A Tour of My Studio!

Hardware:

Mac Pro 2008

My main iron is an early 2008 Mac Pro with 14GB of RAM, 256MB ATI 2600 graphics card, 120GB OWC SSD, and a varied assortment of internal and external hard drives. The Mac Pro is connected to a Yiynova MSP19u tablet monitor and an HPZR24W 24″ IPS display. I use the Mac Pro for all my production work.

main_displays

In addition to the Mac Pro, I also have an early 2008 Macbook Pro (the model that predates the Unibody model) with 4GB of RAM and an OWC 120GB SSD. The Macbook Pro is connected to a Dell 2412U IPS display.

I use an Apple wired (small) aluminum keyboard and Apple trackpad with the Mac Pro. The Macbook Pro has an Apple extended aluminum keyboard with Kensington Orbit trackball attached.

Both 24″ displays are mounted to a Mount-It adjustable support frame. The displays can be tilted and adjusted to both landscape or portrait mode, as needed.

airport_extreme

An Apple Extreme router serves as my network hub – it’s the only router I’ve owned that has survived longer than requisite 2 years. My Canon Canoscan 4400F scanner sits largely unused these days.

camcorder

For video streaming, I use a battle-hardened 2003 edition Sony DCR-PC9 camcorder, connected via Firewire 400 to my Macbook Pro.

For mobile devices, I use an iPhone5 16GB and a Retina iPad Mini 32GB. The iPhone probably gets the most use out of all the gear I own.

Software:

Instead of tackling every piece of software I use, I want to focus on the software tools that help me with my design work. Both Macs run Mavericks.

The design tools I use regularly include Smith Micro’s Manga Studio 5EX and Adobe Photoshop CS6 for my illustration and comics work and Panic’s Coda (for web development).

I’m a bit of a productivity junkie, so you’ll also find tools like Hazel and Typinator on my system. Of course, there’s more I use, but these are the basics.

Other Stuff:

Behind my workstation desk is an animation desk, lovingly restored from the rigors of a classroom environment.

animation_desk

To its right is a comic book spinner rack, bought to bring back some nostalgic memories.

spinner_rack

On the other side of my animation desk is a filing cabinet, filled to the gills with documents that I hope to find at some point in the future, along with a stuffed Bob perched ontop of an invisible shelf.

filing_cabinet

I’ve saved the messiest part of my studio for last – the closet.

closet

Thanks for stopping by!