Hey all, I'm trying to re-design my dinning room into an edit suite future clients will appreciate and feel comfortable in. I am in no way an interior designer and get a mental block when I try and imagine what the room could look like. Funny, It's the same sort of block I get when the wifey drags me to the mall to look for clothes. It actually hurts my head. Anyway, I did a Google search for "edit suites" and "post production edit rooms" but it either turned up $100,000 rooms or the some guys dorm room with florescent lighting and a bed for a desk. So I'm calling on you to link some pictures to your room or suite that I can look at for ideas as I plan my own room. In return, you get to show off your environment to all your pals here and they get to admire your style and creativity or lack there of in some cases

It depends what level of professionalism you wish to provide.  For instance, can you provide direct access to your room so your clients don't pass through family areas?  Does your room have access to dedicated bathroom facilities?  Are you going to provide a client holding area?

Secondly how much hardware are you going to accomodate?  If you're dealing with just DV, maybe a large computer desk is all you need.  You will still probably need to provide a separate stand for your output monitor.

Think about storage.  You will need shelving for tape storage, DVD media, print media and paperwork

Finally, think about client comfort.  Good seating is a must both for you and your clients.  A good comfortable sofa and comfortable office-style seating should be provided.

A small bar fridge and coffee making facilities would also be a good idea.

So there's a few "seed" ideas.  Take any or all of it how you will.

And good luck.

grafixjoe wrote:

The stations are standing stations and the chairs are tall - like barstools:

Sometimes when my back is hurting or my knees get stiff, I'd wish our edit bays had some type of raised platform like yours where we could put the keyboard and stand and edit for a while. The idea seems pretty cool but without back or lumbar support, do you sometimes wish you could sit in a typical chair and edit? Also, I like how you used the Suitcase 10 box as a wedge to level out the computer ontop of the raid drives. Did the interior designer charge extra for that?

switthaus wrote:

I think if I were to do it over again, I would try to orient the console so my back was not totally towards the client.  Maybe a profile set up, so if I had to make a face at some really bad idea, I could turn away a little bit and get away with it!  But I think the eye contact with the client could be better next time around.

Ha! I do plenty of sighs and eye rolls and have two big 22'' monitors to hide my face behind though I have to slowly slouch down in the chair to get away with that. How many people sit on the beanbags? It makes the room look cozy but can the 30 somethings get back up?

Walter Murch prefers to edit standing up ... here's just one article ...

http://www.filmsound.org/murch/talented.htm

AvidNut wrote:

How many people sit on the beanbags? It makes the room look cozy but can the 30 somethings get back up?

Randall L Rike wrote:

Walter Murch prefers to edit standing up ... here's just one article

Great article. I love the way he explains why standing up provides a different creative focus. Very cool. I think the idea of having the keyboard table (if you will) be an architech's table because it would give you the option to sit in a high chair or imeadiatly stand up. I am always re-adjusting myself in my chair either because my rump gets numb or my legs start hurting and sometimes have to just stop what I am doing just to stretch out. The problem, it breaks my focus. I'd much rather have a multi-role desk that allows sitting and standing without having to stop editing. Hmmm. This is good stuff. Keep it coming.

Here is a little video I made about 2 years ago of my edit bay.  Much of the equipment has been upgraded.  Monitors replaced by LC displays.  PC upgraded to 3.0 ghz.  Scanner dumped in favor of capturing photos with 3 chip camcorder.  Printer relocated beneath desk.

The desk is a custom job made by a friend.  It was a copy of one I saw in a catagog that cost $2300.

http://dmvideo.net/wmv/office.wmv

Wow Andy...your are waaaaayyyy too neat. Am I detecting a hint of OCD? I keep my area squared away, but yours made mine look like a city dump....lol

JJ