Sketchup Studio Design - Comments Please

Hello everyone. I must admit, I'm a big lurker here. I don't feel like I know enough to contribute, so I lurk away... absorbing all the fantastic info here. :D I've been working on a studio design for a space I have. It is the lower floor of a 2-story cinder-block building behind my house. The upstairs will soon be a rental apartment. I'm trying to find a balance between audio recording and some light video work with green-screen capabilities. Right now, the room is a mess. :? But, that's from all the tools being used to re-do the upstairs. I've basically finished that, and part of the income made from that will go into building the studio. Here is an overview of the floorplan: I wanted to do a double-wall construction, but I'm not sure if it'll be worth the floorspace I'll loose. I'm particularly interested in the best way to accoustically treat the ceiling. There is nothing up there now, just exposed floor joists. And, there isn't a lot of headroom. From the (concrete) floor to the bottom of the floor joist is only 7' 3". The joists themselves are 7 1/2" deep. I was thinking of using a layer of 702 insulation with 2 layers of 1/4" sheetrock. Maybe someone could impart some wisdom to me on that. Airspace is critical for soundproofing, right? Would the 1/2" of sheetrock, 2" of 702 and 5 1/2" of airspace be adequate? I don't neccessarily want it to be completely soundproof... but, I'd like to get as close as I can without buying a truckload of 702. That stuff is expensive!!! :shock: Some other views: Here is a link to the SketchUp file (rar'ed - about 10mb): http://www.tparker.net/studio/studio_3.rar Any comments and suggestions would be appreciated! :)

Very cool design, very beautiful :D you've got even a tranzport! IMO for the isolation design do not think about single or double walls or whatever, you have to think how much isolation you need, with numbers! (I mean, in dBs) Then think how to achive that amount of isolation, if you need single or double walls... etc, and if it's worth or you prefer to decrease a little your isolation necessities. In the control room you are going to have problems with the stereo image, I'll turn the desk 90º to the right. Maybe to the left? Don't know.

Thanks for the response... yes, my friend who has a studio said something about the stereo field being weak on the left because of the way I place my workstation... Do you think I could use a moveable wall there? What are they called... Gobos or something. I'm trying to keep some space for my video camera, so if I turn my workstation, I loose space for my camera. :( I've got a feeling trying to balance out the space for audio and video work is going to be a pain in the rear.

Yes, it would help, but maybe it will be annoying after some time (moving it all the time...). Your decision, the only thing I can tell is that it does matter. When I first mixed in my room I had that problem because when I listened to the mixes outside my room they were always brighter in one side (unlike in my room obviously). It was just a not centered window behind the speakers. Even if you know that, you can fight it because you never know how much bright has to be one of the sides. Another comment: you could put the library behind you, in the middle of the diffusors (a library is a kind of diffusor), and put another absorbent panel instead. You'll get rid of those first reflexions. It's preferable to absorb them than to diffuse them.

I will be doing something similar at my place. http://www.shutupandplay.com/studio2_frame.htm Something that may help you with your green screen needs is this kit I purchased that works well and is portable. This would give you the ability to do the green screening in any available space. http://www.imagewest.tv/index.asp?PageA ... &ProdID=13

nice work. i strongly recommend Rod's book on home studio construction - excellent reference for building it right and safe. the ceiling should get several layers of 5/8" drywall between the joists flush to the upper floor. then another 2 layers on rc-1 on the ceiling. r-19 insulation between the joists. the main problem will be the lack of symmetry for the mix position. how much of the basement can you use? besides the stairs and doors, are there any other things that limit the use of the space? hvac? plumbing? elec?