Last year, the Black Lodge underwent a major upgrade.
On the wall behind, I built a free-floating shelving unit, above a full-length, custom desktop with filing cabinet and a computer bay for the Twins (both legacy machines).
A new workstation was added to the Lodge, making three. Two are legacy, while one is a new build from the ground up to current performance specs.
My main workstation is completely new. It was designed for rendering and online development. I keep little on it though, it’s the only machine that’s online. If it gets fried by malware, the damage ends there. The legacy machines remain untethered to the online machine.
I keep the legacy machine for Windows 7 Professional software applications that have since been discontinued. The original source files represent an investment of labor that may need to be accessed for future editing.
Clients may also have similar issues where these workstations can open and edit obsolete files. The other legacy workstation runs Windows XP 32 bit, which can still operate in 16 bit emulation mode. That means ancient files can be opened and edited.
Under the right side of the desktop, the Twins are sitting on a pull-out platform, which is out of the way.
Whenever the Twins need to be opened or cables plugged and unplugged, the platform they sit on pulls out on 200 pound capacity drawer sliders. The cables have three feet of relief so they never get yanked out. The desktop is fixed to the wall studs so the platform cannot tip forward to drop the equipment.
Built into the track lighting above, the A.I.A. globe from Los Angeles has been installed. It’s a hand-painted photo model used in stop-motion animation, back in the day. It compliments the flat version on the wall in the background.
The Black Lodge is set up for dubbing and voice-over recording too, in addition to game development, 3D model creation, animation and video editing short and feature length films.