What is required to setup a mid-level video prodution studio

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plainman007

Well-known member
Hello All,

Can you tell us what components one should invest in to start a video production studio. Im not talking high-end. Maybe mid-level should do. Basically i would just look at recovering my equipment costs instead of looking to make an actual profiit out of it (though later i wont be upset if i made something on the side) since we are in the live events industry. We primarily wanted to setup this studio so that we didnt have to outsource work for our own shows. So then we figured we'd anyway be investing so might as well make it a small editing suite so that we could primarily do our own work and also do some outjobs for others who need it.

Our plan was :

1. DVX102 B Camera. Pal Version. (what accessories may we need to transfer our shoots in the highest possible quality to the computer ?)
2. A opteron dual core computer with 2 GB ram, 3 sata 7200 rpm drives, 5.1 sound card, Nvidia graphis card, External preview TV 12".
3. Vegas 6 + DVD suite. (currently own only studio platinum version)
4. ACID movie studio (when we need to cut audio tracks for some clients).
5. An airconditioned 100 sqft suite with wall to wall carpeting (for sound damping in case of audio dub).

What else will we need to get started ?? Paltry questions i know. But id like to hear it from professionals like yourselves. Any other hardware we might require ? Plz keep in mind that we cant go too costy either since its primarily for personal use. If it catches up then we might turn it into a larger unit.

Thank you.
 
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Well you'll want a firewire cable to transfer your shots to the computer. (You'll also want to make sure the computer has a firewire card or firewire ports) I'd also recommend a miniDV deck or a cheap miniDV camcorder to use as a deck. This will save the life of the heads on your DVX. Oh, and a nice comfy chair might not be a bad idea either. :)
 
Hi Butcher,

Thanks. Your suggesting a cheap minidv camcorder for ? transfering to the computer. There wont be a problem in transfering a dv tape shot in 24pa using a normal cheap dvcam ? would a mini dv deck cost cheaper than a dvcam or viceversa ? How many hours would you average the life of a dvx head ?
 
Just quick note: the PAL version of the DVX100B doesn't shoot 24pa, but 25p.
And yes, any cheap cam will transfer it just fine (as long as it's the same format, i.e. PAL or NTSC).
 
Yep. Beings it's digital, using a cheap cam would work just as good with no quality loss. As for the life of the DVX's heads, I couldn't tell you for sure. Some people have said they last 1000-1500 hours, some say over 3000. But, if you use a different camera for playback/recording, it's safe to say that you're doubling or at least coming close to doubling the life of your camera.
 
5. An airconditioned 100 sqft suite with wall to wall carpeting (for sound damping in case of audio dub).
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For audio work, take a look at Jay Rose's book Audio Postproduction for Digital Video. see dplay.com for buying instructions, it's $30.

It has information on how to build your own sound dampening panels. I wouldn't use carpeting, since it only absorbs high frequencies and not mid or low frequencies. This means you'll have a build-up in those frequencies.

To do scratch VO work, you'll need a microphone and preamp and D-->A and headphones.

Example microphone recommendations: Whatever microphone you use for your camera (i.e. a good shotgun or hypercardioid), Audio Technica 3030 or 2020 (budget VO mics). There are many other good microphones out there, and they don't cost much.

You want a microphone stand to hang the mic upside down, and something like a music stand to hold paper to read off of. Jay Rose's book has details on that stuff.

For a digital-analog convertor / sound interface, something like a M-audio USBPre would work. If you want to go cheaper, get a M-audio sound card and a cheap mixer.

The easiest way to deal with ambient noise is to pick a room which is quiet (nothing loud happening outside) and with quiet equipment inside (quiet computer, A/C).

2- If you want outside clients:
--You need someone who is good at selling your services.
--Your facility should be presentable, so it makes the client happy / you look professional to them. If your clients aren't happy, then they'll leave... which is not good for business.

3- If you need to make broadcast masters, you may need some additional equipment.
If you need to make small volumes of DVDs, then you might want a DVD duplicator (or replicator, I mix the two terms up).
 
NO 5.1 surround builtin surround card...use a higher end soundcard to really hear what you have. A good set of monitor speakers--(FLAT SOUNDING) to hear the noise. Try to get a professional TV monitor- like the PVM series from Sony that has a blue only option for calibration and 550 lines of resolution vs 480. And a dual monitor setup will keep you editor happy vs using only one. In addition...try to get a mixer so you won't have to rely on the mouse. Maybe the Mackie Control Universal or M-Audio Project I/O. PS get the real good sequencer and master program into the mix...ie Soundforge,wavelab. PT. or Nuendo.
 
I would echo the suggestion for a dual monitor set up. I just switched from a single 17-inch to two 19-inch and oh-what-a-difference it makes. There is a lot of depth to Vegas it can maddening trying to switch back and forth through it all.

Also, you mentioned the camera, but not a tripod. Thats and obvious must-have item. As for the computer, VideoGuys (videoguys.com -- go to their DYI page) recently tested dual processors on vegas and found the AMD chips were superior in most if not all categories to the pentiums.
 
If you're looking for an absolute, top of the line processor, then check out the new intel core 2 processors. Tomshardware recently did a benchmark comparing that chip to the AMD 64 FX's. The results were impressive to say the least. The overclocked core 2 can really do some impressive stuff. They are, however, quite expensive.
 
butcher2008 said:
If you're looking for an absolute, top of the line processor, then check out the new intel core 2 processors. Tomshardware recently did a benchmark comparing that chip to the AMD 64 FX's. The results were impressive to say the least. The overclocked core 2 can really do some impressive stuff. They are, however, quite expensive.
Click to expand...


Just out of curiosity, did they do benchmarking with video editing involved? Well, I suppose I could go read the article. It's just that the previous post says Videoguys ran their own tests and AMD was the winner...
 
Yep, they did video editing. Well, idk about editing but they did encoding/rendering to various codecs. They also did 3 or 4 benchmarks working with HDV. On these, as well as all other tests, the Intel Core 2 processors came out on top.

EDIT: I checked out the videoguys site.....looks like they tested the AMD verses the Intel Pentium D 900. The Intel Core 2 chips are much more powerful than the Pentium D chips.
 
OK...so a DVX and a comp with firewire and a seperate sound card for 5.1 right ?

What about lights ? Can one use stage lights (which we use for our stage shows) to light scenes. Also during day shoots is it neccesary to use lights or have many of you got away with just shooting with natural light and maybe only reflectors etc ? Like for example some of you guys shoot real estate houses etc. Sure you may not be lighting the house during your moving shots. Also ive noticed fantastic footage from the dvx100 in open day scenes where the distance proves that there couldnt have been any lights used. What do you guys do when your in the open ?
 
plainman007 said:
OK...so a DVX and a comp with firewire and a seperate sound card for 5.1 right ?
Click to expand...

Will you be creating 5.1 soundtracks? In reality most people dont. I would get a great sound card and invest in a high end set of headphones.
 
I wouldn't mix on headphones... they let you hear too much, which makes your mix too subtle. Your audience won't hear the things you're hearing. Headphones are useful though because they do let you hear everything... i.e. in noise reduction and dialogue editing.
 
So what else will i need ?

A dual opteron or intel dualcore. Vegas runs better on which ?

Ok so a good quality sound card with normal stereo going into wall mounted stereo speakers. And a pair of good headphones for NR adjustments etc.

Also i have one of those msi motherboards where thru the headphones jack i can actually hear the harddrive running as an interference along with other electrical noises. Is that because it has no soundcard and the sound is built into the board ? Actually with a dedicated sound card, when you play a wav file from harddisk does it output equal clarity to that of a cd player ? I dont want my new comp to have this problem.

What video card should i get ? If it actually matters ?
 
A dual opteron or intel dualcore. Vegas runs better on which ?
Sorry, don't know. Most benchmarks show core2 being better, although I haven't looked at prices and haven't seen relevant Vegas benchmarks.

Ok so a good quality sound card with normal stereo going into wall mounted stereo speakers. And a pair of good headphones for NR adjustments etc.
You may not necessarily want to mount speakers in the wall because it might resonate with the wall. That's unless you isolate the speakers from the wall, but that's expensive.

A good pair of headphones doesn't cost much (i.e. Sony MDR-7506 or V-6 and you're set; the more expensive stuff sounds better, but it's overkill).

But anyways, I don't do audio.


Also i have one of those msi motherboards where thru the headphones jack i can actually hear the harddrive running as an interference along with other electrical noises. Is that because it has no soundcard and the sound is built into the board ?
Built-in sound is prone to interference; a sound card or external USB/firewire sound device will solve this (I think the external ones are slightly better).

What video card should i get ? If it actually matters ?
Vegas currently doesn't take advantage of GPU / video card acceleration except for MBE. Even if it does do GPU acceleration in the future, you are better off not buying right away (because video cards get faster/cheaper).

2- Really, the missing ingredient is you diving into things. Test stuff out, play around with this, learn from your experience. Having experience and knowing what you're doing will improve your productions more than the equipment you use.

You can read books too- the knowledge won't hurt. But while advice is generally sound, some advice (including mine!!) is bad. So by testing stuff out, you'll gain experience in what works and what doesn't.
 
Hi Glen,

I dont understand "diving into things", i just wanted to buy (configure) a machine which will be apt for Vegas and the DVX102B. I cant buy those things and then learn and change. That too not when im doing them only as a side line of work since i mainly happen to be in the live events industry. So how ?
 
If you are pretty good with computers, you can always do a DIY system. videoguys.com have several different NLE systems they've put together that they post instructions for. It takes the guess work out of compatibility issues :) I built the DIY II system last year and have been very happy with it.
 
I dont understand "diving into things", i just wanted to buy (configure) a machine which will be apt for Vegas and the DVX102B. I cant buy those things and then learn and change.

Ok, there was a bit of a catch 22 in my post. But what you can do is get the basic equipment you really need and start from there. In terms of the computer, any relatively modern computer will work. A Pentium III with a firewire card will work fine. You may get sick and tired of the performance, in which case you'll have a better idea of what computer you should buy. If you only do a little bit of editing, I don't think a dual Opteron would be justified. It costs a few thousand more, and it's only somewhat faster than a single CPU system. If you find you do a lot of editing work, then get the dual Opteron (or dual Xeons).

Or I guess my real point was... don't focus on the toys (equipment) that much. Although to put out quality work, you do need to make sure you have all the basic equipment you really need. So some people are recommending a control surface for example (and it might make sense for their production studio)... but you don't really need it at all. In terms of the computer, I'd just get a single CPU system. They cost like $1200 (depends highly on what you put in it) but they will stack up well against the dual CPU systems.

Does that make more sense?
 
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