General equipment recommendations?

[John Fishback]

Find a couple of contractors in your area and call them up for a consult. It shouldn’t cost anything for a general talk – especially if it might lead to work down the road. Local folks will know local code requirements, etc.

John

MacPro 8-core 2.8GHz 8 GB RAM OS 10.5.5 QT7.5.5 Kona 3 Dual Cinema 23 ATI Radeon HD 3870
ATTO ExpressSAS R380 RAID Adapter, PDE Enclosure with 8-drive 6TB RAID 5
24″ TV-Logic Monitor
Final Cut Studio 2 (up to date)

Pro Tools HD w SYNC IO, Yamaha DM1000, Millennia Media HV-3C, Neumann U87, Schoeps Mk41 mics, Genelec Monitors, PrimaLT ISDN

[Bill Davis]

I’d be careful about relying on a general contractor.

When I converted my haybarn into a dedicated studio about 8 years ago, I had all sorts of difficulty getting general contractors to accept and understand the unique aspects of a video studio.

For instance, when I explained that I wanted a control room with none of the walls parallel to any other wall for audio monitoring purposes (supresses the development of standing waves and makes it easier to get accurate audio) , they all looked at me like I was speaking Urdu.

Their industry is based on using plumb bobs and framing squares.

My general contractor took one look at my floorplan and had to pull a 70 year old carpenter out of retirement to do my framing because he was the only cat in the area who could take all the weird angles and using a pencil and a piece of scrap 2×4 instantly figure out not just the cut angles, but how to divvy up the lumber so the whole process wasn’t insanely wasteful. (Amused the heck out of me at the time – but now I realize how lucky I was to have the old guy available!)

A studio is a weird beast. Lots of companies do AC ducting, few don’t get grumpy when you tell them you need 3 extra turns turns in the duct work to supress HVAC air velocity into a room where you’ll have open mics.

If you want accurate cost estimates, find folks to talk to who have actually built VIDEO and AUDIO studios.

My (been there and done that) experience.

[Richard Herd]

Whoa! I did my thesis project in Linguistics on Urdu.

[Bill Davis]

Wanna help me build my next studio??

; )

[Dennis Size]

JONNY……
Have you found an “advisor” to consult with in the preparation of the budget for your new facility?

Have you and Michael been able to hook up to provide you with the info necessary for your budget proposal?

If not let me know, I will recommend someone from our company whom we use in Southern California.

DS

[Mikael Kern]

How big is the stage?
How big is the audience?
Ceiling height?
Camera sensitivity and what f-stop do you need?
Building new or installing in existing?

Those and other questions need answers before you can plan lighting. Without a floorplan I think its difficult to budget for this. A small place I´d say 15-25000$, and what about audio/PA?

You could visit a club with a stage for entertainment/music and ask how much they have spent on lighting and sound.