Well my father in law (and Pastor of my church) has opened up a room for me in the building and is allowing me to set up a studio! I'm pretty excited about it and I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions for me before getting started.

The church has a nice green screen kit that came with stands and lights to even out the screen. I just purchased that nice super white roll of paper that I will put up for a nice white background. We also have a ton of black table clothes that were used for my wedding last year. I imagine we can make those work for a black background.

The room actually has 6 windows, which we plan to block out completely so no light gets in (2 windows behind the screens, 2 one one the side of the wall and 2 behind where the camera will be, but it should be completely dark inside when we cover the windows.

We are also 100 yards or so from a major interstate which is fairly loud. Hopefully it won't interfere with my audio. I guess we will find out

Does anyone have any other suggestions for me when getting started?

Brock,
Studios often need some kind of lighting grid, power distribution, a dimming board, and air conditioning. If the sound is a problem then sound proofing as well. If you are renting it out to other people then you want to have access to other gear your clients might want or need as well as a source for expendables. Client and make up areas are also useful.

Brock, you'll get more valuable feedback if you can send the approximate dimensions (including height) and what kind of production(s) you're thinking about.

The potential for the traffic noise to be a big issue is pretty high, but a lot depends on just how much of it there is, as well as what's being produced.

Get wavier of liability forms signed for every client. Don't want them tripping over their shoes and suing the church.

As for what to do, I'm building a studio this month and have all kinds of ideas from lighting. But I would start with the basics of lighting and work outwards. Get your bare bones the point etc down, then build on that.

The approximate dimensions of the room are 10 feet wide and 30 feet long. Very small room. Right off the room is a nice bathroom with great lights and a big mirror. This will mostly be used for small church videos. I doubt I will be bringing clients outside of the church into the studio for shoots.

It's a small room and the ceilings are pretty short as well. I'd guess they are 7.5 - 8 feet high.

In regards to the noise, I'm in a tough situation, I have an interstate behind the building around 200 yards or so, a traditional road 15 yards in front of the building and a bridge 50 yards beside the building. So I have roads on 3 sides of my room as my room is on the corner of the building. I will pretty much always be using a lav mic so I'm not sure if the outside noise will pick up on that mic.

Any suggestions would be great.

I've found an ice cold fridge and very comfy chairs to have been critical to the success to every studio I've ever had/built.

After that I'd look into lighting truss (substitute autopole/polecats if limited budget) and soundproofing as the next items. By the time you start building the truss and 'proofing the walls/ceiling, you'll appreciate the ice cold fridge.