Can i build a nice 40m2 surround studio?!

Hi guys, i'm a new user at this forum and i already read some cooool stuff here...congrats for the amazing forum. So, i'm an audio engineer working with post production stereo and surround. I have 40m2 to build my studio. IS THAT POSSIBLE??? The idea is to have a 5.1 control room and a smaller recording room, for small instruments and voice. below will be a rough plan of the studio. thanks in advance for ur time and ideas guys cheers tatta

Yes! If you have not, read the NARAS Suround Sound Recommendations. Also read and follow the before you post sticky. Andre

I can't find it Andre. can you post the link please? thank you

tatta wrote:

I can't find it Andre. can you post the link please?

BEFORE YOU POST READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I may have the number of excalamtion remarks wrong) and 5.1 Surround specifications. Andre

AVare wrote:

tatta wrote:

I can't find it Andre. can you post the link please?

BEFORE YOU POST READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I may have the number of excalamtion remarks wrong) and 5.1 Surround specifications.

i think you missed a couple of ! :roll: tatta - please update your profile and try to answer the questions in the read-me. here's a couple of links as well: http://www.aesnashville.org/PDFs/NARAS/ ... 0Sound.pdf http://www2.grammy.com/PDFs/Recording_A ... ations.pdf

thanks for the replys...i read the surround article that you sent...very nice but still, my doubts are in construction/design. i know that for the height its recomended a minimum 11 feet but for the walls dimensons i read it somewhere that the minimum is 14 feet for the control room...is this true? for 2 rooms with the blueprint that i post before, what setup do you recommend? thanks guys Best Tatta

AVare wrote:

tatta wrote:

I can't find it Andre. can you post the link please?

BEFORE YOU POST READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I may have the number of excalamtion remarks wrong) and 5.1 Surround specifications. Andre

so i read it and here is the sketch up that i was able to do....sorry if is not too pro cuz i just started with sketch up. the measures are real. how does it look? p.s. i cant upload more that 500kb...this is like 1.8mb...how i can i show it to you? thanks

tatta wrote:

thanks for the replys...i read the surround article that you sent...very nice but still, my doubts are in construction/design. i know that for the height its recomended a minimum 11 feet but for the walls dimensons i read it somewhere that the minimum is 14 feet for the control room...is this true?

No. The only recomemndation I have ever read for control room height is the NARAS one. I take it the buidling is not made it from the variations on exterior footprint. The biggest problem I see is traffic flow. what about locating the lobby so that both the control room and live room can go through it? What are you basing the contriol room size on? Welcome to the world of Sketchup! Andre

the best bet is to strip out all the extraneous stuff (kits, materials, complex components, etc), purge the file using the windows -> model -> statistics -> purge function. this leave an accurate line drawing and if you mark out locations of pipes, etc which later come back and bite us in the you-know-what, it makes design assistance much more productive for all...

AVare wrote:

tatta wrote:

thanks for the replys...i read the surround article that you sent...very nice but still, my doubts are in construction/design. i know that for the height its recomended a minimum 11 feet but for the walls dimensons i read it somewhere that the minimum is 14 feet for the control room...is this true?

No. The only recomemndation I have ever read for control room height is the NARAS one. I take it the buidling is not made it from the variations on exterior footprint. The biggest problem I see is traffic flow. what about locating the lobby so that both the control room and live room can go through it? What are you basing the contriol room size on? Welcome to the world of Sketchup! Andre

I'm basing the control size room on a tip that a acoustic engineer friend gave me. he told me not to have less that 4.50x4.50 meters for mixing surround. i made it a little smaller. right now i have 4.40x5,70. but i will lose size with the acoustic treatment. about what you said "locating the lobby so that both the control room and live room can go through it" I'm not sure what you mean. I can't change the studio entrance. can you be more specific? about changing the size of the sketchup project with purge, didnt work...well it worked but because of the models its still too heavy to upload to this forum thanks guys Tatta

tatta wrote:

I'm basing the control size room on a tip that a acoustic engineer friend gave me. he told me not to have less that 4.50x4.50 meters for mixing surround. i made it a little smaller. right now i have 4.40x5,70. but i will lose size with the acoustic treatment.

Those dimensions with an 11' ceiling give a volume of 85 m³. A good volume. Have you checked the ratios?

about what you said "locating the lobby so that both the control room and live room can go through it" I'm not sure what you mean. I can't change the studio entrance. can you be more specific?

Can you do a drawing with teh things that can not be moved? This will help us in brainstorming the layout. A bit more info for you, on a more technical level is ITU-R BS 1116-1, attached. Andre

AVare wrote:

tatta wrote:

I'm basing the control size room on a tip that a acoustic engineer friend gave me. he told me not to have less that 4.50x4.50 meters for mixing surround. i made it a little smaller. right now i have 4.40x5,70. but i will lose size with the acoustic treatment.

Those dimensions with an 11' ceiling give a volume of 85 m³. A good volume. Have you checked the ratios?

about what you said "locating the lobby so that both the control room and live room can go through it" I'm not sure what you mean. I can't change the studio entrance. can you be more specific?

Can you do a drawing with teh things that can not be moved? This will help us in brainstorming the layout. A bit more info for you, on a more technical level is ITU-R BS 1116-1, attached. Andre

Hi Andre the only thing that I can't change is the studio entrance that is located in front of the toilet in the loby. i did not check the ratios, i will need a little help on that. do you think theres a better way to display the rooms, better than this one? cheers

From little that I see, I do beleive there is a better layout posible. Specific information on restrictions is required. 8) Another document that is significant is AES TD 1001. Andre

AVare wrote:

From little that I see, I do beleive there is a better layout posible. Specific information on restrictions is required. 8) Another document that is significant is AES TD 1001. Andre

thanks for the document André This studio will be build in a backyard, so the only restrictions are the main entrance and the main walls...the rest is "empty" right now, so the layout is "free" to be the best possible 8)

tatta wrote:

thanks for the document André

You are welcome.

This studio will be build in a backyard, so the only restrictions are the main entrance and the main walls...the rest is "empty" right now, so the layout is "free" to be the best possible 8)

Main entrance meaning the 3 x 2.5 m room or the location of the entrance door? Have you considered rotating the control room so that there are triangular rooms at one end with one acting as a sound lock to entrance and live room and providing access to the control room and live room? Andre

Main entrance meaning the 3 x 2.5 m room or the location of the entrance door?

meaning the entrance door.

Have you considered rotating the control room so that there are triangular rooms at one end with one acting as a sound lock to entrance and live room and providing access to the control room and live room?

do you mean having the control room in the middle and several rooms around it? I've tried to rotate it maintaining the 4,50x4,50m but i think i lose space doing that. maybe I'm doing it wrong. thanks

you might lose some space but you're have less people tromping through your CR with equipment for the live room... and then you could possible just use windows between the CR and live room and use the hall way for the air lock and in a pinch for a spot for something that needs a bit of isolation from either room.

gullfo wrote:

you might lose some space but you're have less people tromping through your CR with equipment for the live room... and then you could possible just use windows between the CR and live room and use the hall way for the air lock and in a pinch for a spot for something that needs a bit of isolation from either room.

Thanks for your tip Gullfo. This studio will be mainly for video and audio post production so in front of my mixer i have to put a big screen apart from the 2 cpu screens, so i cant put a window there. i think the best solution that i found here in the forum is an example in sketch up of "small studio" that john posted, where theres a live room separated from the control room with a big window that function also as a door. What u guys think?

thinking like this

gullfo wrote:

thinking like this

Thanks Gullfo. The lounge part doesnt exist. i cant do anything there. the only space available is the one that i post before. The air lock is a good ideia but i will lose a lot of space. i have to be able to put some sofa inside. going along with ur idea this is what i got: cheers

That is much better with the hallway! Movement is much better! Great! I like exclamation remarks! :!: Andre

AVare wrote:

That is much better with the hallway! Movement is much better! Great! I like exclamation remarks! :!: Andre

And is better with door in the hallway or without? with a tight budget maybe i'll go without door... what is the minimum space for the hallway? right now is 1.30m......like this, the space will be 2,19x4,18m counting with 20cm wall that might be short no?.....not so big :cry:

tatta wrote:

And is better with door in the hallway or without? with a tight budget maybe i'll go without door... what is the minimum space for the hallway? right now is 1.30m......like this, the space will be 2,19x4,18m counting with 20cm wall that might be short no?.....not so big :cry:

I do not understand the question. Are those dimensions for the hallway? You do not need a second door for the hallway to the lounge. The lounge will act as your sound lock to the outside. You are making great progress already. I think you studied my signature line quite well. Andre

AVare wrote:

tatta wrote:

And is better with door in the hallway or without? with a tight budget maybe i'll go without door... what is the minimum space for the hallway? right now is 1.30m......like this, the space will be 2,19x4,18m counting with 20cm wall that might be short no?.....not so big :cry:

I do not understand the question. Are those dimensions for the hallway? You do not need a second door for the hallway to the lounge. The lounge will act as your sound lock to the outside. You are making great progress already. I think you studied my signature line quite well. Andre

2,19x4,18m - recording room space 20cm - recording room walls 1,30 - hallway (wall to wall)

it looks good to me as well.