A comparison of the variable acoustics of two foley studios for sound effects recording

The sound effects and voices that are heard in motion pictures are often replacements or additions of sounds recorded in a Foley Studio. In this type of studio, named after Jack Foley, the pioneer in movie sound effects recording, many objects like wooden floors and doors are present to record sounds from (see figure 1). These recordings need to sound as they are heard in the real world or even as an exaggeration of that world. Therefore it should be possible to create a lot of different acoustical conditions in a Foley Studio. The requirements are not very straightforward though, because there is few literature about Foley Studio design, also because there are few Foley Studios. To determine the proper room acoustical requirements, the variability of acoustical properties of two existing Foley Studios have been compared: one typical studio and one with a good reputation.