Creating a Studio from Scratch

[Mark Suszko]

Well, the biggest thing you can do to save money is hire an actual broadcast consulting engineer to spec everything out. There are just so many variables to weigh and so many factors, the expense of the pro advice is offset by the savings from not doing it wrong and then having to do it over. He or she will also know where you can effectively cut corners to save money without sacrificing quality or capability.

In the area of lighting, I work in a government production facility and we are very happy with our grid of Videssence flouros. They use little power, don’t make heat, which means less power used to cool the studio and less noise from fans results, and the tubes, while pricy at the beginning, run seemingly forever compared to tungsten halogen lighting. Long term, they save a LOT of money thru reduced electricty usage and HVAC support.

[Edward Clay]

If thats your list I didn’t see a switcher or any of the distribution/terminal equipment. Might be important as well. As for lighting, Mark hit the nail on the head, you probably need a consultant, if not, look at the set you will be using, then from that a determination needs to be made as to how much actual light you will need. Whether or not your going to have a ceiling grid, or go with lights on stands, whether this is a full time operational studio or something that is used every now and then, when some commissioner thinks about doing something, and is the room really a studio, or is it the media directors office? You have to factor in the room, and I guess lastly where are you broadcasting, cable, internet?

My thoughts

Ed

[Del Holford]

I would agree that the best thing you can do is hire someone who has done it. I work at a community licensed public television station and we have just two engineers. When it came time to transition from analog to digital and had to buy new equipment and install it, two engineers already had plenty to do and then had to help with designing the new facility. We bid out the integration/installation and had several good companies competing. On our own we wouldn’t have had the time or the skill to make the transition. All of our people are very talented and often freelance for sports production but to create something we knew too little about and didn’t have the time to research, we went with consultants who got the job done. There were some compromises for budget reasons, but overall we are pleased with the results. Everyone had input in the process and got mostly what they wanted, though a few $$ more wouldn’t hurt.

You may know production and studio design and you may not need Walters/Storyk to create your new facility. On the other hand, a local/regional design/consulting group would help create and maximize a budget for whatever you plan to do and give you additional manpower to do it. Also, your funding agency will thing you are pretty sharp to use professional consulting and don’t claim to know it all.

Del
fire*, smoke*, photoshopCS2
Charlotte Public Television

[Tom J]

I totally agree about a systems integrator and engineer. There are many variables to consider and to potentially let one slip you by without a systems integrator / engineer could be painful.

Just some thoughts about actual product that you may or may not have considered.

I agree with the “Videssence” units they are a nice product. Personally though I use Kino’s – Diva’s, Flatheads, 4bank, and the ever awesome Blanket Lite (but it is expensive). The other units though are not too expensive all things considered. So it depends on your location, cyc, space, power, etc.

As for protection for your equipment and to condition the power for the space, Furman is high on my list.

https://www.furmansound.com/

But to save some cash, https://www.tripplite.com/ isn’t half bad either.

I am not sure what headsets you are after (i.e. talent, crew or both), but currently where I am at, we use an entire line of Clearcoms. I-Stations, Biscuits (wall boxes), party line wired and wireless belt packs and IFB’s.

https://www.clearcom.com/Products/products_index.html

But another route would be RTS by Telex which is also popular:

https://www.telex.com/Intercoms/Default.aspx

Remember, an integrator / engineer will save you and your client from plenty of headaches.

There’s some of my quick .02, hope that helps,
Tom