Help with design of room that will evolve to 5.1

[Ken P]

i work for a post house that is changing location - merging 2 facilities to 1 - and our entire post production and mm department will be uprooting and joining with our studio production and duplication facility. currently i am in a fairly medium sized control room and booth that was built only a few years ago and it was built loosely around the idea of moving into surround mixing. at the time the budget was worked out and construction was about to start, the original engineer i had worked with moved on from his position and fortunately i was there to take over where he left off. in the process of working out the studio budget before he left, the surround portion of the studio budget was cut - a "we'll wait and see how the need develops" kind of thing. the room was then built for stereo production with no real calculations for 5.1 speaker placement, room dimensions for surround, etc..

now that there is a chance to start over with a fresh design for new room, one of the things i want to focus on for the new facility is building it specifically for a 5.1 mixing environment from the start - the RIGHT way. if the timing is right we may make the necessary upgrades to our current setup to start surround mixing right out of the gate, but most likely it will be stereo production until the business grows more to support the investments.

does anyone here have any tips to get me started down the right path of designing a good surround mixing environment? i.e. room dimensions, speaker placement, room calibration, etc.? i already have the fabulous DR SOUND's thread marked as my favorite - UPDATED Room Calibration for Film and TV Post - but any other tips would be greatly appreciated!

[georgia]

give me a call. I'm happy to chat.

cheers
geo

[networker]

I know this will cost money, but I would advise that you at least consult with someone who designs rooms. An architect/acoustician experienced in studio design could well save your butt. I can think of at least 3 firms offhand that do this regularly...Also, a contractor that has not built any professional studios should be avoided like the plague, I can't stress this enough!

[dr sound]

Ken,
Shoot me an e-mail and we'll talk. Maybe I can help.
Take Care,

[Ken P]

one specific question i had that i seem to see conflicting info on the net - what about long throw vs. short throw? i see some text out there saying to setup your console facing the longer wall, others saying to face the shorter wall - all assuming no 90 degree angles/perpindicular walls, etc.. any thoughts?

[jimlongo]

Lots of good information here