Digital Kitchen quick studio tour 59 Comments
I visited Digital kitchen Chicago yesterday to visit with some friends and do some interviews. While I was there, I made this make video to give you a quick tour of the studio. It’s not the best looking video (it’s dark in there) but I wanted to give you and idea what the vibe is like there. I caught them during Call of Duty time:) I may be back soon with a better camera to shoot some more interior shots and get more interviews.
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59 Comments
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Nice space! I want that Togo couch from Ligne Roset
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(in the first edit bay) -
Welp, I’d never get a job at DK…I suck at Call Of Duty!
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Chips and Ketchup is my shit! HELL YA!
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lmao, hell ya chips and ketchup
-the intern
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Sick digs dude. What level of work do you usually give to your interns?
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DK usually tries to give interns the same level work that the designers are working on. They have access to all the same files and some of there stuff actually makes in into final spots. It’s usually up to the intern though to be proactive.
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I can certainly attest to this. I would steal away from the kitchen stocking duties just to do roto, hehe. DK internship was purely awesome.
Wow, Nick, this is the first I’ve heard of your departure! I’m sure the world of freelance will certainly go well for you!
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Digital Kitchen is one of the best studios on the planet. I still get a damn good laugh out of Designer Slash Model every time I watch it.
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Speaking of DSM, are DK ever going to release another printing of the T-Shirts?
For those who haven’t seen it btw:
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http://www.designerslashmodel.com/ -
hahahahaha, that videos es GREAT STUFF!!
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For the first few minutes I did not realize it was a satire. Then it hit me. This was absolutely hilarious thanks for the post.
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Nice place man… impressive video/sound from the iphone too, way better than I expected.
Cheers
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Not bad for an iPhone in the dark, eh?
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Approx. how many hours a day are spent playing COD? lol
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Are you still working at DK or you just freelancing now?
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Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. Nick your image is gone from the site and you talked about things as if you weren’t working there anymore? Like “that used to be my computer…”
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I’ve talked about it before, but I left DK about a month ago to build this site, work on iPhone apps and to do more freelance. Luckily, they let me in to do some interviews and tours. Expect more from DK:)
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Looks like a good work environment.
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Really nice, i would like to work in that kind of office someday
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What kinda hardware set up do you have there? Mac Pro specs, etc..?
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Most of the Macs are Mac Pro 8 core xeon with 8 gig of ram. Most stations have either a 30″ mac display and a 19 on the side or two 24″ dell displays.
There is also a render farm, but I can’t speak to the stats on that thing.
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how you devide you screen area, I mean what is on 30″ display and what on vertical 19″ one?
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The 30″ was the main work area. Then we turned the 19″ vertical to make them the same height as the 30″. Then, we used the 19″ for email, ichat, web stuff. Some people used the 19″ horizontal for their AE timeline.
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The opposite of corporate. I like it. :thumbsup:
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Looks like a great place to work ! Is it hard to get an intership there ?
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Just drop them a line. You have to be a student though.
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I can’t believe how beautiful the place is. Every room looks like a top notch designer set it up. Was the place renovated at one point or has it always such a sexy place to work?
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The design is based off of the Seattle office. Dark, worn steel, Particle board, chrome, and hardwood. It’s a really cool look for sure.
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Thanks Nick for the behind the scenes tour of DK.
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That´s exactly what I thought. Super cool tour Nick! Looking forward to the full blown pro-tour…
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I love Digital Kitchen’s kitchen… Feels like the heart of the place!
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man, london sucks compared to chicago, i mean look at the view, beautiful.
… man lovin the Dk office/studio/gamin thingy its amazing love to work someplace like that must be really fun…hey nick thanks for the vid can wait for the full ‘DK’ tour, cya.
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Hey ali, which views of London are you looking out on? London is stunning!
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Sweeet. I would never had known how it looked at DK if it wasn’t for this. Thanks!
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This totally makes me want to move to a) Chicago b) some metro city. Why? Because I would love to work in some sort of awesome office!
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sweet studio, nice setup.. and i gatta upgrade to a 3GS from my 3G, it takes a nice vid considering the light hah
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Nick, what a 22 years old brazilian motion designer boy needs to do to be a intern at DK? thanks.
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Man, walked down that street a couple times and didn’t even know DK was right by the entrance to the highway. Seems like all post houses i’ve seen (Vitamin, AnswersMedia,Protokulture,now DK)have that comfortable environment condo feel. Now if I can only work in one of them.
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Wake up!
Guys, seems aren’t always as they seem, while DK sure loves to show off how beautiful their studios are, and how “cool” it must be to work there it obviously isn’t that good.
why would anyone leave a dream job? to do tutorials and iPhone apps? come on, over 15 peeps left DK chicago in the past 2 years ….
as motion artists you should all know NOT to let the eye fool you
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You sound bitter, you an ex DK employee yourself?
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I certainly didn’t leave DK because I didn’t like it. It is however a high-stress and demanding job. The turnover is pretty high in the whole industry, especially DK.
However, most people that leave DK are doing so because they are starting their own thing or they want to move around.
DK is an awesome, creative place that has bread some of the best studios and individuals in the industry. Shilo, Vitiman, Erin Sarofsky, SuperFad, Blank Design, Daniel Pernikoff, Cody Cobb. I’m sure I’m missing some.
Working at one place your whole career is gone. Don’t let turnover rates suggest that it’s not a great place to learn and work with the best people around.
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Why is everyone playing call of duty? hahaha
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Thanks for the tour Nick, great stuff, looks like a really chill place to work!
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PalmliX: actually, never worked for DK, and unlike you probably, after seeing this studio I’ll still keep a clear sense of judgement regarding DK as a workplace…
and I’ll take a wild guess by saying you haven’t worked in any “major” studio around, cause otherwise you would’ve be less enthusiastic about these “luxuries”
the sole purpose of having these is that you’ll “have fun” , and if you’ll have fun you’ll be working longer hours.
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if you want to be blinded – go ahead. -
Sure, like any job, luxuries shouldn’t be the focus. Doing what you love doing every day, is. SO many people that have been doing this work for a few years become very jaded. It happens to almost everyone. There are long hours, canceled vacations, weekends, clients behind you, and producers telling you that you can’t do things. It’s tough.
Take PinkMonkey’s tone to heart as a warning. Not everything is Call of Duty and 30″ screens and beer (did I mention the beer?) It’s a lot of HARD WORK! But, for me, it’s worth it to do great work with great people.
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PinkMonkey: Your right I’ve never worked in a ‘major’ studio, in fact I’ve never worked in a studio period, so everything your saying could be right, or not, I really have no idea, although considering that at my last job I was repeatedly yelled at for talking with my co-workers (I have a loud booming voice) being allowed to play Call of Duty so I’ll work longer hours doesn’t seem that terrible, especially considering in many parts of the world people can’t even get terrible jobs…
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I really love these tours! The have DK NewYork over at the Stashfeed: http://www.stashmedia.tv/?p=31#more-31
Nice Tour Nick!
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Wow, that place looks great! Hope to have an apartment like that some day for my company.
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I was always wondering how is it inside those studios, now I know it’s awesome! Looks like a friendly and comfortable working environment. Thank you for revealing the “behind the scenes”. I’m a student and would just love to do a mentorship in a studio like this.
P.S. cool glasses u have
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Sure beats the warehouse where I was working. Long boring days, weekly unpaid overtime, all dead end and no brainer. I’d rather work in a studio like this despite the bitter comments of the pink monkey…
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“Long boring days, weekly unpaid overtime, all dead end and no brainer”
You sure you working in a warehouse? cause that sounds exactly like working for dk, especially nowadays with all this recession mumbo jumbo going…
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but hey, what do I know right? by your imagination I’m just a bitter ex-dk employee… -
I like the setup of the thirty inch and the looks like a 21 inch. I was wondering what is like using that setup.
Looks fun, and productive!
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Really nice, I haven’t seen studios before.
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You guys are allowed to play game that is nice.
So all the computers are mac ha?-
Most of the 3D staff is on PC.
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1. Why were they playing COD, were they on break?
2. Were those speakers in the ceiling of the edit bay?Place looks cool.
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1. It was call of duty time. hehe. Sometimes, it’s just fun to play against everybody. It’s a team building exercise
2. Those are speakers, but they don’t work. They DO work great for keeping the room quiet though. Good dampening.
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Nice tour. The intro and outro where very Requiem for a Dream-esque. I can’t wait to see some more interviews from DK. Keep up the good work.
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I just found out about DK…..sad because I lived and currently work in Chicago. They do some amazing work and they are a great source of inspiration. I’m looking forward to the updated tour. Thanks.
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Awwwwesome!
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