the same I can still make it. The man cave approach would be cheap but working around not having a place to meet clients is a hassle and limitation.

I've talked with architect about the things raised here. Studio reworked a bit to allow for air gap, more dressing room space and increased depth for camera distance.

What kind of connections do I need going to the room atop the storage room for observation for a client watching the studio? I want to factor that in up front so it's ready in the future.

Would a proper full on green room be acceptable upstairs?
 
Let's call that upstairs observation room the Production Office. It needs:

- Plenty of electrical sockets for lots of laptops and phone chargers
- An HDMI run for a large client monitor. I suggest you simply buy a large 4K TV at your local Best Buy and mount it to the wall so you can use the space on off hours as your personal lounge. If a client wants a professional monitor than they can bring in their own.
- An intercom system of some type to talk to the people on the stage. That could be as simple as a way to open the window but it's not particularly civilized to shout back & forth. Sometimes it's headsets and sometimes there's a speaker setup. Just remember to make it a 2-way setup because no one likes to be barked at.
- Air conditioning in this room. Remember, they're the people paying so you want them happy.
- Comfy sofas lining back wall. Keep them happy. Plus a nice spot for you when you watch TV.
- Long tables with desk chairs along wall with window overlooking stage so that people can work while looking at what's happening on set.
- For the lighting in the office you should consider overheads for general work as well as task desk lamps in case they want things dark for an effect on set and need to block stray light from the production office. You could also get venetian blinds for the window.

I think the green room upstairs isn't the best. You want the fewest people going up & down as little as possible.
 
Mitch Gross said:
Let's call that upstairs observation room the Production Office. It needs:

- Plenty of electrical sockets for lots of laptops and phone chargers
- An HDMI run for a large client monitor. I suggest you simply buy a large 4K TV at your local Best Buy and mount it to the wall so you can use the space on off hours as your personal lounge. If a client wants a professional monitor than they can bring in their own.
- An intercom system of some type to talk to the people on the stage. That could be as simple as a way to open the window but it's not particularly civilized to shout back & forth. Sometimes it's headsets and sometimes there's a speaker setup. Just remember to make it a 2-way setup because no one likes to be barked at.
- Air conditioning in this room. Remember, they're the people paying so you want them happy.
- Comfy sofas lining back wall. Keep them happy. Plus a nice spot for you when you watch TV.
- Long tables with desk chairs along wall with window overlooking stage so that people can work while looking at what's happening on set.
- For the lighting in the office you should consider overheads for general work as well as task desk lamps in case they want things dark for an effect on set and need to block stray light from the production office. You could also get venetian blinds for the window.

I think the green room upstairs isn't the best. You want the fewest people going up & down as little as possible.
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Thank you much Mitch. That made it very clear for me
 
On room colour I’d go completely white - not black behind camera - you need to minimise reflections - have you eve photographed something chromosome like a motorcycle? You can add black drapes for texture.
Green should probably be curtain too?

You could have a small green (screen) room for doing a single upright presenter with upright camera- 8 by 15? With full time green cyc

This little space could be properly done for sound

I think this is a good idea!

Sound booth = green screen
 
One thing I would say you should do is to make sure you have some nice bates power. I'm in Houston, which has limited studio space and a couple of them, while nice just have 20 amp wall plugs. It seems like we're always using big lights in a studio space, so if you have the capability to offer power for higher wattage lights, you'll likely get clients with larger budgets.
 
morgan_moore said:
On room colour I’d go completely white - not black behind camera - you need to minimise reflections - have you eve photographed something chromosome like a motorcycle? You can add black drapes for texture.
Green should probably be curtain too?

You could have a small green (screen) room for doing a single upright presenter with upright camera- 8 by 15? With full time green cyc

This little space could be properly done for sound

I think this is a good idea!

Sound booth = green screen
Click to expand...

I have not shot chromium vehicles on a white cyc before. I read to cover everything around it black except the white cyc because white washes out the details but I am listening and trying to learn what to do. I also wondered if the areas behind camera should be white and ceiling white instead of black. Most people say black on everything. I do not know. I do want to shoot vehicles/objects in there like motorcycles and sport cars in addition to of course people.
Interesting idea about the alternate green (screen) room and sound. Being able to do white and green seems a challenge in a smaller building like I am doing so that may be a good idea. Thank you
 
robmneilson said:
One thing I would say you should do is to make sure you have some nice bates power. I'm in Houston, which has limited studio space and a couple of them, while nice just have 20 amp wall plugs. It seems like we're always using big lights in a studio space, so if you have the capability to offer power for higher wattage lights, you'll likely get clients with larger budgets.
Click to expand...

Thank you. Power draw is another thing I know I need to determine. Are you saying make sure to have 20 amp wall plugs and other ones also? How much power should I plan for?
 
firehawk said:
Thank you. Power draw is another thing I know I need to determine. Are you saying make sure to have 20 amp wall plugs and other ones also? How much power should I plan for?
Click to expand...

No, this means have some regular 20amp power circuits but also make proper studio power distribution. That means power drops using Bates connectors for high amperage large lights. What if someone wants to use a big HMI like a 4K? Way too much power draw for regular household circuits.
 
firehawk said:
I have not shot chromium vehicles on a white cyc before. I read to cover everything around it black except the white cyc because white washes out the details but I am listening and trying to learn what to do. I also wondered if the areas behind camera should be white and ceiling white instead of black. Most people say black on everything. I do not know. I do want to shoot vehicles/objects in there like motorcycles and sport cars in addition to of course people.
Interesting idea about the alternate green (screen) room and sound. Being able to do white and green seems a challenge in a smaller building like I am doing so that may be a good idea. Thank you
Click to expand...

It is my opinion (after owning/renting 3 studios) that you should make you space into a white box.

When photographing reflective things one can add black flags or drapes to give the object textrue. But make the space all white as the base.

Or you can go with a completely black box and add white (lights)

In general a white box will work if your majority is lifestyle and a black box would work if your majority is tech.

Of course a white box with the lights off is a black box - so that might be why I think white is most versatile.

Haing a white cyc with a black behind the camera is IMO not cool. Add black using flags and drapes.

A very fashionable thing is a white breeze block wall to lean models against , that would be the back wall of the cyc room
 
morgan_moore said:
It is my opinion (after owning/renting 3 studios) that you should make you space into a white box.

When photographing reflective things one can add black flags or drapes to give the object textrue. But make the space all white as the base.

Or you can go with a completely black box and add white (lights)

In general a white box will work if your majority is lifestyle and a black box would work if your majority is tech.

Of course a white box with the lights off is a black box - so that might be why I think white is most versatile.

Haing a white cyc with a black behind the camera is IMO not cool. Add black using flags and drapes.

A very fashionable thing is a white breeze block wall to lean models against , that would be the back wall of the cyc room
Click to expand...

Are you speaking from a stills perspective? Almost every dedicated TV/production studio I’ve ever been in with a white cyc, the rest of the space is flat black- floors, walls, doors, grid...
 
Run&Gun said:
Are you speaking from a stills perspective? Almost every dedicated TV/production studio I’ve ever been in with a white cyc, the rest of the space is flat black- floors, walls, doors, grid...
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Well I did start in stills (shooting in my garage) .. but sort of moved that to motion fillming to include some top end clients products. Motion products are way tricky because reflections move with the camera during a shot. Even more reason to be in a box or tent.

Sure you are not wrong that many studios are black at the back but that doesnt mean it is a good design.

Id have white breezblock walls at the rear (non plastered) because that makes a fashion backdrop and have black curtains. to draw over that when required.

You are going to get more light from six bounced off the back wall than shooting through 12.12 maybe
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Thank you everyone. I've been unable to get on the site and also very sick. What do you think about this idea to accomplish having a green space, white space and a black curtain for black?
 

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It did occur to me that if you lost the wall between garage and studio and just put in a track to slide black cloth on - if you ever needed the really big studio, you park the cars outside, open the dividing black cloth (here in the UK we'd use Bolton Twill material) and use the whole thing! Probably something like an epoxy floor would be best - that sounds really good to me!
 
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paulears said:
It did occur to me that if you lost the wall between garage and studio and just put in a track to slide black cloth on - if you ever needed the really big studio, you park the cars outside, open the dividing black cloth (here in the UK we'd use Bolton Twill material) and use the whole thing!
Click to expand...

Thank you. Yes I agree that is a great idea. But the issue is it's too big a financial stretch for me to use the garage also for a 56' wide studio (though I would love to! ) by the time I have build, power and light it. And since there is a much superior studio about an hour away I may do just as much work with a 29X44 vs a 56X44 studio space.

Due to engineering reasons if I build a wall to divide the garage space from the studio there are only certain places to attach it to the metal structure shell so that is why the studio section is a 30' section. Going beyond 30' changes the metal thickness and cost.
Which leaves basically a 29'8 studio width which will lose several more feet due to cyc curve at the floor. So I suppose after losing the curve space it will really only be about 23' wide. So I suppose the question is a 23W X 44D X 16H cyc really usable/sufficient or does it really need to be made wider?

Re:floor. Do you mean an epoxy coated concrete floor?
 
Yes - epoxy on concrete. Cost wise - would the dividing wall not be more expensive, as it's solid, tall and time consuming? I was thinking having easy to access space - even if the drapes stays in permanently - more useful. I have 6ft behind my green screen cloth - it's full of flight cases, storage bins, stands, spare lights etc and that 6ft here is pretty important - I'm not blessed with a huge space, but it's so worth it. With a heavy black drape, it's also one of your walls that is not reflective so also aids audio. If for instance you had a lot of people in a row, being able to open it means the camera to subject distance could get you that wide shot, a wall would prevent. Extra distance, into the vehicle area would seem extremely useful, and perfectly possible - and it won't be with the wall in. Soft divides are so useful. The more versatile your studio, the more use?
 
It is well woth considering putting the camera in the next room* Well having double doors from room to room that allow you to keep the camera back. My old studio we could shoot from the entrance corridor into the main space. Long lenses are good as out of focus backgrounds render well and clean even if dirty/crumpled

*not all the time but as an option.
 
I don't think the green screen setup in the same space is a good idea. That green screen space seems extremely small - just how useful would it be? For something so tiny you could simply erect a popup green screen when you needed it on the main stage. Just fabric on a frame. If you have the green screen where you placed it then crew and gear will end up all over it while shooting on the main white set. That will ruin the green screen. it just doesn't seem worth it to me.

If you don't want to use fabric green screen, build some lightweight foam board panels, paint them chroma green and store them in the garage when not in use.
 
I'm really glad I made my green screen a cloth and a green floor - I've not had a problem with this at all - 99% seems to not require full head to feet.
 
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