Renting a studio in Barcelona and the Baix Llobregat: what to check before booking

What a film studio is and when renting one pays off

A film studio is a space prepared to shoot video or photos with everything under control: light, sound, background and time. Unlike an office, a home or the street, in a studio the sun does not come in when you do not want it, no lorry drives past mid-sentence and nobody needs the room at noon.

Renting a studio pays off when control matters more than the place. For example, for interviews where the sound must be perfect, for a video podcast recorded every week with the same look, for product pieces needing very precise light, for a music video with a custom-built set or for any green screen shoot, where another image is placed behind later.

It does not pay off when the place is part of the story. If the video is about your factory, your restaurant or your team at work, the logical thing is to film there. And if what you want is the street, the beach or a particular building, what you need are locations and, often, permits.

Many productions combine both: interviews in the studio, with studio quality, and the rest on location. That way you get the best of each place. If what you are specifically after is recording a podcast, we have a dedicated article on where to record a podcast in Barcelona.

The types of studio you will find

When you search for studio hire in Barcelona, very different spaces show up under the same name. It is worth knowing which type you need.

The infinity cove or cyclorama studio: a wall and floor joined in a curve, usually white, with no visible corners. The background seems to go on forever. It is the classic for fashion, commercials and large product photography.

The chroma or green screen studio: a wall, sometimes the floor too, in an even green that gets replaced in the edit with another image, a virtual set or graphics. It needs very careful lighting for a clean key.

Built sets: spaces already dressed for a specific use, such as a podcast set with armchairs, an interview set with its background or a talking-head set for one person speaking to camera. They are the fastest: you arrive and record.

The photography studio: smaller, with flash lighting and paper backdrops. Ideal for portraits, product and fashion stills.

The warehouse or open space: a large, empty unit where a set is built from scratch. Some music videos and commercials need exactly that.

Many studios combine several of these uses. What matters is that the one you choose has what your shoot needs without you having to adapt everything.

What to check before renting a studio

A studio can look great in photos and cause problems on the day. These are the things worth checking.

Size and height. Not just the square metres, but also the distance between camera and background and the ceiling height, which decides where lights can be rigged and whether wide shots fit.

Sound. If you are recording voices, ask whether it is soundproofed and treated to avoid echo, and whether there is nearby noise, such as a street, building works or air conditioning that cannot be switched off.

Lighting and kit included. Some studios are rented empty and others include lights, cameras, microphones and monitors. Ask exactly what is included.

The technician. Is someone from the studio there during the recording who knows the kit and can fix problems? For anyone without their own equipment, this changes everything.

Time. How long the booking lasts and whether it includes set-up and strike. A four-hour booking in which you have to rig the lights is, in practice, two hours of recording.

Access. How to get there, whether you can park, whether there is room to unload equipment and whether there is a lift or stairs.

The rest: dressing room or make-up area, toilet, internet, temperature and whether you can eat inside.

And the golden rule: visit first. Ten minutes in the space tell you more than any photo gallery.

What drives the price of studio hire

Studio prices vary widely, which is why comparing only the hourly figure is usually misleading. What counts is what that figure includes.

It depends on the hours or the block you book. Many studios work in blocks of several hours or full days, and the hourly price drops as the block gets longer.

It depends on the kit. An empty studio and one with lights, cameras and microphones included cannot be compared. If you have to hire the kit separately, add it on.

It depends on the people. If the booking includes a technician, or even a full crew, the price is different, but so is what you save.

It depends on the build. Constructed sets, painted backdrops or custom scenery add preparation days, and often one day to build and another to strike.

It depends on timing. Weekends, holidays, night slots or short-notice bookings may come with different terms.

And it depends on what you leave with. At some studios you leave with a memory card; at others, with the footage organised and ready to edit within hours.

So the useful thing is to ask for a price on a specific case: what you will shoot, how many people, how many hours and what you need included. That way you compare like with like.

Barcelona city or Baix Llobregat: where the studio suits you

Many people only look for studios inside Barcelona, which is understandable. But for many shoots, a studio in the Baix Llobregat, a few minutes from the city, has clear advantages.

Access by car is easier. If you are loading equipment, clothes, product or set pieces, arriving by road and parking at the door saves time and money compared with the city centre.

It is close to the airport. Viladecans sits right next to Barcelona El Prat airport, which helps when the crew, the client or the guests fly in for a shoot day.

It is calmer. Less traffic, less street noise and often easier loading and unloading without rushing.

And the real distance is short. From central Barcelona it is about twenty minutes by car, depending on traffic, and there is public transport too.

Barcelona city has its advantages, especially if participants live or work in the centre and will travel by public transport, or if you want to combine the studio with urban exteriors on the same day. If you are going to film on the street, remember that needs its own permit: we explain it in film permits in Barcelona and the Baix Llobregat.

The practical question is where the people who need to come are and how much kit has to move. With that, the decision is usually easy.

What we have shot in our studio

A studio is easier to understand by seeing what comes out of it. Here are two projects shot in our studio that show what a space like this can deliver.

For the music video by Capinàs, a band blending Catalan rumba with modern production, we turned the studio into a made-to-measure stage. We designed and built a full set for the video's concept and created from scratch a puppet that plays the band's antagonist. With cinematic three-point lighting and an edit that follows the song's rhythm, the studio stopped looking like a studio. The making-of, shot in the same space, ended up as a piece in its own right.

For "És estrany" by Paula Valls, directed by Albert Murillo and also shot in our studio, the space served an intimate music video that was nominated at the Enderrock Awards.

Today the studio mostly hosts video podcasts and interviews, with three built sets that can be adapted to each brand. But these two cases show something useful for anyone looking for a studio: a good space is not limited to what is set up; with preparation, it becomes whatever the idea needs. If you want to see how we approach a music video from start to finish, it is in how a music video is produced.

The Bostak studio in Viladecans

At Bostak Films we have our own studio in Viladecans, in the Baix Llobregat, about twenty minutes from Barcelona and very close to the airport. You can see every detail on our studio page.

It has three sets ready to record: a talk show set with two armchairs for podcasts and interviews, a talking-head set for one person speaking to camera and a green screen with custom backgrounds. In all of them we match the light colour to your brand and dress the background with your colours and logo.

The booking includes a technician for the whole session, a 4K camera per person and a studio microphone per voice. You arrive on time, sit down and record, and within 24 hours all the footage is ready to download. It is booked in blocks of two, three or five hours, and you can visit beforehand by appointment.

And if you need more than the space, the Bostak team can handle everything else: the idea, the script, directing, post-production, social versions or a custom set like the one for Capinàs. We also bring the kit to your office or chosen location when the place is part of the story. That is what we do as a video production company in Viladecans.

Tell us what you want to shoot, how many of you there are and how many hours you need, and we will reply within 24 hours with availability and price.

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