Advice on Building a desk for recording and video editing.

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Mongoo

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I'm building a desk for audio and video.

The equipment I will be using is and or need room for:

Akai DPS24
Blue Sky Monitors 2.1 sky system one
Rack gear lots on either side (unsure of how many... enough to grow into.)
Keyboard & Mouse
1-2 computer monitors
Computer (this may be on the side thoug in a seperate contaner.
Leg room
Writing room

Can Any one give me some Design Ideas or some links to desk building sites? I'm going to have to build it in peices and then put them together at the studio.

Thanks.

Mongoo

P.S. Whats your take on haveing wheels under your desk? Good or bad Idea?
 
Mongoo said:
Can Any one give me some Design Ideas or some links to desk building sites? I'm going to have to build it in peices and then put them together at the studio.

Thanks.

Mongoo

P.S. Whats your take on haveing wheels under your desk? Good or bad Idea?
Click to expand...
Here is a nice desk with a bit of rack space and room for dual monitors. I ordered the cherry, should be here next week. I would have taken the ideal and built my own but I dont have any tools or a place to do this kind of task but I think its worth the money,,, so I ordered one.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/g=rec/search/bigpid/base_id/111165/

Good luck
 
The best idea for you would be to sit down with a tape measure and a piece of paper and begin by writing down the dimensions of the stuff you know about (the DPS24, for instance). Your equipment racks will need to be 19 1/8 inches (inside dimensions) wide, 14-18 inches deep, and 1 3/4 inches high for every piece of single space rack gear (so, for instance, a 4-space rack would be 7 inches high [inside dimension]). If you want your computer monitors on a shelf you will need to determine the width and depth of each and calculate the total space required. Same with studio monitor speakers. Then sit at a table with your tape measure and block out a space that seems reasonable for a writing area and add that to your list. Also, while at your table seated at a chair, measure from the floor up to a point that feels comfortable for a working height for the desktop (allow room for your legs) and write that down, too.

Now you can begin to figure out a layout that will meet your needs and you will have accounted for your major space requirements. Actual desk construction can be as simple or as complicated as you want it to be. My custom built desk includes 3 elements that are all connected to form a single unit. On the left side I have a desk area (that is usually occupied by my spare mixer). The desk is roughly 36 inches by 36 inches (I can't remember how high). It has a 12 inch shelf that runs the entire width against the wall that has a 4-space rack on top of it as well as a desk lamp. The right hand edge of this module is angled to mate with the center desk section that holds my Mackie 32x8 mixer. The center section is lower in height than the outer sections so that the mixer is at a comfortable working height while seated. The center section also has a 12 inch shelf that runs the entire width and holds my monitor speakers as well as my PC monitor. This unit is 50 inches wide and 36 inches deep (I think). The right hand section is another 36x36 inch desktop (again, angled to mate with the center section) with a slightly smaller lower case that contains a 10-space rack as well as some additional storage space. To envisiion the entire assembly, the center section is placed across a corner and the outer sections are angled wings.

The construction methods and materials used include 3/4 inch birch plywood, edge trim, 2x3's for lower framing on the center section, and deck hardware (the angled brackets that can be used to assemble lumber). It is cheap, easy to build, and trims out to look pretty decent. I think I've got less than $150 in materials invested.

I hope this helps provide some guidance. Since you pretty much want a custom design you'll have to work the details to figure out what you need.

Good luck,
Darryl.....
 
Can Any one give me some Design Ideas or some links to desk building sites? I'm going to have to build it in peices and then put them together at the studio.
Click to expand...
Here is mine as of last year.


These are some of the CAD files.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/consldtlB.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/consldtlD.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/CONSLDTL1.gif
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/CONSLDTL2.gif

Here are some pics.
This is a temporary platform for the leg brackets. This platform will
eventually be part of a floating floor
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C8.jpg
This is one of the legs
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C2.jpg
This is the cablechase/leg brackets. The legs slip over these and cables
go down the legs into the chases.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C5.jpg
This shows a piece of the Oak flooring/cable chase covers that the legs die into. There is a removable Oak cover that matches for the chases themself.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C6.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C7.jpg
This is the basic welded rectangular steel tubing main and sub frames.
Everything bolts to this frame. I had my monitors on this temporarily to

look at the CAD sections.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C21.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C22.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/24.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/27.jpg
This shows the welded brackets on the legs that the Main frame bolts to
from under the angles.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C15.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/C11.jpg
This is looking under one of three Armrest frames, that also hold the
switching and jack modules at each end of the console.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/28.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/29.jpg
This shows one of the modules mounted in one of the frames
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/30.jpg
Here is one of those frames mounted to the Main Frame. Actually, the
center frame has a removable armrest for laying a small Midi keyboard
controller in place of it
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/32.jpg
This is one of the wood endcaps. !0 species of hardwoods.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/34.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/35.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/36.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/37.jpg
Here is the cap mounted on the console. Sorry for the dark pics.
Photography is NOT one of my skills.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/43.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/46.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/47.jpg

here is the basic console with hood.
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/50.jpg
http://www.psychossite.com/rkpics/51.jpg
There are TONS of details these pics do NOT show.
I'll post the latest stuff tomorrow.
As for advice, I built this 9 years ago. Still use it cause I can MODIFY it as I need to. Build for the future. Do not limit yourself now. It took me 3 months to design and build this but it was the BEST thing I ever did for my studio. NO ONE has a console like this, although I have a shop and build things for a living, and if someone were interested, I could build one to their spec's. But it is NOT cheap. This has many other things that you cannot see as these pics were taken before complete assembly. As you will see. I built this for multimedia/video/audio work.
fitZ
 
Last edited:
Don't bother with the StudioRTA crap - cheap Chinese stuff that won't last.

I've been eyeing these guys for quite some time now:

http://www.tbcconsoles.com/

They have some very cool designs you could get inspiration from.
 
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