Useful workspaces now that I have a huge extended desktop?

July 23, 2009 12:52 PM

I scored a huge monitor for free! Tips for video editing/motion graphics workspace layout?

So I scored one of those 21" CRT monitors that people used to pay thousands of dollars for and are now somewhat devalued. It's got a max res higher than I even use; I keep it around 1600x1200, and it sits next to my laptop.

Does anyone have useful tips on how they arrange windows, timelines, palettes, etc? I use Final Cut Studio and Adobe After Effects and Photoshop the most often.

If there're any other tips for living with a new ginormo-tron on one's desk, I'd appreciate those as well.

If it matters, I'm running OS X 10.5.7 on a first-gen MacBook Pro with 2 gigs of RAM and an octopus tangle of hard drives.

posted by jtron to computers & internet (4 comments total)

You didn't explicitly say so, but I hope you're going for dual monitor. Macs handle this really well, and your MBP should have plenty of power.

FCP has a nice default dual monitor window set up. You've got your file/filter viewer on one screen, and slug and timeline on the other. I usually only edit small/web size video, but if you're doing HD you may want to change that up.

If you're doing large work in photoshop I know some people like to keep their tool palates on one monitor, and clean up their main monitor for just the canvas. I usually keep the palate docked/ retracted (in CS3) and use hot keys. I do a lot of layout in InDesign however, and there keeping palates away is more useful.

The way I usually use my 2 screen set up is on my smaller laptop screen I've got mail, tweetie, ical (and maybe metafilter) open along with client notes, sketches, or a to-do list. My big monitor is all for work. (in theory)
posted by fontophilic at 1:42 PM on July 23

Yes! Dual monitor all the way and I even fiddled with the Display preferences so when you drag something from one to another, it's smooth. Right now I've got the laptop in front and the monitor off to one side; I may switch those around.
posted by jtron at 2:04 PM on July 23

If you're doing large work in photoshop I know some people like to keep their tool palates on one monitor, and clean up their main monitor for just the canvas.

This. As much as possible, I like to keep the palette clutter on one screen and work surface on another. I also like to put a preview window at 100% (or smaller if necessary) on the other monitor, so I can see results in real time while I do detail work, zoomed in on the work canvas.

Going dual monitor was like being unshackled in respect to graphic design. Enjoy!
posted by empyrean at 2:09 PM on July 23

I keep my palettes in a separate window in Photoshop. For web stuff one screen is browser and FTP, the other is textmate.
posted by backwards guitar at 5:19 PM on July 23