Studio Notes
Practical write-ups on cameras, lighting, audio sync and control room practice, written for engineers, producers and technical staff in television and live media.
Our articles cover the daily detail of studio production: camera setup, lighting plots, latency tracing and control room routines. A new piece appears about once a day, each written to be read at the desk and used on the floor.
How to Trace and Fix Lip-Sync Drift in a Studio Chain
A step-by-step method for finding where audio and video part company between camera and output, measuring the offset, and writing the fix down so it stays fixed.
Read the article →Before You Commission Control Room Training Material: A Checklist
A checklist for studio managers and producers to work through before deciding what briefing documents and training notes new vision mixers, sound operators and directors will actually need.
Read the article →Camera Setup Mistakes We See Again and Again, and How to Avoid Them
Most camera setup faults come from small habits: unchecked cable runs, mismatched colour settings and undocumented changes. Here is how to spot them early and put them right.
Read the article →What Stage Lighting Planning Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain look at how lighting plots and set advice are priced, which parts of a brief add hours, and what to settle early so a quotation stays close to the final invoice.
Read the article →A Regional Studio Where the Signal Path Told the Real Story
Oliver follows one studio review from first visit to written plan, showing how a workflow consultation traced a slow changeover back to three small habits rather than new equipment.
Read the article →Audio Sync Checks to Make Before the Winter Schedule Starts
Mid autumn is the quiet window to look at lip-sync and latency before winter programming fills the gallery. Helen sets out what to measure, what to log and what to leave alone.
Read the article →What a Talkback Brief Means for New Control Room Staff
A plain-words look at one piece of control room vocabulary, the talkback brief, and how a short written explanation helps new vision mixers, sound operators and directors settle in.
Read the article →Written Camera Guides or a Live Walkthrough: Which Suits Your Studio
Two ways to bring a studio camera setup under control: a written configuration guide kept on file, or a one-off walkthrough on the floor. Here is how they compare, and which we recommend.
Read the article →From Plot to Patch: How a Lighting Plan Gets Built
A look at how we actually draw up a lighting plot for a TV set or live stage, from the first site walk through key light positions to the final dimmer patch sheet.
Read the article →What a Studio Workflow Review Actually Covers, Step by Step
The question we hear most is what happens during a workflow review. Here is the route a review takes, from the first conversation to the written plan, and what you receive at the end.
Read the article →How an Audio Sync Audit Works: What We Trace and What We Write Down
A plain account of how we run an Audio Sync Audit: where we start, which parts of the chain we measure, and what the written findings contain for your engineers.
Read the article →The Documents and Drills We Use to Brief New Control Room Staff
A look at the tools behind our training material: the one-page role sheets, annotated rundowns and signal-path drills we rely on when a vision mixer, sound operator or director joins a team.
Read the article →Writing a Camera Setup Guide Your Crew Will Actually Use
A practical walk through the parts of a written camera setup guide: rigging notes, colour matching steps and signal path diagrams, and how to keep them short enough to follow on a busy studio floor.
Read the article →Before You Commission a Lighting Plot: A Checklist for Studio Teams
A practical list of questions to settle before a TV set or live stage lighting plan is drawn up, from room limits and key light positions to dimmer patching and handover notes.
Read the article →Six Studio Workflow Mistakes We Keep Finding, and How to Avoid Them
Reviewing studios from camera to output, we see the same few workflow errors again and again. Here is what they look like in practice and the plain steps that prevent them.
Read the article →What an Audio Sync Audit Costs and What Moves the Price
A plain account of how we price audio sync audits, which parts of a studio chain add hours, and what you receive in writing once the tracing work is finished.
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