Studio Construction

The studio has to provide an environment that allows all operations to be carried out in reasonable comfort and absolute safety. Factors to be considered when designing a studio or when looking for a suitable building to convert into a studio are as follows.

Area, shape and height

The area required depends on the use for which the studio is intended. The relative sizes of studios and their uses are shown opposite.

The proportions of the studio (width: length) are important for the larger studio if the maximum utilisation of the available area is to be achieved and cameras/booms are to cover the area easily. It should be within the range of 1:1.1 to 1:1.5; preferably close to 1:1.3. A ratio of 1:1 is undesirable because it can give rise to unsatisfactory acoustics.

The structural height required is often a neglected factor, particularly when existing buildings are converted into small TV studios. The minimum height required can be determined by considering:

● Height of the cyclorama cloth or scenery needed to avoid shooting-off.

● Suspension system required for the lighting equipment.

● Space occupied by ventilation systems (trunking, outlets).

Floor, walls and ceiling

Except for situations in which the camera is absolutely static, the studio floor should be horizontal, level and firm to prevent vibration. A tolerance of 1.6 mm displacement in 3 m should be satisfactory for all but fast-moving camera dollies. A solid floor base is essential. It should be quiet to walk on and firm so that when cameras are moved on it there are no extraneous creaks.

The final surface of the floor should be non-slip, of matt finish, durable, and capable of withstanding continual painting with water-paint followed by washing. Cameras cannot move smoothly over uneven floors, so many surfaces are simulated. Carpets often have to be painted on the floor, as do cobblestones, parquet floors, tiles etc. The unpainted colour of the floor is important too, especially for colour TV. It should be a light neutral (grey) colour so that light reflected from it does not throw a colour cast on the performers’ faces.

The studio walls should be as thick as possible to provide good sound insulation, and should be acoustically treated to control reverberation time and sound quality in the studio. Ideally the only windows should be special windows into control rooms.

The ceiling should be strong and thick to provide good sound insulation and to support the lighting and scenic suspension system. For new installations it is desirable to build the studio itself independently from its foundations to the roof, and so prevent structure-borne noises from reaching the studio (see page 24).

Typical production requirements

Typical space allocation

A studio should have sufficient height to accommodate various installation services, such as ventilation, lighting suspension. Each tends to use a defined region of the studio space.

Studio flooring

An existing wooden floor may be stiffened by using large sheets of 25 mm (1 in) plywood (4).

The plywood should be screwed every 50 mm (2 in) to the existing floorboards.

In this well-constructed floor, heavy duty linoleum (5) has been laid on carefully levelled asphalt (6) on a concrete foundation.