Design for Broadcasting
From people to power sources, here's your checklist for great TV

By Brian Cassidy, AIA

The most successful television ministries are created in beautiful spaces with excellent technologies. As such, all of your building systems must offer a high level of performance, and the criteria that makes it so needs to be identified early in the design process, starting with...

The "dream team"

Planning the facility to host quality broadcasts typically requires a team of several specialty consultants. Your arsenal should include a broadcast consultant, an acoustician and a lighting designer. Putting forth a quality image is critical, and these are the people who can help you most.

A see-worthy sanctuary

To showcase your worship space, it needs to be attractive to a TV audience, and your seats should be filled. Architecturally, your interior should highlight preaching and music talents, creating visual interest. A "black box" auditorium with fully controllable natural lighting (since this light might compete with your lighting systems) does the trick. Also, use double vestibule doors to isolate infiltration of light and noise from all entry points and keep distractions out of the camera image. Basically, use the same design criteria as performing-arts theater designers.

Coordinate your cameras

Identify three to six potential camera positions that capture different angles within your auditorium. Generally, these six tripod-mounted cameras and their operators take up about 35 square feet of floor area altogether, so make sure they do not block the congregation's view. At least one camera should be placed near floor level by the stage to record great close-ups on pastors and guests. Placing the camera here means this image looks up, diminishing "foreshortening," an effect that tends to make people look shorter and wider than they are. If you have a balcony or catwalks, position cameras at one or both sides of these areas. This gives you great filming angles for wide, panning, overhead views of your auditorium. A technician in your control room could also pan remote cameras.

Mission: control

All sound, image and lighting signals should route to a central control area where these feeds can be monitored. Since this space and equipment can be expensive, talk with a specialty consultant who has experience working with broadcast ministries. This control center can be positioned either in the auditorium, where operators can see and hear the action, or adjacent to your auditorium.

Prep the performers

Pastors and special guests appreciate well-appointed Green Rooms (with their own bathrooms) conveniently located adjacent to the stage area. Here, they can relax and prepare for services. Test clothing, make-up, lighting and background colors as combinations to be sure they see only the most pleasing, flattering images of themselves.

Technical excellence at a glance

Great music, speech and lighting quality is critical in broadcasting. This requires:

Adequate lighting. Your lighting is the most critical of all systems in your auditorium. Cameras can only broadcast what they can see. Layers of light and contrast are necessary to create depth for features and textures. For broadcasting, the most suitable light source is tungsten halogen (quartz) lamps. These lamps produce clean, consistent lighting levels and will not dim or change color over time. Although quartz lamps generate high levels of light, they are also dimmable, which helps you create subtle contrast levels. For the best possible lighting of facial and architectural features, use pairs of quartz lamps positioned 45 degrees to the left, to the right and in the vertical plane of the focal point. This alleviates deep shadows.

To light floors and walls, use background lighting you can aim and focus. These lights are most flexible when they are clamped onto pipe bars mounted under the ceiling or on catwalk handrails. (Note: Double-check to make sure all of these structural features are "outside" the image being filmed.) Use barn doors and other flag-type devices mounted to your fixtures to place light exactly where you need it.

The right mics. Do not buy the best microphone you can afford; get the best there is. The highest quality sound systems and recording equipment are only as good as their weakest component. For less than $1,000, you can buy excellent wireless headsets with mic tips as thin as small wires. Or, consider purchasing a wireless lapel mic. Most pastors and singers prefer these because they allow for movement. Use suspended boom mics over your fixed choir and musicians not be shown on television. Otherwise, you might cast shadows that detract from your broadcast image.

Really low reverb. The reverberation time in your auditorium needs to be minimal. Rely on your total sound system to produce a rich, clear audio feed with background noise. The result should be high-clarity speech and music rich with harmony.

A/C that whispers, not yells. Granted, your air-conditioning/heating system must produce a consistent, comfortable temperature in your auditorium. Broadcast lighting does generate a tremendous amount of heat. Considering the sensitive nature of good microphones, however, your HVAC system should also be "whisper quiet," meeting at least the minimum standard for noise reduction, NRC 25. To meet this requirement, you should be able to stand in your auditorium with all HVAC units running and not hear motor noise, air movement or air-register rattle. To be sure, place all HVAC equipment as far away from the auditorium as possible. Also check that the velocity of air delivery and return throughout the duct system is 600 feet per minute or less.

Minimize "other" noises. All external noise sources need to be identified during room detailing and construction. Then, an action plan should be implemented to ensure these sources are isolated. Typical culprits include planes, trains, cars, motors, pumps, kitchens, restrooms and people. Hire a qualified room acoustician to work with your architect and engineers to make sure these sounds will not interfere with services. Rest assured that if an intrusive noise source is identified early in the design process, there is a construction solution to stop it.

Plenty of power. For live broadcasting, consider installing an uninterrupted power source, or UPS, that will kick in during power outages, brownouts, threatening weather and other emergencies. UPS systems typically include diesel or propane-fired generators that power all necessary panels in the electrical distribution system. These systems are extremely noisy when they start up, however, so keep them isolated. Also test them regularly and make sure they are fueled at all times.

Like your cameras, viewers only process what they can pick up. Make sure they like what they see this Sunday.

Brian Cassidy, AIA, is president of CCBG Architects (www.ccbg-arch.com) with offices in San Diego, Calif., and Phoenix. The firm specializes in the planning and design of religious campuses.