Studio Consultancy for Aldi Tasting Kitchen TV Studio

Drama by Design was appointed to provide both studio consultancy and acoustic consultancy services for the creation of a new teaching and recording studio facility. The brief was to deliver a flexible, professional-standard space capable of supporting high-quality recording for educational use, while allowing for future expansion and technical upgrades.

Our studio consultancy focused on developing a technically robust yet intuitive system that would be straightforward for staff and students to operate. The lighting design centres around a Doughty studio rail system, with fixed rails running the length of the studio carefully coordinated with suspended ceiling panels and general lighting. Low-level outlets were provided for floor-mounted lighting positions to maximise flexibility. Kino Flo and Dedolight LED studio luminaires are suspended beneath the rails on wheeled carriages, allowing rapid reconfiguration of lighting positions. Control is wireless via an iPad running the Synthe FX lighting control app, giving users simple, flexible control without the need for a dedicated lighting desk.

Wall-mounted facility panels are distributed around the studio and within the ceiling, providing connection points for microphones, cameras, and monitors. These are wired back to central patch panels, allowing adaptable signal routing and future system expansion. Two Panasonic AG-DVX200 4K fixed-lens camcorders on tripod stands form the core recording system, with provision to connect additional cameras via the facility panels as required.

Audio capture is achieved through a combination of Audix M55 hanging microphones for audience pick-up and Sennheiser DW-3 radio microphones for presenter use. Rather than incorporating a separate recording system, the design routes microphone signals to a Yamaha MTX3 digital signal processor. The DSP is controlled via an Apple iPad within the studio, enabling straightforward management of audio levels and routing. The processed audio is then returned to the facility panels and fed directly to the cameras, ensuring that all cameras receive the same synchronised audio feed. Recordings are made directly onto SD cards within the cameras, providing a streamlined and cost-effective workflow.

A wall-mounted large-format display screen allows live monitoring of any camera output within the studio, giving immediate visual feedback during recording. The screen can also be used to display promotional content or previously recorded material, increasing the functional versatility of the space.

The system has been deliberately designed with future adaptability in mind. Infrastructure and signal pathways allow for potential upgrades to support live streaming, as well as the introduction of a separate gallery and edit suite, without fundamental reconfiguration of the core installation.

Alongside the studio systems design, Drama by Design provided comprehensive acoustic consultancy to ensure the space achieved appropriate performance standards. This included review and advice on internal sound insulation between adjacent rooms and between floors, control of building services noise, management of reverberation within the studio, and consideration of external noise emissions. Particular attention was given to achieving suitable acoustic separation to protect recordings from disturbance, while also ensuring internal sound conditions were controlled and appropriate for speech and media production.

Through the integration of technical studio design and detailed acoustic consultancy, Drama by Design delivered a flexible, future-ready recording environment that balances professional capability with ease of use — a space designed to support high-quality content creation both now and as operational needs evolve.

Studio Consultancy for Manchester Metropolitan University new-build School of Digital Arts (SODA) – Green Screen, Motion Capture, Film/VP and Music Recording Studios

The School of Digital Arts (SODA) is a £35m investment into work space, networks, teaching and research that will support the urgent and growing demand for skilled workers in the region’s creative and digital industries. It offers courses that span film, animation, user experience, photography, sound design, gaming, AI, VR and more.

Studio Consultancy for new-build Green Screen TV and Podcast Studio for Cardinal Newman College.

The new 1,200 sq m St Catherine Building at Cardinal Newman College in Preston, includes a cutting-edge TV studio and other media and art facilities.

The new building integrates the college’s existing media and
art departments. In addition to the TV studio, it features a fully equipped photo studio, dedicated graphics, art, and media rooms, as well as classrooms, open learning areas, staff rooms, and offices. The building is designed to meet the Department for Education’s Net Zero in Operation requirements, with a focus
on energy efficiency.

Drama by Design worked with the architect on the design of
the building, designed all the specialist technical systems, coordinated them with the design team and project managed the specialist installation through to witness testing, snagging and training on completion.

The studio was equipped for teaching a range of courses,
including ‘T’ levels and BTEC in Creative Media Practice, which involves developing the skills needed to plan and produce film and television, including camerawork, lighting, production design, and sound.

The studio lighting system consisted of a moveable rail system with four fixed rails and smaller moveable rails that span across the fixed rails. Power is provided via internally wired bars above the rails, and low-level power outlets for floor lighting, all fed from a dedicated power distribution system with sequential power on, which automatically energises when the control system is turned on. A range of LED luminaires mounted on spring pantographs enable the luminaires to be rigged and focussed from the floor.

Three Blackmagic Design 4.6K cameras were provided for the
studio floor, complete with a range of lenses, viewfinders, and pedestals with fluid heads. A PTZ camera was provided at high level primarily to enable teachers in the control room to monitor the studio, but also available for recording.

Wireless and wired microphones and cameras connect via wall boxes, and high-level facility panels via patch panels in the control room to a vision switcher and digital audio mixer in the control room/gallery.

A perimeter curtain track provides both black wool serge
curtains and a white cyclorama cloth, the end wall was painted Chromakey green.

The gallery was equipped with a professional quality control
desk, large wall mounted multiview display, studio clock, plus a audio and video monitoring equipment and Apple Mac computers. It was also equipped for podcasting, with a dedicated microphone and computer audio interface.

A selection of outside broadcast equipment was also provided,
enabling students to go out on location, shoot material, and then bring it back to the College for editing.

Studio Consultancy for Virtual Production, Green Screen and Foley Studios in Nottingham Trent University new-build Digital Arts & Design Building

This new state-of-the-art £35m building houses the School of Art & Design at Nottingham Trent University (NTU).

The building enables NTU to develop its creative industries offering by bringing new technologies for film, animation, UX design, gaming and graphic design and illustration together with traditional design practice.

The 5300m2 building features a glazed ground floor entrance used as an Exhibition Space,  a Virtual Production Studio, Green Screen Studio, Black Box Studio and Foley/ADR Studio plus a range of teaching spaces, labs and offices.

Drama by Design were involved with the project from feasibility study through to completion. We worked with the architect on the design of the building, designed all the specialist technical systems, coordinated them with the design team and project managed the specialist contractors.

The Virtual Production Studio features a 4m high x 9m wide curved LED volume controlled via Arca media servers and Brompton processing.  There are eight motorised lighting rigs to cover the whole area, with a comprehensive range of LED luminaires controlled from a computerised lighting control system.

Moveable side walls, or ‘Wild Walls’ were specially designed for the project. They house an array of LED panels mounted on a wheeled base. The LED panels can be tilted to any angle, raised and lowered and even lifted off the bases and used as ceiling panels.

Motion capture systems are provided, which include not only people tracking but full camera tracking for creation of AR and VR content.  This system offers unlimited freedom of movement and gives accurate position, rotation and lens data in real-time. The cameras can rotate 360 degrees, and be moved to any position in the studio.

The Green Screen Studio features a fixed infinity green screen wall, perimeter curtain track with black and grey curtains. Studio lighting is provided via a moveable rail system with four fixed rails and smaller moveable rails that span across the fixed rails. A range of LED luminaires mounted on spring pantographs enable the luminaires to be rigged and focussed from the floor.

The Black Box Studio is more of an experimental space with a moveable box truss to enable different scenarios to be set-up and taught to the students., It is also wired for an optical motion capture system.

The Foley/ADR (Automatic Dialogue Replacement) studio is equipped with a digital sound mixer and audio, video and communication links between the control room and studio space.