Monday, January 26, 2009

Gear: Homemade Soundbooth

Now my goal has been to create a soundbooth for under $300; so far I am 2/3rds the way there. Now the booth as I write this is being slightly redesigned. I am hoping to use this for ADR and Foley work on my film(s). I figure that spending my target amount for something I can use all day, whenever I want and however I want is ideal.

First off, this would not be possible without some resources. My cousins, the Palacios Bros., are contractors and builders. They gave me insight and materials that saved me money (industrial grade plywood and fiberglass insulation). My uncle Carlos donated two quiet cooling fans, the kind you would find in a server room. From there I took a trip to a local depot for homes to purchase some 2x4s and screws.

The Room - This room is about 20 feet from my editing station. It is already isolated from streets and busy areas. The best part is that it used to be a dark room, so there are no windows and it is an ideal size. I made sure we built a shelf for the 13inch NTSC monitor that will be receiving a down converted signal straight from my tower. I purchased enough cable to send a video and audio signal to the talent.

Stay tuned as there is more to come on the Booth.

UPDATE: The booth was completed and used successfully for ADR and Foley work on 'The Hush'. It worked beyond my hopeful expectations and came together very professionally; I used it to create and re-create sounds for nearly 90% of the entire film.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I wonder what FAF did with the sound booth material upstairs. You should ask Michael Behrens if they've given it away or what, that's be perfect for the walls of your booth. Sound was DEAD in there!

Vincent_C said...

Not to sure what they did with any of that stuff. I think I'll be fine with everything I've got. That room was pretty good for isolating voices. Although if there was an event in the screening room, you would sometimes get voices coming through the vents.