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Setting Up Editing Suite

J

Jeremy Drake

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I'm about to set up a room for editing/timing/etc. We'll also be reviewing sound we get from a post host. I have about a 12x20 ft area that I'm going to paint mid grey and put daylight temp fluorescents in the ceiling.

I was wondering what else anyone would recommend that I do to this room.

Also if you have any tips.. (taking an eyeball break every half hour when timing, etc) .. I'd appreciate it.
 
I don't know about you but I while editing having fluorescents on makes my eyes start to hurt after a while. IMO I think you're better off with track light lighting, so for:
A) You can aim the light just about anywhere to adjust for different situations.
-and-
B) You can either use incandecent lamps (I know some places are outlawing these), or you can use CFL lamps if you perfer the look and energy savings of fluorescents.

Also if you have the space, time, and money; might I suggest using a drop ceiling. They make it easier to run wires, they add a bit more sound isolation (depending on the tile), and you can custom configure the lights just about anywhere on them with only a few hours of work.
 
Id back light the main monitor and set up correctly at an appropriate distance. We use 5400k but I think 6500k is suggested and set about 10% of the brightness of the main display peak white. Ensure that the white point of all the displays match equally.

Id only paint the wall behind the monitor and may be up to level with the operating position neutral grey. The other walls something not to bold a colour. (Ours walls are white and natural wood trim.) Use some soft furnishings to mimic the RT of a living room for audio monitoring ie not to live but equally not too dead either.

If you can have access to a window to look at the horizon so much the better, this shifts the eyes focus to relieve eye strain. Often the window is curtained or has a blind so external light is excluded when grading but if you just editing making non critical decisions, it helps to have something else to view other than a monitor.
Make sure theres some where to put your coffee so it doesn't end up in the control surface if its nocked over by the client.

Sofa for client. Separate phone for client. Hot line for refreshments when all goes bad.
 
Jeremy,

Dave is right on the illumination. You want to be able to dim it down to about 10% of the peak brightness of your monitors. You may need custom ballasts for your florescent fixtures. If you are using a two tiered console for the editor I find some very low intensity LED's under the top tier that can softly illuminate the editor's controls are really helpful. Make sure you diffuse them and block them so they cannot be directly viewed. Room illumination should be centered over the editor with other ares falling off darker. This keeps people's attention focused on this part of the room.

You should also see if you can raise the platform your client sits on. This is enormously helpful and can keep the client from breathing down the editor's neck.

Make sure there is either wireless or an ethernet cable available for the client and also some place for them to put their laptop, food, drinks, etc. that is NOT ON THE EDITOR'S CONSOLE.

I find a window distracting and while I know it's god to refocus the eyes, I prefer to get up and walk out of the room every couple hours and take a break.

Make a provision for projection. You may not use it now, but you may very well want it soon. In your space you could easily have a 6 or 8 foot screen on one wall and it really makes a difference when you can see the work big, really big.

I like to put full length curtains up around the room. We used black light blocker velvet ones and love them. Makes the room feel theatre like. You can also hide the screen which can bounce a lot of light around the room when you're not using it.

Hope that gives you some good ideas. Use what you like, everyone's needs are different.
 
JonathanF said:
Jeremy,

Dave is right on the illumination. You want to be able to dim it down to about 10% of the peak brightness of your monitors. You may need custom ballasts for your florescent fixtures. If you are usinga two tiered console for the editor I find some very low intensity LED's under the top tier that can softly illuminate the editor's controls are really helpful.

You should also see if you can raise the platform your client sits on. This is enormously helpful and can keep the client from breathing down the editor's neck.

Make sure there is either wireless or an ethernet cable available for the client and also some place for them to put their laptop, food, drinks, etc. that is NOT ON THE EDITOR'S CONSOLE.

I find a window distracting and while I know it's god to refocus the eyes, I prefer to get up and walk out of the room every couple hours and take a break.

Make a provision for projection. You may not use it now, but you may very well want it soon. In your space you could easily have a 6 or 8 foot screen on one wall and it really makes a difference when you can see the work big, really big.

I like to put full length curtains up around the room. We used black light blocker velvet ones and love them. Makes the room feel theatre like. You can also hide the screen which can bounce a lot of light around the room when you're not using it.

Hope that gives you some good ideas. Use what you like, everyone's needs are different.
Click to expand...

Great points, particualrly about the client area and curtains. We've used raised areas about 12 inches high with small table and so on so they have their own space. The other way of going about it is to create the room theater style so the client is in front of the edit console but this would need a projector or very large Plasma display. Probable not for this room though.

You can find Osram dimmable ballasts on ebay for about $30 for the 55w 2G11 Lumilux Dulux tubes. There is an Osram 954 tube being 5400k 95 CRI I think I believe theres a less bright time at 5000k but its 98 CRI. Either is fine. Dont use the 8** tubes they don't have as good colour rendering properties/
 
JonathanF said:
I wonder if these would work with Kinos in a non-precision environment like this. I'm not shooting in the editing suite and dimmable ballasts would be great.

J
Click to expand...

The Kino Blue and green tubes work on the ballasts no problem, However I think you will find that the Osram tubes are equal or higher spec than the Kino's. The 950 tube is definitly better at 98 CRI but it isnt as bright, its intended for art restoration where colour is critical.
 
Just like that, you can use this Autodesk online design tool:

dragonfly.autodesk.com
 
Rather than painting the walls, I have installed self-made acoustic panels covered with grey fabric to control reflections. Same benefit as the neutral grey paint, with the added benefit of sound control. I also use RGB LED lights when I want to splash a color on them.

Good Luck with your project!
 
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