VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

FinMac · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:42 am Post subject: Looks great but...

Wow! Looks great! But I was wondering...

You wrote...

yarg28 · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 7:42 am Post subject:

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:02 am Post subject:

2016 hide & seek champion --- GARY!!!

i'm just kidding --- it's a joke --- lighten up.
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 8:39 am Post subject:

vkuehn · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:03 am Post subject:

These four posts this morning just put in focus something that has long been lingering in the back of my mind... but couldn't seem to solidify.

Folks who do long form narrations and audio books do not with regularity do a show-and-tell of the recording spaces they build and use. (Maybe they all suffocate from lack of oxygen in their recording space the day before they planned to pull out the camera, take pictures and give us a show-and-tell on their space!) Ninja

When looking at the literature on the various pre-package booths that are promoted, I have not been impressed with the ventilation system optional accessory that some of them offer. This is the week of the V-O show in Atlanta and I am going down to visit the Exhibition Hall. Maybe I can kick the tires on booth exhibits.

If I don't show up here in the next two or three weeks, you can assume one of the exhibitors locked me in their non-ventilated booth and my body is on it's way to some remote area even more rural than where I live now.

Bish · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:24 am Post subject:

This is interesting... and something I've often wondered about. No doubt, for long-form narrators, ventilation is a must, but I've wondered about the point at which it becomes an absolute requirement. At which point does it affect performance (lets not push it out to "causes death" or anything quite so dramatic!) This is obviously controlled by the decreasing percentage of oxygen and the corresponding increase in carbon dioxide (which, I suspect, is the real issue).

So, in a booth with nominal internal dimensions of 6x4x7 (I know, a big booth) we have 168 cu. ft. of air. containing approximately 21% O2 and about 0.03% (300ppm) CO2. As far as I can tell (figures vary) OSHA is OK with up to 0.1% (1000ppm). Lets call the booth 5000 liters (because I'm European and the numbers are easier). So that's 1000+ liters of O2 in the booth. An average human consumes 500 liters of Oxygen per day... so the booth holds a 2-day supply (yes, I know, that's a ridiculous figure because as the O2 will not be usable at diminishing percentages.)

Now... an average human doing "normal" work (i.e. not at rest) produces approx 100 liters per hour of CO2. Our initial amount of atmospheric CO2 in the booth is about 15 liters (0.03% of 5000) and our OSHA max level is 50 liters (0.1% of 5000 liters). So... how long to produce the additional 35 liters?

20 minutes. You've got 20 minutes before OSHA guidelines are breached.

Interestingly... guidelines for HVAC manufacturers state that a 1% concentration (ten times the OSHA limit) "may create drowsiness". This is obviously well down the path to where we don't want to be though.

Important: My figures are internet-derived. My math is sometimes suspect. Do not use or quote anything here... do your own calculations. I did this for fun (yeah, I know)... but 20 minutes sounds reasonable to me.
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yarg28 · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:54 am Post subject:

Todd...lol. That picture creeped me out because I'd never wear those pants. It looks like some random stranger crept in and died.

in all seriousness; I have a 4 year old and I was definitely concerned about him crawling in the booth and taking a nap...a very loooong nap..if he closed the door. I use the basic child door stop thingy that prevents it from closing.

I LOVE where this thread is heading. I'd be supremely interested to know more about what audio book people use to handle ventilation that meets their "quiet" requirement.

Love to hear report from Vern!

thanks

todd ellis · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 9:55 am Post subject:

it's a very cool thread ... and i never wear pants either.
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Bruce · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 11:23 am Post subject:

I've been in a couple of booths where it was designed well enough and the outside room was quiet enough that you could record with the door open... kind of a giant, walk in Hogan port-a-booth concept. Worth a try.

B
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Mike Harrison · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:00 pm Post subject:

paulstefano · Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2016 12:47 pm Post subject:

I use a drumperfect booth condensed to 4 x 3.6 for maximum sound damping effectiveness. I am doing almost exclusively audiobooks right now.

Here are my purely anecdotal notes.

Now, in a typical east coast winter; 65-72 indoors, dry and not much sunlight during recording time, I can go about 60 minutes before needing to open the door. If I'm conscious of the time, I'll start to panic more about it and take a break earlier. I almost always record in just a T-shirt and shorts, because it's just too hot in there otherwise. If I'm doing a commercial or shorter narration, I can get away with jeans and a light collard shirt.

Summer time, whole different ball of wax. My upstairs bedroom where I have the booth does a horrendous job of shedding heat. I have an attic that has a fan but it traps summer time heat and moisture like crazy.

During summer I'm lucky if I can go 30 minutes without feeling REALLY uncomfortable. Lack of air, sweating, the whole nine. I have pushed it to an hour once or twice, but I really felt woozy coming out of the booth when I was done. Absolutely have to record in short sleeves and short pants, or I'd pass out for sure.

Go ahead, develop the visuals in your head!
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bobsouer · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 7:57 am Post subject:

DenaliDave · Posted: Mon Mar 07, 2016 11:21 pm Post subject:

I got a good deal on a ton of 12" x 12" acoustic foam squares and got to work with some 3M adhesive spray in the spare bedroom. I also bought those acoustic foam bass traps (they are way, WAY bigger than they look online) for the corners.

It's really, really dead in there now. I've decided I'm just not going to worry about removing the foam...especially on the Tiffany Blue wall my fiance and I painted a while back...(shhhhh she doesn't know I used spray adhesive!).

I'm not sure how reliable Twisted Wave's analyze function is -- but if I record a minute or two of dead room tone, I average about -70db. These days I worry more about the odd airplane, car, or my cat and dog making noise. Oh, and I also have to kind of watch what I wear.

I basically went nuts and glued foam onto every surface I could, even cutting the foam to fit around things like the door knob on the inside of the door.

So, I've got a nice room with lots of space, good ventilation, no echos and a pretty decent noise floor. It's not a huge room -- but I didn't have to spend thousands on a whisper room or something. If I listen to older recordings from before I treated the room I cringe. No upgrade to any piece of my recording chain would have ever improved my sound....

People say it all the time and it's 110% true -- start with a good sounding room! Best investment I've made...and honestly one of the cheapest!
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Bruce · Posted: Tue Mar 08, 2016 10:30 am Post subject: