Building a new Work/Grading/Screening Room

[Brad Allen]

UPDATE: The scale of this project has changed pretty dramatically since this thread was started. The current plans for the room can be found in here. Thankyou to those who lended their ideas and solutions for the initial plans, your advice is appreciated and has formed the basis for many of the ideas in the new plans

Thus much of the information below (pics etc) are completely outdated and different from what is actually being built at the moment
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Hi Fellow Redusers,

I'm hoping I can enlist the advice of many of you who have been through a process similar to what I am about to go through. I am in the midst of designing a new multifunctional workspace that can be used for my general work in addition to grading and small scale screenings for clients. A bit of background first to give some context.

For the last 6 or so years I have been working freelance filling many different roles, but the majority of work I have been doing falls under motion graphics. For the better part of a year and a half, I have made freelance work my fulltime gig and have been working out of a home office. An opportunity has come up to move out and set up a custom space with a bunch of other creatives. This means I have the opportunity to construct a space from scratch rather than trying to make an existing space fit my needs. This is what I would love some help with from you guys - building a multifunctional room that caters for work I currently do, plus allows for work I'm finding myself moving into. So what does this room need to allow me to do and what kind of roles am I finding myself doing?

Motion Graphics
This really doesn't require anything too special currently, but I would like the room to add a small render farm in the future (think 5x small PC's), so room for that would need to be accommodated (wouldn't need to be rack mounted).

Client Meeting Space
Currently this is really akward for me - though my office looks like an office, I find taking people through my house a little off-putting (probably more so for them than me). I would need space both to be able to work with the client next to me and also room to sit on a couch and discuss/brainstorm ideas etc.

DCP Creation
I'm currently doing DCP conversions for a local cinema for any ads that are produced locally. While this is fine currently, I would like to expand this offering to anyone, but to do so I feel I would need a better setup for screening. Ideally, this would mean playback of a DCP in XYZ colorspace, with a decent acoustic setup. I don't think that means that it needs to be a Dolby certified room, but I would like to be able to trust what I am hearing and seeing before bouncing out to cinemas (especially since I am often responsible for the audio mix of some low-end ads). Plus, if I was offering this service to anyone that needed a DCP created, I would need to be able to offer them a screening if they would like it.

Grading (Film and TVC)
This is an area I am moving into more as I shoot more footage and make more contacts. Currently picking up Resolve and would be looking to run a Tangent Element Panel on a Win Config of it. I realise that grading for TVC and film are completely different beast's and so would be very keen to hear ideas on using one room for the both. Would I be able to use a projector for both if I had an 18% grey wall light up behind the screen when doing TVC work? Am I better off completely forgetting the projector option for TVC based work, and getting another monitor that better represents what most people will be watching on?

Editing Room
People that know me on the forums will know that I use Premiere Pro pretty regularly. Though editing isn't really my favourite thing to do, I still find myself doing a fair amount of it. I don't think an editing room has an particular requirements that wouldn't already be covered by the fact that it works as a screening and grading room, but would be happy to be proven wrong. I think a client would be pretty stoked to do an edit whilst watching it back in a screening room.

Graphic Design
Just another hat that I find myself wearing from time to time - can't think of anything specifically that wouldn't be covered by the above needs already

Storage Space
Being that I'm also a Scarlet shooter, I have a fair bit of gear to store (Sliders, Lenses, Camera Accessories etc). Plus I would need some storage area for general office necessities (paperwork, stationary, blank DVDs, portable drives etc).

Current Proposal
So here is the plan I have come up with for the room involved. I'm looking at a room about 38sq meters (378sq ft) in size, with tiered levels. Surrounded by doubled up wall studs with Green Glue doubling up the plasterboard for acoustic isolation. Extra storage for gear could go beneath the tiered levels. I'm looking at having a RedRay projector installed as Red have said it supports both XYZ and Rec.709 color spaces. Will definitely been keen to chat to the Red guys at NAB about my desired usage and hear what they have to say. Pictures probably speak a thousand words in these cases, so here is some mockups of the dimensions, plus some rough 3D renders I've thrown together in C4D.

Current Concerns:

1. Grading for both Film and TVC in the same room.

2. Using a RedRay projector for grading anything at all (I've heard concerns from others that laser based projectors are no good for grading on at all, but I'm not sure if this is complete nonsense when Barco is also building laser projectors for cinema usage)

3. XYZ grading in Resolve. Currently there seems to be no easy way to grade in XYZ straight out of Resolve on the Windows or Mac side. Grading in XYZ would seem to be an ideal scenario when working on features and grading with a projector such as the RedRay which supports the color space natively. How much am I loosing in real world terms by working in Rec.709 for film and then having it transformed to XYZ upon export?

4. Side Speaker Placement: Are these to be at the Rear or at the Sides - can't seem to find a definitive answer on this. Would I need two sets of side/rear speakers to cover the two tiers? How does one adjust for volume of speakers based on their different distances from the listener? Or in my case, if their were two sets of rear speakers, how does one compensate for this when there is only one speakers for each the Centre, Left, Right and Sub channels? Is this where getting someone from Dolby in becomes critical?

5. Screen Size: I'm looking at setting up the screen in a 2.40 aspect ratio and using masking when 16:9 content (or other aspect ratios) is displayed. I currently have the screen pegged for 3800mm (12.5 ft) when viewing at 2.40. Is this too big or could this work quite happily in the space and provide a bit of wow factor for clients (plus ensuring they are able to see a full 4K image quite easily)?

Construction Time:
I'm looking at starting construction when I get back from NAB as that will be a little easier on cashflow plus info at NAB could affect purchase decisions and plans.I would love to get any feedback you guys may have for me, traps to avoid, things that will work well etc. If all goes to plan, this thread may prove a useful resource for others looking at building similar rooms and I'll be able to use it to document progress as it happens

 

[Mark Pavy]

In your C4D render, I get the client's on the couch, the editor's at the desk, wtf is that 3rd character doing. I give up!

Looks like a great room, my only advice is to own the real estate.

 

[Brad Allen]

In your C4D render, I get the client's on the couch, the editor's at the desk, wtf is that 3rd character doing. I give up!

Looks like a great room, my only advice is to own the real estate.

HA HA!

I built the room to scale with the figures at my own personal height (about 186cm). Figured I'd see how much room there was in that top level even with hands raised. Not perfectly accurate of course, but gave me a rough idea of what to expect

Regarding real estate, I'll own the actual room itself, but not the building the room is going into. Wish my work generated the $$'s to cover a whole building, but I'm not at that stage yet

 

[Marc Wielage]

I think you need higher ceilings for your projection rooms. I'd go at least 15 feet high if possible, if not at least 20 feet.

I also believe that a top broadcast monitor is a wiser choice for TV delivery than projection. I think the impact is different and the overall expense and practicality of projection doesn't work. I don't have a problem with a 50" or 55" plasma display, which is more than big enough for a client room with up to 6-7 people in it, which should be more than enough for commercials and TV series.

Note that SMPTE has Recommended Practices for control rooms, editing rooms, and picture evaluation rooms. I believe RP166 deals with this to some degree.

XYZ is a function of the external LUT, not necessarily what's inside the color-correction system. Use a color-management system like Truelight, available from Northlight. I would also strongly recommend hiring an outside consultant who's built facilities before, like Steve Shaw at Light Illusion or Evangelos Achillopoulos at MotionFx. There are lots of ways to get this done, but trying to do it all yourself without any experience is fraught with problems.

Other references:

http://journal.smpte.org/content/102/5/406.abstract

http://journal.smpte.org/content/117/6/34.full.pdf+html?sid=baf528f5-4ef4-4b4f-abff-298c87d38578

http://journal.smpte.org/content/101/9/656.full.pdf

http://www.thx.com/professional/thx-technology-professional/thx-color-science/cinespace/

 

[Brad Allen]

Hi Marc,

Really appreciate your input! Thanks a stack.

I think you need higher ceilings for your projection rooms. I'd go at least 15 feet high if possible, if not at least 20 feet.

Hmm, this could be tricky. I found out today that there will be trusses running above my room that are 3800mm high (12.46 ft), which limits expansion for the overall room. However, I'm looking at doing a sloping roof to still get some extra height between the trusses. This takes the internal wall height up to 4000mm (13.12 ft). Picture probably makes more sense, so something like this.

I also believe that a top broadcast monitor is a wiser choice for TV delivery than projection. I think the impact is different and the overall expense and practicality of projection doesn't work. I don't have a problem with a 50" or 55" plasma display, which is more than big enough for a client room with up to 6-7 people in it, which should be more than enough for commercials and TV series.

Yeah this is kind of what I expected. I'll have a think about the best way to place and use this.

XYZ is a function of the external LUT, not necessarily what's inside the color-correction system.

I suppose what I was getting at, is that it would be nice if Resolve could output an image straight into XYZ, that way it wouldn't need to go through a LUT before hitting the projector. Hope that makes sense?

I would also strongly recommend hiring an outside consultant who's built facilities before, like Steve Shaw at Light Illusion or Evangelos Achillopoulos at MotionFx. There are lots of ways to get this done, but trying to do it all yourself without any experience is fraught with problems.

Fantastic idea, I just didn't know anyone who would be able to help with this. I'll shoot Evangelos and Steve an email.

Thanks again

 

[Peter Majtan]

Over the years I have setup and consulted on several rooms like this. The best way to place your Plasma/LCD is behind the screen - which would have to be motorized with a top-mount. Whenever grading for TV delivery, just retract the projection screen and expose the Plasma/LCD...

For the sound I use 7.1 setup with surround speakers both on sides and behind. You need a pro to setup the HW for you and calibrate the speakers. Same applies to calibrating the Plasma/LCD - consider buying something that includes the calibration function and comes with (or is compatible with) color-calibration HW - such as the TV-LOGIC monitors...

Regarding the storage of the render farm and RAIDs - You don't want them in the same room due to noise. Even your master workstation should not be inside. In a ideal world you would want a server-room to store the HW in and run extension cords for the monitors and control accessories (keyboard, mouse, grading surface, etc...)
If another room is not an option - consider fitting everything in the chamber bellow the workstation desk. It would need to be sound isolated and have a good ventilation going out of the room without passing through your main space. The ducts could be built into the walls - as you will need to isolate these in the main room anyway. Run all the cables in the walls as well.
Make the entrance to the chamber from outside of the main room - which would be the back wall on the far right in your renders. Couple of 24U racks would fit there easily (and could actually provide an additional support for the raised floor beneath the workstation...

Peter

 

[Peter Majtan]

This is what I mean by fitting the HW under the floor:

 

[Ryan De Franco]

Hm. Wow.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the kind of couch one ought to provide. Forget SMPTE illumination, you want something that someone's back can take for hours... and the coffee table, so key.

Personally if I am in a room where I can just barely reach my hand to the ceiling, I feel squished. The Nitehawk theater in Brooklyn is shaped like an engorged version of your imagined room, only with the ceiling sloping towards the screen, and probably 5 or 9 times the space. And it can feel odd to watch a film in there, despite the nice viewing distance/screen size ratio.

I'm so used to sitting behind or beside a colorist I forget that DI theaters give DP and director a view of the screen, with no man/woman working in front of them.... I see why you're going for that and need a screen for your DCP work, but couldn't you get an outstanding operator's monitor that will display the color space you need with perhaps even a look up table to suit average projection at the cinema you always deliver to? Some variant of that might allow you to deliver outstanding accuracy for your advertisers and nail that theater down pat

 

[Brad Allen]

Thanks so much for your input here Peter! Some great suggestions which have spawned some thoughts and further questions for you. Really appreciate you taking the time to write up your thoughts and even draw some illustrations for me

Over the years I have setup and consulted on several rooms like this. The best way to place your Plasma/LCD is behind the screen - which would have to be motorized with a top-mount. Whenever grading for TV delivery, just retract the projection screen and expose the Plasma/LCD...

Excellent idea here. Question and musing that have come from it:

I'm looking at using a perforated screen so speakers can be placed directly behind it - however as far as actually screens go I haven't really investigated it at all. To be honest, I've just been waiting to hear what Red recommends for the RedRay Projector before even thinking about deciding on something. My question on this is a question from ignorance - do perforated screen come in roll up/retractable configurations? Can retractable screens be used easily enough with automated masking systems? I'm guessing the answer is yes to both, but I simply have no idea.

Also there is the issue of screen size for the TV and it's placement when there will be a centre channel speaker behind that perforated screen. I'm guessing from the viewing distance I will be at, it would have to be a fairly well sized screen (like 80") to be able to resolve enough detail to grade from? I am unaware of any professional panels of that size, and I would imagine they would be fairly costly even if they do exist?

For the sound I use 7.1 setup with surround speakers both on sides and behind. You need a pro to setup the HW for you and calibrate the speakers. Same applies to calibrating the Plasma/LCD - consider buying something that includes the calibration function and comes with (or is compatible with) color-calibration HW - such as the TV-LOGIC monitors...

Cool - yeah - getting someone in makes sense (especially if working from a different monitor for TV grading). If I was to do a 7.1 setup, are you envisaging something like this?:

Regarding the storage of the render farm and RAIDs - You don't want them in the same room due to noise. Even your master workstation should not be inside. In a ideal world you would want a server-room to store the HW in and run extension cords for the monitors and control accessories (keyboard, mouse, grading surface, etc...)
If another room is not an option - consider fitting everything in the chamber bellow the workstation desk. It would need to be sound isolated and have a good ventilation going out of the room without passing through your main space. The ducts could be built into the walls - as you will need to isolate these in the main room anyway. Run all the cables in the walls as well.
Make the entrance to the chamber from outside of the main room - which would be the back wall on the far right in your renders. Couple of 24U racks would fit there easily (and could actually provide an additional support for the raised floor beneath the workstation...

Peter

Loved this idea! Would work perfectly and help keep things very tidy

I had already been planning on using the section underneath where the client sits for some extra storage, but your idea makes more sense and gives me even more room to work. The only thing I would change is having the entrance at the rear of the room. I'll probably have the entrance underneath where the client sits with a door that opens up from ground level. This area here:

Reason being 2 fold

1. Security
Because the space used for the building is also being taken up by many other creatives (many whom I don't know and can't necessarily trust), I would prefer to have everything for the room only available through one entrance point.

2. Structural Simplicity and Acoustic Isolation
I'm pretty keen on the idea of having very little noise leaking in or out of my space, both for the sanity of those around me and also for my sanity when listening back to mixes. Keeping one entrance to the room means I only have problematic area to think about in that regard (the main entrance). I'll just have to ensure that the area underneath the tiers doesn't spill out and isolate any noise there.


The ventilation is a must for the computer equipment, but also raises the question of air-conditioning for the whole space. Can you offer any recommendation on air-conditioning systems and ways to keep the noise level down? Is ducted throughout the way to go? And should I make the ducts have as many turns as possible to bounce noise around and loose it before it exits with the air? To give you a bit of extra info; the building that my space is going into is a warehouse, and the owners have informed me that we can have access to the roof to install split systems which then run down into our rooms.


Having any AV equipment stored underneath also seems like a great idea, though I'm trying to work out what front panels you are referring to that would go underneath the coffee table. Are you meaning things like video inputs? ie HDMI, DVI, composite, SDI etc?

Again, thanks a heap for all the suggestions Peter - means a lot to me!

 

[Brad Allen]

Hm. Wow.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned is the kind of couch one ought to provide. Forget SMPTE illumination, you want something that someone's back can take for hours... and the coffee table, so key.

Great points Ryan. You're right I hadn't actually considered the couch and coffee table. Partially because $$'s are very limited to begin with, but also because I figured I could swap those things out at a later date if what I had was a piece of junk and non-functional. Definitely open to hear suggestions though. Even if they aren't things I can action straight away due to money, I will keep them in mind for a later date once the some of the other basic essentials are sorted out

Personally if I am in a room where I can just barely reach my hand to the ceiling, I feel squished. The Nitehawk theater in Brooklyn is shaped like an engorged version of your imagined room, only with the ceiling sloping towards the screen, and probably 5 or 9 times the space. And it can feel odd to watch a film in there, despite the nice viewing distance/screen size ratio.

I hear you on the roof height! Not sure that there is much I can do in that respect as I'm limited in how high I can go. It will only be the very top level that starts to feel squishy which I figure is okay since I'll be sitting whilst working anyhow + I'm hoping the openess of the rest of the space will help offset that feeling. What made you feel odd about watching the film in the cinema you mentioned?

I'm so used to sitting behind or beside a colorist I forget that DI theaters give DP and director a view of the screen, with no man/woman working in front of them.... I see why you're going for that and need a screen for your DCP work, but couldn't you get an outstanding operator's monitor that will display the color space you need with perhaps even a look up table to suit average projection at the cinema you always deliver to? Some variant of that might allow you to deliver outstanding accuracy for your advertisers and nail that theater down pat

You're right I could do that and it would probably cover my current needs and a little bit more (it would be pretty awesome no doubt), but I'm also trying to think of where the business will expand to and how I can grow it over the next 3-5 years. Grading, DCP work + my current roles on a bigger scale seem like an obvious way forward in my mind and building a space which can accommodate all of them gives me some flexibility in regard to those areas of the business that actually grow and those that don't

 

[Peter Majtan]

If You insist on having the entrance to the HW chamber from inside of the suite - this is Your only option:

Storage RAID systems, the racks themselves, UPS power protection/backup, etc... - all these are way to big and way to heavy to move through the low opening beneath the client's coffee table. You need to keep reasonably easy access to these for future maintenance and replacements / upgrades. So Your only option is to dispense with the staircase on the left side of the room (when facing the workstation from the screen) and make the entrance in the higher wall beneath the workstation on the left...

In terms of cooling - You will need a dedicated AC inside the HW chamber and another one in the suite itself. Do not worry about the noise. Make sure thou that the unit inside the suite is the quietest You can buy. Most of these are now so silent that You will not be able to hear it when it is operating - especially since the room is not so large. The main noise is produced by the air compressors that will be mounted on the roof. Just consult with the AC company and explain them You need a quiet unit for the suite... For the cooling unit inside the HW chamber You will want to get a unit that dehumidifies the air as well - again - consult with the AC company...

 

[Peter Majtan]

About the AV hardware...

You will want to have a standard media players (such as the PS3/PS4 for BluRay, DVD, etc) and 7.1 AV receiver in the suite as well. Trust me on this...
So You could have a nice AV cabinet with a glass door underneath the client's coffee table - so You can access the front panels of the AV devices - to insert/remove media disks, control the AV HW, etc...
This is not to be confused with the 7.1 audio monitoring HW that You will need to hookup to Your workstation. That is another story...

In terms of speaker placement - You will need to pick the sweet spot - and I assume it would be the client's sofa. You, Yourself, will not be in the sweet spot, but I assume You will have the sound done somewhere else by a sound pro...
There is a specific angle range for the placement of the speakers (both the front and the surround ones) - as You can see from the pic bellow.
Once You instal the speakers on the walls (unlike the free-stand setup in the picture) in those angle ranges, You will realize they are not at an even distance from the sweet spot (imagine a circle with a center on the sofa). This is where You need a sound pro come in with a sound probe to measure and setup the delay on the speakers to adjust to the shape of Your suite....:

You will also note from that picture that it is standard practice to mount the center speaker bellow the screen - in this case Your Plasma/LCD. The wast majority of speaker manufacturers make them in that shape for surround applications.
You do not necessarily need a pro audio monitors (such as Genelec) - that is needed for an audio suite. Get a surround set certified by DOLBY - even high-end consumer ones will do the trick and not break the bank...

 

[Peter Majtan]

In terms of the projection screen - I would also wait for RED. Laser projectors may need specific type of screen to work with. Given the 4K resolution - I doubt that You can use a perforated screen. Such a screen is fine for large theaters where the older 35mm film projectors shown images at optical resolution of less then 2K and on a screen so large that if there were an actual pixels (absent in analog film) - they will be way larger then the perforation holes. However digital 4K - especially one coming out of a laser projector is a different story - more so give the much smaller size of Your screen (as when compared with a large theatre). But do not worry about the sound. Not only most of these are "audio-transparent", but the audio pro, who will come to setup Your speakers, will account for any distortion/delay caused by the screen (which will be negligent IMHO)...

 

[Peter Majtan]

After overlaying the DOLBY guide over Your suite - You will realize that Your front LEFT and RIGHT speakers will need to be placed in the absolute corners - and even that is just inside of the recommended angle.
This means one less worry about the acoustic properties of Your projection screen as the main speakers will be away from it...
Also remember to angle the speakers so they face the sweet spot - this is important...

 

[Ryan De Franco]

This is pretty awesome.

One note I should share is we also thought it was a good idea to put a SAN, LTO deck, Mac Pro, etc in a small cabinet underneath a low ceiling... it turned out that the cabinet the installer chose was designed for audio equipment. Looks great but requires all sorts of crazy external fans, basically no amount of air cooling will ventilate it because there is too much in a small space. Apparently it is not enough that whomever installs your workstation equipment cabinet has done so before for dozens of clients in a major market like New York City... check your components yourself, and get a second opinion on the whole build before you pull the trigger...

R

 

[Kwan Khan]

NIce thread

 

[Brad Allen]

Storage RAID systems, the racks themselves, UPS power protection/backup, etc... - all these are way to big and way to heavy to move through the low opening beneath the client's coffee table. You need to keep reasonably easy access to these for future maintenance and replacements / upgrades. So Your only option is to dispense with the staircase on the left side of the room (when facing the workstation from the screen) and make the entrance in the higher wall beneath the workstation on the left...

Fair enough regarding the size of the units that are going to be placed in there. However, I've come up with another option to avoid ruining the symmetry of the stairs that run up on both sides. What if I built in a trapdoor up in my area where that blank space is? That way it could open up and have a small ladder in place that goes down stairs. Something like this:

In terms of cooling - You will need a dedicated AC inside the HW chamber and another one in the suite itself. Do not worry about the noise. Make sure thou that the unit inside the suite is the quietest You can buy. Most of these are now so silent that You will not be able to hear it when it is operating - especially since the room is not so large. The main noise is produced by the air compressors that will be mounted on the roof. Just consult with the AC company and explain them You need a quiet unit for the suite... For the cooling unit inside the HW chamber You will want to get a unit that dehumidifies the air as well - again - consult with the AC company...

Cool okay - good to have some relief on that point. That will simplify things a lot . Good idea regarding AC placement too.

 

[Daniel Pearson]

Great information in this thread!

 

[Brad Allen]

About the AV hardware...

You will want to have a standard media players (such as the PS3/PS4 for BluRay, DVD, etc) and 7.1 AV receiver in the suite as well. Trust me on this...
So You could have a nice AV cabinet with a glass door underneath the client's coffee table - so You can access the front panels of the AV devices - to insert/remove media disks, control the AV HW, etc...
This is not to be confused with the 7.1 audio monitoring HW that You will need to hookup to Your workstation. That is another story...

Cool - makes sense. Only thing I might change is the access to those panels. I doubt it will be the client putting in their discs and loading them up etc - I may be better off placing them up where I will be working so I can take care of all of that while they just sit back and watch whatever is happening on screen. The space for much of that AV hardware under them is good either way though. Plus the idea has prompted me to think that it may be a good idea for me to run power outlets + Ethernet + USB3 ports up to that coffee table should they need to plug a flash drive in or connect laptops up etc. I could feed those USB ports straight into my computer system so that anything they plug in comes up on my workstation.

In terms of speaker placement - You will need to pick the sweet spot - and I assume it would be the client's sofa. You, Yourself, will not be in the sweet spot, but I assume You will have the sound done somewhere else by a sound pro...
There is a specific angle range for the placement of the speakers (both the front and the surround ones) - as You can see from the pic bellow.
Once You instal the speakers on the walls (unlike the free-stand setup in the picture) in those angle ranges, You will realize they are not at an even distance from the sweet spot (imagine a circle with a center on the sofa). This is where You need a sound pro come in with a sound probe to measure and setup the delay on the speakers to adjust to the shape of Your suite....:

Nice overlay. I wasn't sure if the home theatre samples from dolby were applicable since I haven't seen something similar to them in a theatre. But this makes sense since a standard cinema needs a lot more than 8 speakers!

Regarding the sweet spot - ideally I would like to have this place somewhere between myself and the client. You are correct in that big projects are going to come through with their own sound mix already mastered out. However, there are a lot of smaller projects (I'm thinking mainly advertisments) that I do, that I mix in surround for their cinema releases. As a result it's probably more critical that I am in the sweet spot than the client.

Based on this, I'm wondering whether adjusting the size of my room is a necessary evil that I will have to just grit my teeth and bear with the additional cost. Would something like this work better? (Width of the front wall has been expanded)

You will also note from that picture that it is standard practice to mount the center speaker bellow the screen - in this case Your Plasma/LCD. The wast majority of speaker manufacturers make them in that shape for surround applications.
You do not necessarily need a pro audio monitors (such as Genelec) - that is needed for an audio suite. Get a surround set certified by DOLBY - even high-end consumer ones will do the trick and not break the bank...

Good to know. I had been eyeing off some Genelec ones but they were going to be around 10k for a 5.1 setup before worrying about what other hardware they connected too. Makes a good deal of sense that a high-end consumer set would get me there if absolute perfection in audio is not required (and it's not since I will never be mixing a feature in this room!)

Does anyone have any recommendation as far as brands or 7.1 speaker set-ups they would choose if doing an install like this?

 

[Brad Allen]

In terms of the projection screen - I would also wait for RED. Laser projectors may need specific type of screen to work with. Given the 4K resolution - I doubt that You can use a perforated screen. Such a screen is fine for large theaters where the older 35mm film projectors shown images at optical resolution of less then 2K and on a screen so large that if there were an actual pixels (absent in analog film) - they will be way larger then the perforation holes. However digital 4K - especially one coming out of a laser projector is a different story - more so give the much smaller size of Your screen (as when compared with a large theatre). But do not worry about the sound. Not only most of these are "audio-transparent", but the audio pro, who will come to setup Your speakers, will account for any distortion/delay caused by the screen (which will be negligent IMHO)...

An excellent point here! I hadn't even considered that from the viewing distance we will be at, I may be able to make out the perforations in the screen. Ha - that would have been a pretty major disappointment.

To be honest I had previously thought that perforated screens were the only way to have speakers placed behind. I didn't realise that woven screens can work for this too. My ignorance in these areas is exactly why I knew I needed to make a thread like this and plug up all these holes in my knowledge. Thanks for doing just that

Regarding the actual screen used - yeah - I'll just wait for Red to lay out their recommendations