Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1546135
34 FA L L 2 0 2 6 I C A S Q U A R T E R L Y SPEAKERS & SCREENS That pesky center channel! If you put your picture above it, you're now craning your neck to look at the picture; I see that a lot in home mix and edit rooms. According to Colleen Carroll, "Your computer screen should be no more than two feet away when you're sitting. Your picture monitor is typically above it. That's bound to create some strain." Eye strain is fatiguing, as is craning your neck. Both can cause long-term injury. So, what's the solution? Russ Berger prefers a projected image on a screen with speakers behind, rather than having your left, center, right speakers underneath. Projection and a woven or perf screen solve the problem of where to put the center channel without hurting your neck and back. But most budgets only allow for a flat screen TV, which begets the question: Does the center channel go above or below the television set? "The real problem whenever you're setting up a dub stage or even a small mix room is getting that placement of picture," says Berger. "What if we raise someone in relation to the screen? Now we might have two rows, and somebody has to see over the head of the person in front of them—it's all the ergonomics again. It's an easy decision for me in making a recommendation—audio wins, of course! When you have a screen, you don't have to make those compromises, and many of today's projectors are quite low noise, making that a viable solution." It may be more expensive than a flat screen, but Russ' motto is, "Do the bare maximum!" Spend the money creating a space to do the job you need to do at your highest level. Find the pain point, budget-wise, you are willing to go to. This is your career, but also (one would hope) your passion. That still leaves the issue of your computer monitors. As Peter Grueneisen explains, some clients like the large, curved monitors for their edit and mix screens. This, again, presents the problem of the center channel being blocked. "Those wide, curved monitors eliminate any opportunities for putting speakers in between. So you really have to stack them vertically, because they basically take up the whole width of the room. Often a better solution is to use two smaller screens and place the center channel in between." "Every room, every technical space has the same challenge," says Berger. "We want to be in a room where we can see the picture we're working on. We want easy access to all our equipment at the right height, the right distance, the right reach. And we want to be able to hear in the room. All three of those elements need to align and the mix has to translate well to other systems. Ergonomics plays a big part in getting your room to reference accurately. When a client comes in and brings their color- corrected product, you want the image to look good; you need to be able to present something that's right. The picture really affects your judgment." Russ continues, "When you're working as an audio professional, trying to get a mix to match the picture, the action, and the dialogue, working with a giant screen and little bitty audio, or big giant monitors and a little postage stamp screen, you know those don't reference right. Of course, you can do it—you're an audio professional and that's what you're used to doing. Getting elements from the field and working miracles is what you do. But you're burning brain cells to make that work right, and you shouldn't have to eliminate obstacles within your own space. What I'm getting at is, you really have to size up the person who's going to be working in the space, their physicality and how they're going to move around within that space, and then build the space around the healthiest way for them to do that." Anything you have to constantly adjust to is causing stress and fatigue, making you mentally tired, and possibly injuring you. WINDOWS & LIGHTS This gets us to the environment itself. Most of us sit in dark rooms all day. We are deprived of sunlight, greenery, fresh air, and bright colors. Lack of sunlight has been linked to depression. It decreases serotonin production Russ Berger, FASA Peter Grueneisen, FAIA Colleen Carroll