AV design software is the tool that audio-visual (AV) engineers use to plan where the screens, cameras, microphones, speakers and cables go in meeting rooms, classrooms and halls. It produces the drawings and the full parts list before the installers arrive. Its buyers are AV integrators, the specialist firms that design and install these systems for offices, colleges, hotels and courts.
An AV system is more than a screen on a wall. A video-call room needs a camera that can see every seat, microphones that pick up every voice, and speakers that everyone can hear. All of these are connected by cables to a control system, often through a switcher, a box that sends each signal to the right device. A mistake often shows up only after the room is finished. For example, the people in the back row cannot read the slides.
Imagine an AV integrator designing a 180-seat auditorium for an engineering college in Bhubaneswar. The engineer imports the hall's floor plan from the architect's BIM software. The farthest seat is 24 metres from the stage. A common rule of thumb says that, for people to read detailed text, the picture must be at least one-sixth of that distance in height. So the software suggests a picture at least 4 metres high, and the engineer chooses a projector and screen of that size. Then the engineer places eight ceiling speakers. The software shows the area that each speaker covers, so that no seat falls in a quiet spot.
Next, the software draws the signal flow diagram. This diagram shows how each device is connected: the lectern computer to the switcher, the switcher to the projector, the microphones to the audio processor, and the processor to the amplifiers and speakers. From this diagram, the software counts every cable and connector. It then produces the bill of materials, the full list of 140 items with their quantities and prices. The integrator turns this list into a quote for the college. This counting is the AV version of a quantity takeoff.
Done by hand, in general drawing software and spreadsheets, a design of this size can take a week. Newer AV design tools produce a first design from a room's size and purpose in minutes, and the engineer then adjusts it.
AV design is close to security system design software. Both place devices on a floor plan and count the cables. The AV team must also keep its ceiling speakers and projector clear of the building's own ducts and lights. So the finished design is often placed back into the BIM model, where these clashes can be checked.