Flooring ideas needed for cam room please

[aircan]

Hello all

Attached is a few snaps from my soon to be web cam room in my new studio.

The floor is hosed as you can see but it also all uneven because of its poor condition.

I`m not about to totally tear up the floor and put new boards in so I was pondering this w/ my networking guy-

-Subfloor over top of the old one.
-Have it raised above the ground maybe and inch and a half.
-Make the sub floor raised by simply putting feet/rails/whatever along the bottom of the new floor so i can run wires/cables and such.
-Small holes on the new floor where the cables can be pulled thru/moved around and adjusted.
-carpet the fucker but not tack it down totally so we can always change carpet color when the furniture changes from time to time since we`ll be doing photo shots in there as well.

I`m prolly only starting with one cam in the room since this is a start up. However, I`m trying to think ahead in the layout of this room so when situations change I`ll be able to add more cams, more lights and fixtures around easier, ect..

Now, i also have a drop tile ceiling in the room. I presume this is a big plus since we can run whatever above it and attach lights/whatever to the frames of it.

Has anyone done this please or something similar regarding the raised floor...and what uses have you gotten from a drop ceiling?

Pro`s/cons?

Is my thinking on mark regarding setting it up as I am so when things need moved/expanded and such ill have easier access to my cables all around?

Your experience, suggestions and comments are greatly appreciated.

have a great day!
Aircan

[thebes]

I think the idea about raising the floor so that you can route cables under it is good, you can get power and data cables where you want without hiding the cords.

If it were me, I would raise it up and have some kind of wood or parquet flooring with a nice rug on it. That would look homey rather than business like, and you can change out the rug now and then to keep your studio's look fresh. I bet if you bought and sold such rugs on eBay they'd be much cheaper than carpet.

[MountainGoat]

Myself and a friend rebuilt a room to be used as a studio in the similar way that you are looking at, and we found that if putting wires under the floor, it is better putting trap doors in every so often than just small holes, as it makes life easier getting the hands underneath to pull the cables through.

Another thing we did was to place curtain rails around the ceiling so we could hang backgrounds of different coloured materials.

One thing that I would say is create a system for pushing air underneath the floor, you don't really need too much of pressure, but just to keep the air recirculating, as you don't want the hardware or wiring looms you have below floor level shutting down, or failing due to overheating.

What I would have done, given hindsight, is to paint the ceiling blue, and use a fairly high powered light bounced off of there and use reflectors do direct it, thus giving the impression of shooting in sunlight all the time.

If I could remember what I did with the design plans then I would let you have them, but I cannot remember where they are off hand. I think they are still in England...

[Varzi Network]

I would get sanding even if you are going to cover it just for distant future resale value. Clean it up and polish it with a nice wax to seal the wood.

[aircan]

Originally Posted by MountainGoat

Myself and a friend rebuilt a room to be used as a studio in the similar way that you are looking at, and we found that if putting wires under the floor, it is better putting trap doors in every so often than just small holes, as it makes life easier getting the hands underneath to pull the cables through.

Another thing we did was to place curtain rails around the ceiling so we could hang backgrounds of different coloured materials.

One thing that I would say is create a system for pushing air underneath the floor, you don't really need too much of pressure, but just to keep the air recirculating, as you don't want the hardware or wiring looms you have below floor level shutting down, or failing due to overheating.

What I would have done, given hindsight, is to paint the ceiling blue, and use a fairly high powered light bounced off of there and use reflectors do direct it, thus giving the impression of shooting in sunlight all the time.

If I could remember what I did with the design plans then I would let you have them, but I cannot remember where they are off hand. I think they are still in England...

Thanks, my cisco guy said just that about having floor panels as opposed to just running the lines up a hole- we want access.

I do like your ideas regarding what you did to your room (ceiling, ect). Our photographer should be chiming in soon as i invited him to this forum.

If ever back in the UK, I`d love to see those plans

thanks mate,
air

[aircan]

Originally Posted by thebes

I think the idea about raising the floor so that you can route cables under it is good, you can get power and data cables where you want without hiding the cords.

If it were me, I would raise it up and have some kind of wood or parquet flooring with a nice rug on it. That would look homey rather than business like, and you can change out the rug now and then to keep your studio's look fresh. I bet if you bought and sold such rugs on eBay they'd be much cheaper than carpet.

Thanks for the advice. I agree that rugs may indeed be better and more homey as opposed to a full wall-wall carpet which would be more expensive i`m sure.

thanks,
air

[aircan]

Originally Posted by Varzi Network

I would get sanding even if you are going to cover it just for distant future resale value. Clean it up and polish it with a nice wax to seal the wood.

A good thought to consider, thanks.

This is something I will have to discuss with the building owner. thanks again!
air

[MountainGoat]

Originally Posted by aircan

If ever back in the UK, I`d love to see those plans

I've had a word with the guy I worked with on this, and have asked him if he would see if he has the plans at his place, if not I'll try and redraw them for you, because at present, I don't know when I am going to be back in England (and I don't think asking my mother to go through the boxes I have in her attic is a good idea!).

With you bringing this up here, it has just given me an idea what I could do with the spare bedroom to stop people I know 'inviting' themselves over for a cheap holiday!

I'll PM you when I have something for you.

[aircan]

Originally Posted by MountainGoat

I've had a word with the guy I worked with on this, and have asked him if he would see if he has the plans at his place, if not I'll try and redraw them for you, because at present, I don't know when I am going to be back in England (and I don't think asking my mother to go through the boxes I have in her attic is a good idea!).

With you bringing this up here, it has just given me an idea what I could do with the spare bedroom to stop people I know 'inviting' themselves over for a cheap holiday!

I'll PM you when I have something for you.

Thank you so very much! I REALLY appreciate it, will return the favor somehow

Air

[modarazzi]

the only thing I worry about with the raised false flooring is that if you do this, unless you compensate for the uneveness of the floor there will be creaking and shifting as you walk about. Fine for photography, fine for cam but if you decide to do any video w/ sound you could have a sound problem on your hands.

on the plud side you will have room for afore mentioned data cables etc *but* properly compensating for the uneveness of the floor could take as much time as ripping up the old floor.