When entering a filming studio, the first thing to grab attention is a wide array of filming equipment: cameras, lights, and other devices, all set up and ready to go. However, all this complexity is fueled by a mountain of unseen work. Filming a studio is not simply a matter of good equipment – it’s about dozens of different factors and tuning them so everything works for a client showing up at 9am and when everything just works right.
The Space Itself More Than You’d Expect
Every good filming studio begins with the space as a good room. You can’t just take a spare office and remove everything to call it a studio. The height of the room is critical. Most professional studio space has a highly ceiling. This is 3.5 metres high, which is enough to position all the lights necessary. This allows for multiple camera position and angles so you don’t end up with the top of someone’s head cropped off.
The difference between a studio and a garage is soundproofing. Noise from ventilation systems, traffic, and air conditioning systems can all cause audio quality issues and, as a result, destroy video quality. Studios spend a lot of time and money on proper acoustic treatments. Building soundproof rooms requires a lot more than just putting foam on the walls. They need to have appropriate soundproofing built into their design and construction, which may inlcude floating floors and soundproof walls.
When it comes to studio walls, there is a right and wrong way to paint. The walls should be flat and neutral to avoid casting surface tones. Infinity coves are a trend in the studio world because they are a seamless way to create a white background. They are also easy to paint as background, as is the green screen, which is useful for virtual events and corporate shoots when background tailored sets are cost prohibitive.
Functional Equipment
Equipment that sees heavy use is not the same as equipment that simply looks good. Studios construct their kit lists based on reliability, versatility, and practicality, not on the latest shiny toys. A solid workhorse camera that’s been on the market for five years and is reliable is worth more than the current model that needs continual updates and won’t stay stable for the duration of a shoot.
Lighting rigs must be adjustable in seconds. A studio might be doing a corporate interview shoot at 10am and then at 2pm, there might be a product shoot, followed by a live stream at 4pm. The lighting set up for all those is wildly different and there is often less than 30 minutes of time in between bookings to break down and reconfigure all of the lighting. This is where LED panels shine as they’re light, cool, and you can adjust color temperature without changing gels or filters.
The Most Important Part of Any Modern Studio Is the Internet
A modern studio, especially one that streams often, absolutely requires quality internet. Thankfully, it’s not that hard to get for leased studio and office spaces. Regular residential internet is absolutely unacceptable, and there needs to be commercial leased internet with a dedicated line for one-way data upload so that the stream coming from the studio is refined. If there’s ever a situation where the internet cuts out, there’s not a backup. If it’s a live stream where there’s 500 live viewers, there is no room for error.
Power management is another hidden essential. Studios are running multiple lights, computers, monitors, cameras, and streaming equipment all at once. That’s a serious electrical load, and it all needs to be on clean power with surge protection. Many studios have separate circuits for different areas, so that tripping one breaker doesn’t shut down the entire space mid-shoot.
The computer systems that handle streaming and recording need to be properly specced for video work. Consumer laptops have a hard time running 4K footage and multiple video streams at once. Due to this, professional setups use desktop workstations, and not laptops. These desktops also need to have good dedicated graphics cards, plenty of RAM, and fast storage. Also, the recording and streaming software needs to be configured correctly to avoid problems and have backups in case of failures.
The Human Element
Technical kit only gets you so far. The difference between a good filming studio and one that clients come back to is recording with people who know what they’re doing. A skilled technician can fix problems on the fly, such as repositioning a light to remove a shadow, adjusting audio levels when someone speaks too quietly, or switching camera angles to maintain visual interest.
Studio spaces in Milton Keynes have started including tech support in their offerings. Customers want to concentrate on their presentation rather than worrying about the tech, such as whether their PowerPoint will advance or if their mic is muted.
Integrating Everything Together
Operating a video recording studio is more or less a juggling act of managing quality and practicality. For example, you could install the best equipment on the market, but if your setup time is three hours per recording session, your studio will fail. The most successful studios have managed to create and maintain a high enough quality of work to attract corporate clients, while also managing to maintain a workflow where same-day turnaround is the norm for multiple sessions.
Most of the work isn’t glamorous. It’s trying to make sure all backups are in place, the software is up to date, the storage spaces are ready to go, and all tech is in working order. But that’s the mark of a professional. The clients never see the problems because there’s not a single bump in the road thanks to all the prerecording work.