[Randy[_2_]]

Do high budget studios have AC vents in the actual recording room?
Or is the AC turned off during a recording?
How does it work?

I'm just cusious to know. Always wandered about that.
I have my setup at home and it certainly isn't hig budget by any standards.
So I always have to turn off the AC and ceiling fans etc.
But how is it in the high budget studios?

Thanks

R

[Richard Crowley]

"Randy" wrote ...
Do high budget studios have AC vents in the actual recording room?
Or is the AC turned off during a recording?
How does it work?

I'm just cusious to know. Always wandered about that.
I have my setup at home and it certainly isn't hig budget by any
standards.
So I always have to turn off the AC and ceiling fans etc.
But how is it in the high budget studios?

There are various ways of making HVAC ducts very low noise.
These include design and location of the grilles (to avoid "whistling"
or to put them around a corner, etc.). And making the ducts larger
(to reduce the air velocity through the duct.) And lining the inside
of the ducts with sound-absorbing material (fiberglass, etc.). And
putting corners in the ducts to block straight-through sounds from
the blower fan, etc.

They also tend to use special lighting and dimmers to avoid
fluorescent ballast "buzzing", or filament "sing" (when dimmed).

There are ways of emulating some of these solutions in low-
budget home situations if one has enough space, time, and
imagination.

You can imagine that the solution of turning off the HVAC during
takes wouldn't be practical in most large commercial studios.

[videochas www.locoworks.com]

On Jan 18, 9:36�pm, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
"Randy" �wrote ...

You can imagine that the solution of turning off the HVAC during
takes wouldn't be practical in most large commercial studios.


That's the way it's done in movie studios. There is a huge, hulking
machine outside the studio called a "chiller" and large water hoses
run from it to and from the "air handler" on the stage. When the bell
rings and the red light goes on the machine shuts down and silence
ensues.

[Paul Stamler[_2_]]

"Randy" wrote in message
...
Do high budget studios have AC vents in the actual recording room?
Or is the AC turned off during a recording?
How does it work?

I'm just cusious to know. Always wandered about that.
I have my setup at home and it certainly isn't hig budget by any
standards.
So I always have to turn off the AC and ceiling fans etc.
But how is it in the high budget studios?

The AC is on. But it's acoustically isolated from the studio by various
means, including ductwork sections connected by flexible couplings (to avoid
vibration transmission through the metal), absorption inside the ducts,
multiple angle turns in the ductwork, and the use of a plenum (a large
chamber where air goes in one end out the other). Also large area ducts to
reduce air velocity and turbulence noises.

It's pretty highfalutin' stuff. Check out some of W. Alton Everest's books
on studio construction; most of them have chapters on air handling.

Peace,
Paul

[Mike Rivers]

On Jan 19, 12:12 am, "Randy" wrote:
Do high budget studios have AC vents in the actual recording room?
Or is the AC turned off during a recording?
How does it work?

Yes, professional studios (and professionally designed personal
studios) always have air conditioning and heating. Comfort is
essential when trying to capture a good performance.

Air handler systems in homes, which may be all you're familiar with,
are designed to be reasonably efficient with the noise of air movement
and heating/cooling equipment taking the back seat. I wouldn't be
surprised if some newer, expensive houses are improving this with the
interest in home theaters, but mostly it's just ducts small enough to
fit in the walls, with minimal insulation and isolation - you hear a
"whoosh" for a while and then when the thermostat says it's cool or
warm enough, it gets quiet again.

A studio air handling system usually uses ducts with a large cross
sectional area, usually flexible, longer than the most direct route
from blower to room (lots of curves), and it's designed to move an
adequate volume of air at a low velocity so it doesn't make much
noise. The noise generating components of the system - the compressor
and blower - are always mechanically isolated from the ductwork so
that their vibration isn't transmitted to the studio through ducts.

One halfway successful setup that I've seen in basement or bedroom
studios is the type of air conditioner/heater that has an outside-
mounted air handler such as the Mitsubishi "Mr. Slim." They're
considerably more expensive than a window mounted air conditioner, but
far less expensive than a properly designed "quiet" system.

I've never heard (or rather not heard) a truly silent system, but it's
possible, though expensive, to make one that's adequately quiet for
recording.

[Richard Crowley]

"videochas www.locoworks.com" wrote in message
...
On Jan 18, 9:36?pm, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
"Randy" ?wrote ...

You can imagine that the solution of turning off the HVAC during
takes wouldn't be practical in most large commercial studios.


That's the way it's done in movie studios. There is a huge, hulking
machine outside the studio called a "chiller" and large water hoses
run from it to and from the "air handler" on the stage. When the bell
rings and the red light goes on the machine shuts down and silence
ensues.

[Richard Crowley]

videochas wrote...
"Richard Crowley" wrote:
You can imagine that the solution of turning off the HVAC during
takes wouldn't be practical in most large commercial studios.

That's the way it's done in movie studios. There is a huge, hulking
machine outside the studio called a "chiller" and large water hoses
run from it to and from the "air handler" on the stage. When the bell
rings and the red light goes on the machine shuts down and silence
ensues.

But on a sound-stage, 3 minutes is a LONG take. OTOH, consider
a symphony orchestra with something approaching 100 musicians
playing a long classical movement.

[videochas www.locoworks.com]

On Jan 19, 8:09�am, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
videochas �wrote...
�"Richard Crowley" �wrote:
You can imagine that the solution of turning off the HVAC during
takes wouldn't be practical in most large commercial studios.

That's the way it's done in movie studios. �There is a huge, hulking
machine outside the studio called a "chiller" and large water hoses
run from it to and from the "air handler" on the stage. �When the bell
rings and the red light goes on the machine shuts down and silence
ensues.

But on a sound-stage, 3 minutes is a LONG take. �OTOH, consider
a symphony orchestra with something approaching 100 musicians
playing a long classical movement.

Sitcoms (my experience) generally shoot an act at a time, in front of
a live audience. The act is repeated after a break of from two to
five minutes. On rare occasions there is a third attempt after
another short break. The breaks are not generally long enough for any
real cooling to occur, and in any case the lights remain on,
generating lots and lots of heat. This leads to the studio heating up
to a very uncomfortable level.

The breaks are kept intentionally short because the audience will get
restless and begin to drift off in ones and twos if there is no action
going on.

[Richard Crowley]

videochas wrote ...
"Richard Crowley" wrote:
But on a sound-stage, 3 minutes is a LONG take. ?OTOH, consider
a symphony orchestra with something approaching 100 musicians
playing a long classical movement.

Sitcoms (my experience) generally shoot an act at a time, in front of
a live audience. The act is repeated after a break of from two to
five minutes. On rare occasions there is a third attempt after
another short break. The breaks are not generally long enough for any
real cooling to occur, and in any case the lights remain on,
generating lots and lots of heat. This leads to the studio heating up
to a very uncomfortable level.

Surprising that even with a studio audience full of civilians, the HVAC
is still to noisy to keep running while shooting.

The breaks are kept intentionally short because the audience will get
restless and begin to drift off in ones and twos if there is no action
going on.

No. Instead, we wander off while watching the edited end-product.
Sometimes even before the commercial break. Or sometimes we
wander off by pressing the button on the remote. :-)

[philper]

There's a really good discussion of this topic in Rod Gervais' "HOME
RECORDING STUDIO: Build It Like The Pros", and on John Sayers' forum
http://www.johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php. Almost too much info,
but if you sift thru the posts and threads you can learn from what a
HUGE number of people all over the world have done to solve the
problems all studios have. The book has a lot of great ideas and
methods, and Rod often answers questions himself on that forum.

studio HVAC, the split-system units so common overseas aren't
really a good fit for studios, if only because they provide no
exchange of air with the outside. Real studio HVAC is complex and
expensive to do
even moderately well, but it is doable on a small scale with some
compromises and a lot of work.

Philip Perkins

[videochas www.locoworks.com]

On Jan 19, 4:08�pm, "Richard Crowley" wrote:
videochas �wrote ...

"Richard Crowley" wrote:
But on a sound-stage, 3 minutes is a LONG take. ?OTOH, consider
a symphony orchestra with something approaching 100 musicians
playing a long classical movement.

Sitcoms (my experience) generally shoot an act at a time, in front of
a live audience. �The act is repeated after a break of from two to
five minutes. �On rare occasions there is a third attempt after
another short break. �The breaks are not generally long enough for any
real cooling to occur, and in any case the lights remain on,
generating lots and lots of heat. �This leads to the studio heating up
to a very uncomfortable level.

Surprising that even with a studio audience full of civilians, the HVAC
is still to noisy to keep running while shooting.

The breaks are kept intentionally short because the audience will get
restless and begin to drift off in ones and twos if there is no action
going on.

No. Instead, we wander off while watching the edited end-product.
Sometimes even before the commercial break. Or sometimes we
wander off by pressing the button on the remote. �:-)

In the days before mechanical air-conditioning was practical, motion
picture stages were cooled by convection. There was a sort of a
clerestory along the roof ridge of the stage. Hatches along the walls
opened to a shallow cellar below the floor. Cool air from the cellar
was drawn into the stage by the hot air rising out of the clerestory.

[Eric B]

R-
The short answer is yes. Several people have addressed the usual
issues- larger duct size, lower velocity, sound traps along the way
and physical decoupling of the machinery. Then there is the issue of
finding an HVAC contractor who understands the priorities and knows
how to find an air handler with variable speed, so that the fan speed
can be reduced to slower than they usually use. I have also seen many
studios use mini-split systems in studios or iso-booths for cooling.
In this case the air handler is in the room, the condensor is out of
doors and the coolant travels through tubing. Some of these units are
pretty quiet. Even so, if the source is quiet you have to turn it way
down or off. And, any air moving is too much for some mics.
Besides cooling, it is absolutely essential to provide air exchange.
There are standards, and laws about this. The most compelling is that
in a sealed room the air will quickly get stale and in short order
become down right unhealthy, if not deadly. Lack of oxygen and CO2
poisoning are bad for your health, bad for your head and bad for the
performance.
If you need specific design advice please let me know.
Best regards,
Eric B

http://www.BlackmerSound.com

[Scott Dorsey]

Randy wrote:
Do high budget studios have AC vents in the actual recording room?

Yes.

Or is the AC turned off during a recording?
How does it work?

Lots of very large ducts with baffles in the ducts. The key to making
the system work is to keep flow through the ductwork as laminar as possible
with no sharp bends, nothing abrupt in the air stream, combined with moving
a huge volume of air at very low velocity. Increase the air velocity and
you increase turbulence.

I'm just cusious to know. Always wandered about that.
I have my setup at home and it certainly isn't hig budget by any standards.
So I always have to turn off the AC and ceiling fans etc.
But how is it in the high budget studios?
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."