Mark,

You're absolutely welcome to visit the studio anytime you're in town. Drop me a line if you're going to be here and I'll definately arrange a tour (and lunch. My wife's Polish and finds it philosophically and morally impossible to have people set foot on the property and not feed them. ;)

And Rob, I'd be happy to write that book, but after 10 years as a contributing editor for a major consumer video magazine writing on a monthly deadline, I know the amount of effort it really takes.

From the other authors I correspond with, book publishing is more and more a mass market phenomena and "niche" titles are hard to pencil out without sponsorship or a solid sales/marketing plan.

Too bad, because I spent a lot of time and did a LOT of learning over the years I was building this.

Ces't la vie!

Is there anyway DV Info could facilitate with say articles or a sort of blog or a special (locked, except for you) thread or something?

I have no doubt this knowledge could help a lot of people looking into making their own space (at various levels of $$$ of professionalism).

Thanks for considering such a request,

This is a very cool discussion, and I'm getting quite a bit from it. Thanks!

Heath

Yes! They are called architects. At least that's a place to start. It a market as large as Atlanta there has to be a firm with relevant experience.

Peter,

Yes, but just as there are a LOT of different kinds of say, doctors - there are a LOT of different kinds of architects.

I'm not sure a perfectly professional and reputable architect with a practice based around doing, for example, fast food restaurants, or art galleries, or car-dealerships can do a great job on something as technically esoteric as a audio video recording facility very easily.

And unfortunately, the firms with AV experience are typically used to doing full scale TV studios and/or production houses. They may not be interested in doing a small project.

Still, never hurts to ask around. That's precisely how I found my HVAC guy - aparently the only one in metro Phoenix with the experience in high end "split system" ACs to solve my "need to keep it running even when the mics are open" AC/Sound issues.

Of course you want someone with some AV facility experience.

My experience has been that even large firms will look at small projects because: i) they often need the money no matter how good times are; ii) they actually like doing a variety of projects. The guy who did design for the remodel of my house, a very small 6-month project, is finishing up a multi-millon dollar project down the road that's taken 18 months.

A good architect will sub-out the speciality aspects of a job like a studio (and will know who to call)-- that's a standard practice. In the conversion of a warehouse space there are lots of general non-specialist issues that will come up around possible structural problems, choice of materials, building codes, coordination of work, choice of contractors etc. that a good local architect can be very helpful with, and, in the long run, help you save money by aiding the planning and design process.