SVG Sit Down: Upfront Coordination of Systems Integration, Architecture, Audio Is Key to Successful Control-Room Design Representatives of the three disciplines explain how that works By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Director of Production
Thursday, August 16, 2018 - 10:42 am
Print This Story
Story Highlights
As video-control rooms expand in both size and scope, the amount of coordination and coordinated effort required increases in both importance and complexity. Whether it's a new control room or renovation of an existing space, everyone involved in the project - from the client to the architect and systems integrator to the acoustics supervisor and engineer - must be on the same page from beginning to end of the project. Of course, with so many moving parts and people involved, this is easier said than done.
SVG sat down with three industry leaders representing three of the most vital roles in control-room design and construction: Kevin Henneman, owner, KMH AV Integration, spoke to the systems-integrator perspective; Neil Tucker, principal, Design Republic, offered the architect's point of view; and Ron Eligator, VP/project principal, Acoustic Distinctions, weighed in on the role of acoustics.
They shared how their disciplines currently work together and with the client throughout the design and build, what happens when a breakdown in communication occurs, and how coordinated effort at the beginning of the project results in satisfied customers at the end.
Kevin Henneman
Let's start with the importance of a coordinated effort in designing a video-control room. What happens when that coordinated effort is missing?
Kevin Henneman: The amount of coordination and, specifically, the amount of coordinated effort that needs to happen to make sure that all the components of either building a brand-new control room or modifying an existing control room to meet new workflows and requests is so important. If it's not done properly, you [can] look at all the drawings and go through all the requirements and talk through everything for months and yet end up with a camera position that's 6 ft. too low, a camera position that has a girder blocking it, or conduits that are not big enough to get the connectivity. All these little different components, if they're not coordinated, will [result] in a product that the customer's not happy with. Between Ron, Neal, Arthur [Metzger, managing principal of AMA Consulting Engineers, who was unable to join the conversation], and me, we've built lots of control rooms and lots of facilities. And we've been through the ringer on what happens when it isn't coordinated. [What we want to do is] emphasize what needs to go into the planning and where our overlap points are [in delivering] a proper, professional finished product.
Control rooms, especially in a stadium or arena, used to be thought of as simply replay-control rooms. How much do you need to care about audio when you're just putting images up on videoboards? I think those days are over, and, [for] every room we're involved with now, we're being asked to modify or adapt or turn it into something that can be used not only for replay but for broadcast. If you're going to capture audio and video content, you should be planning that space to deliver to all the possible places it can be delivered to, budget and timeframe allowing. The replay-control room is becoming a broadcast center, and I think the four of us can offer some insight into how that gets done the proper way.
Neil Tucker
Neil Tucker: Ron, Arthur, and I participated in a panel at the NAB Show in 2011 where we represented the key consultants that should be considered at the start of a project. There was a lot of interest in it because you have a lot of folks responsible for either maintaining or developing and redeveloping facilities - whether a control room or a series of control rooms, audio-control room, mix room, or even studios. [We covered] what they should be thinking about even before they start down the path to matching real construction with integration, because a lot of their expertise might be in the integration end of things but not in the shaping of a room that has to perform acoustically, technically, and with a level of flexibility that's going to serve them for years.
We talked about the steps of design from what we call programming through schematic design, design development, construction documents, [and more]. The very close work should be happening where we're in lock step: with broadcast-systems integration at the same time we're shaping spaces and rooms, first on paper and then in three dimensions, and then ultimately into construction. That coordination between broadcast-systems integration, architecture, engineering, and acoustical needs to be tight.
Ron Eligator
Ron Eligator: The benefit of something like this is to help people understand all the issues before they start thinking about integration. The planning - and from my point of view, we're talking about acoustics - and the issues are fairly straightforward. There's the background sound well, there's the room acoustics, there's noise control from air-distribution systems, and there may be some related vibration issues. There's equipment sound levels, and, in these larger control rooms, you get into questions of what is each person in the room listening to. There's the use of headphones and what signal are they listening to, what is the quality of that supposed to be, how do you keep multiple audio monitors from interfering with each other in a room, is everybody listening to the same audio channel or not, and how is that controlled?
Kevin talked about how replay rooms are becoming broadcast centers and what does that mean. From my point of view, it's a question of what
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
19/03/2026
How Chris Bolte Builds the Sound of PlayStation Games Chris Bolte '16 is a technical sound designer at Sucker Punch Productions, where he helps create the...
19/03/2026
Other Voices presents a legendary night of music as Foo Fighters bring their stadium anthems to St James' Church, An Daingean. The surprise performance teas...
19/03/2026
***Issued by RT on behalf of RTS Ireland Awards / Gradaim RTS 2026...
19/03/2026
It's a double feature on GFN Thursday. This week, GeForce NOW offers smoother sights in virtual reality (VR) and a sprawling new land to conquer.
Streaming...
18/03/2026
Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4.
Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...
18/03/2026
SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...
18/03/2026
The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...
18/03/2026
(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...
18/03/2026
Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville
Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...
18/03/2026
Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded
Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...
18/03/2026
Mix-reference plug-in overhauled
iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...
18/03/2026
Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives
Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...
18/03/2026
Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture
18 March, 2026
Media releases
New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...
18/03/2026
Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...
18/03/2026
London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...
18/03/2026
SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...
18/03/2026
Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K
Brie Clayton March 18, 2026
0 Comments
LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...
18/03/2026
Brainstorm transforms productivity and sustainability with Suite 7 at NAB Show 2...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
18/03/2026
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, today unveiled its educational presentations for the 2026 NAB Show. This year SMPTE will ...
18/03/2026
Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects, gaming, and more, today ann...
18/03/2026
Digital Alert Systems
Preview
2026 NAB Show
April 19 - 22
Booth C3452
At the 2026 NAB Show, Digital Alert Systems will showcase Version 6.0 of its DASDEC ...
18/03/2026
Setplex today announced that it will showcase its complete, fully integrated Zapflex platform for the first time at the 2026 NAB Show, introducing powerful new ...
18/03/2026
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT RELATES TO THE DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION THAT QUALIFIED OR MAY HAVE QUALIFIED AS INSIDE INFORMATION WITHIN THE MEANING OF ARTICLE 7(1) OF THE ...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking DP for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Director of Photography for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Gaffer for Low Budget Dramedy Feature Film- I...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Location, Sound for Low Budget Dramedy - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Location/Sound for Low Budget Dramed...
18/03/2026
COW Jobs: Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Film - Chicago
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
Seeking Child Wrangler for Low Budget Dramedy Fe...
18/03/2026
Calrec Redefines Broadcast Workflows at NAB 2026 with its Most Powerful Hardware...
18/03/2026
Oscar Nominated Two People Exchanging Saliva Posted with DaVinci Resolve Studio
Brie Clayton March 17, 2026
0 Comments
DaVinci Resolve Studio handle...
18/03/2026
Boston Conservatory Presents Celebrated Musical Satire Urinetown Performances for this Center Stage production will take place at Boston Conservatory Theater ...
18/03/2026
Charlie Puth Joins Switched on Pop at Berklee NYC The Berklee alum spoke with host and Berklee NYC professor Charlie Harding for a live taping, answering audi...
18/03/2026
X-Rite Pantone Demonstrates Advanced Color Management Solutions to Support Smart...
SVG Sit Down: Upfront Coordination of Systems Integration, Architecture, Audio Is Key to Successful Control-Room Design Representatives of the three disciplines explain how that works By Karen Hogan Ketchum, Director of Production 
