Have some fun with this post.

OK ladies & gentlemen.

My company is growing and expanding.

So I get a new edit room.

The room I'm in now was never intended to be an editing suite. But my new room will be.

It will be custom built with heavy influence on my part... and yours.

What's your dream suite have?

Mine so far has basic things like sound proofing, built-in racks, feeds for exterior monitors in conference rooms.

Lot's of electrical outlets.

I have been given instructions to ask for EVERYTHING. And then back-off off of that.

So how about some ideas?

Thanks All
Aggie
San Diego

Everything starts with the desk so start with this article by Marco Solorio

[www.creativecow.net]

Michael Horton
-------------------

I'm going to say just three words:

A comfortable chair

I'm going to suggest underfloor wiring and troughs for the bits that have to be above ground.

deb

"Lots of electrical outlets," but also make sure they are on several different circuit breakers.

Room lights on faders (and tracks so you can position 'em).

Position everything so it is easily reachable from your "comfortable chair." (Which, by-the-way, I whole-heartedly endorse. You are going to be spending a lot of time sitting there. There is no need to be distracted by discomfort.)

UPS for your CPU, computer monitor(s) and HDDs. Aw heck, UPS for everything!

Also, position your setup so there is minimal glare. In other words, if the door to your suite has a window or if there are windows along a wall, don't sit with your back to the door or windows. Any light shining through those windows will end up on your monitors.

Audio monitors, not speakers. And I like having a television in the mix, in addition to my video monitor. It gives me two different types of screens to compare my output. (Plus, when I'm editing something that doesn't require me to listen a lot, I like to flip over to Comedy Central to keep me company.)

Does this wish list also include video equipment?

**Forgot to add: good ventilation, so your air doesn't get stale.

Robert Faust
Faust Productions

Power Mac G5 10.4.9
Machine Model: PowerMac 7,3
2 CPU - 2.7 GHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 512 KB
Memory 6.5 GB
Bus Speed: 1.35 GHz
Scratch Drive: 1TB
FCP 5.0.4
DVD SP 4.0.3

Everything should be well lit, plug-in and modular. Especially the tower, so I can plug in the new 8-core <thrash drool foam> Mac pro <twitch>

- Loren
Today's FCP 4 / 5 keytip:
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Put all the "noisy" things into another room (or build one for that stuff) - hearing nothing if nothing needs to be heard is some of the best and most healthy things.
Spend some money for good cabling, the good chair already mentioned and all the other things.

Andreas

I'm going to suggest a coffe machine and a cookie box.
A wood desk, glass is to cold and reflects almost everything giving to eyes extra work in concentrating.
Does the room has a window, i hope so, natural light is the best, but while working no to good, so a opaque curtains will do the job.

Rui Barros
Editor Colorist Trainer
Lisbon, Portugal
RTP Post-Production
Apple Certified Trainer FCP 7
Apple Certified Pro FCP 7

A vote for the chair, here. They're going to take my Herman Miller Aeron out of my cold dead fingers.

But I do wiring, too. I know people whose idea of perfect wiring is to bind it all together and hide it in a trench. In other words, make it repair proof.

"I don't know exactly where this cable goes," is good for taking the whole room down while I cut off all the type-wraps (which conveniently enough, need tools to remove) and separate the cables so I can fix them. Oh, and pull up the floor if they happen to be under computer floor.

You remember when trash bags used to come with little coated wires to twist around the top? I have a roll of that stuff and I cut and use it for everything. It comes off cable bundles in close to zero time and you can change it and add to cable bundles very easily. Don't get red ties like I did. I think it comes in black.


Another oddity. All of our rooms enter from the side of the editor or in one case the front, not the back. It may have been by accident, but it's much nicer than putting that little mirror up on your console to see who's sneaking up on you. I think it's more Feng Shui that way too.


You need room for at least five FireWire drives that the client is going to bring with them. You will also, of course want to go behind the desk in the 3-foot scrawl space you left there to hook it all without dismembering the room.


We have a cabinetmaker on staff and he builds desks that look solid, but have access holes all over and between each level. There is no such thing as running a cable all over the place to get from here to there. There is always a convenient hole in the desk. The modesty panels in the back do not go to the floor and you can get your whole arm in there,


Black Formica looks terrific to everything but an optical mouse.

Never put anything with a vent fan on the floor. That's where we keep the dirt.


The clients are going to want to plug a lot of things into the wall back on their couch and they will all want blistering fast high speed internet and a phone. "Wait, I think I left that clip on the server at the office. Let me download it for you while you're editing. They will be on the phone and their cell at the same time.


How far away is the kitchen? We wouldn't dream of having clients without the bagel platter.

Gotta love those bagel platters--especially if the client is on a diet. "Client's Gone! Bagles in the Engineering Bullpen!!"

Koz

One more.

Work lights. What do you mean I have to hold a flashlight in my teeth to fix your F!@#$ng machine? Just touch this switch and the high-power ceiling fluorescent lights come on. Yes it's going to destroy the ambience, but trust me, I don't need ambience when I'm trying to fix a broken cable--or better yet add one for a client--in your edit room.

And yes, we will be changing things around as you go. The worst rooms I've ever seen are the ones that assumed they will never change.

Koz

Fluffy Ideas:

One of our rooms has an outside window. Sometimes it's used open and I can't get to any of the edit people to find out their ideas on that. You do absolutely need a way to turn it off.

Put a monitor back by the client. Some people do this, some don't. If you don't, you risk the client that want's to sit in your lap to see your monitors.

Engineering put satellite TV in four of the client rooms. We did it in such a way that it's completely separate from the regular video services. It's pretty popular.

Koz

If you DON'T have a dedicated machine room, "Quiet boxes" are very effective in isolating and reducing the ambient noise in the room. Definitely worth the money.

Mark

Make sure that all the outlets are on the same leg of the power...phase issues probably don't matter much anymore. but better safe than sorry.

Mark Tyson

p.s. Aeron chairs are the bomb...

Builtin work lites on backs of racks -- no shadows -

Paint inside Backs of racks white if possiable to increases visibility-
it Helps Alot-

make sure No sharp edges -Ouch-

Design for change -Mucho Cable ports -power plugs-
maybe Mount everything on wheels --

On my edit setup at home I have a
Low rider Exercise Bike attachment --
Its Cool --

A Window that overlooks a beach with lots
of people having fun so you can rest your eyes --

-Jay

Internet connection

Wacom Tablet (if you don't have one)

Definately a UPS as Rob suggested - with maybe an isolator switch somewhere near the door for ALL the power in the room so you can full switch off all the equipment (helping to save the environment from standby power consumption and global warming).

If they are going to wire it all up - ask them to put you on a separate ringmain from the rest of the edit suites/office so if they all blow the system in there - you don't go down (with your UPS for backup incase of total power outage) believe me its saved me a number of times in my old edit suite!

Ben

PS a massage chair, a foot spa, hand cream, an assistant to do your bidding...



For instant answers to more than one hundred common FCP questions, check out the LAFCPUG FAQ Wiki here : [www.lafcpug.org]

Clients will invariably want to print something from their laptops. If the printer is local that tends to mess up:

<<<isolator switch somewhere near the door for ALL the power in the room>>>

...because printers hate that.


Depending on where you live, the earth does occasionally move which could mess up:

<<<Mount everything on wheels -- >>>


If you do go with dimmable room lighting (highly recommended) be advised that it will shortly be obsolete because the US and California are considering outlawing sales of incandescent bulbs--and Compact Fluorescents do not dim. Incandescent lamps dim just fine but a lot of them "Sing" while they're doing it--especially the larger ones. Make an appointment somewhere to listen to them before you buy.

Koz

THANKS!, THANKS! THANKS!.

Ahhh, but a comfy chair has already been under my butt for years.

I like the idea of keeping noisy equipment out of earshot.

And I never thought about keeping a viewing monitor behind me. Thanks.
I don't like people sitting in my lap.

New equipment?? Maybe if I can justify it,

Right now I'm pretty loaded and don't really "need" anything.

Want? Oh Yeah!

Have a separate AC duct run for your equipment.

Kevin