Studio
I have created a studio in my lab for the purpose of making videos about electronics and such which I publish on my YouTube channels @InTheLabWithJayJay and @ElliotsExtras. Below are some details about my spaces and equipment.
Equipment
I have heaps of equipment in my lab/studio, but on this page are some notes about the equipment I have specifically for video recording and editing.
My records for studio equipment are kept up-to-date here: https://jj5.net/60370
Spaces
In my lab/studio I have myriad workspaces.
I have my "computer" which is where I have my triple 4K monitors and do most of my computer work (programming, etc). This space is host to my primary workstation 'charisma', my MacBook Pro 'hawk', and my gaming rig 'treat'.
I have my "admin station" which has a keyboard and mouse and a few KVMs for connecting directly to a number of my servers for network administration purposes. That main servers at the admin station are 'compassion', 'lore', and 'discernment'.
I have my "bench" which has most of my electronics tools and is where I do most of my electronics projects and make most of my videos. I do most of my recording on the bench. The bench cameras are connected to 'verve' for recording.
I have my "booth" which has my component drawers and an auxiliary workspace for doing projects. The booth has cameras set up and connected to 'trail' so I can make videos from my booth in addition to the bench. The reason this bench is called the "booth" is that I use it as my "photo booth" when I need to take pictures of things I'm selling on eBay. The name just kinda stuck, and it's handy to differentiate this workspace from my main "bench".
Video inputs
These are the main video sources I have available when making videos.
Most video inputs are either USB or HDMI. If they're HDMI they get run through a converter to USB before being run into a computer (either 'treat', 'charisma', 'verve', or 'trail'). The computer records the USB video input using OBS Studio.
I can also record video on a lot of my laptops and smart phones, but I don't list those potential video sources here.
Inputs connected to 'treat'
These inputs are connected to 'treat' for recording purposes:
- Welcome/Farewell Cam (Logitech Brio), for doing video intros and outros.
Inputs connected to 'charisma'
These inputs are connected to 'charisma' for recording purposes:
- Face Cam (Logitech C922), for showing my face when I'm recording myself while also recording the computer screen.
- Stand Cam (Yum Cha 13MP HD Webcam With Mic USB Camera) for a low-res camera mounted on a stand
- 'charisma' desktop (KDE Plasma on Debian 12), for showing software running on my main Debian workstation. I have a VM 'proviso' which I usually use for my electronics projects. I can also connect to other computers in my lab/studio using RDP and/or VNC.
Inputs connected to 'verve'
These inputs are connected to 'verve' for recording purposes:
- Lab Cam (Logitech C922), for showing pretty much the whole room.
- Mat Cam (Logitech Brio), for doing detailed work on the bench; this camera is recorded at 4K.
- Wide Cam (Logitech C922), for showing the wide view of me at the bench.
- Power Cam (Logitech Brio), for showing power supplies and such from a different angle on the bench
- Thermal Cam (UNI-T UTi260B, thermal imager), for thermal analysis, that is, seeing what's getting hot. The UTi260B is installed on the bench, I also have a hand-held NOYAFA NF-521.
- OWON Cam (OWON XDM1041, multimeter), for the DMMEasyControl software running on 'verve' and connected to my OWON XDM1041 Bench Multimeter
- 'verve' desktop (Windows 11), for showing software running on my main Windows 11 workstation 'verve'. Particularly for the Arduino IDE connected to USB devices attached to 'verve'.
- HDMI 1: Rigol MSO5074 (oscilloscope), for both analog and digital signal analysis.
- HDMI 2: Yizhan Microscope (microscope), for up close shots of things on the bench.
- HDMI 3: TOMLOV DM602 Pro (microscope), for even closer upper shots of such things.
- HDMI 4: Xbox to HDMI (Xbox to HDMI), for converting OG Xbox output to HDMI.
- HDMI 5: AV RCA to HDMI (AV/RCA to HDMI), for converting AV/RCA output to HDMI.
- AV 2: game system: Mini Classic Game System 3.5mm Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) stereo jack
- AV 3: test Xbox, cable on bench
- AV 4: bench Xbox, OG Xbox under bench
Inputs connected to 'trail'
These inputs are connected to 'trail' for recording purposes:
- Booth Cam (Logitech Brio), for auxiliary projects, particularly my 300in1 and related.
Computers
I mainly record videos on 'treat', 'charisma', 'trail, and 'verve'. I edit videos on 'charisma'. When I have the money I will replace 'verve' with something like 'vision' or 'victory' (I am still just dreaming about that).
When I started the YouTube channel in June 2023 I only had 'wonder' for recording videos. The thing about 'wonder' is that it's seriously anorexic and basically just kinda not very good. I couldn't record good 4K videos on 'wonder' because it just didn't have enough grunt, and as it only has support for 6 USB inputs the number of cameras I could switch between was seriously limited.
In December of 2023 I got 'verve' mostly to replace 'wonder', and it is indeed much better and I can now record videos in 4K. The new computer 'verve' has 25 USB ports on its back panel, which is much better than the 6 which were available on 'wonder'. If you're interested you can see how everything is connected over here: USB cabling for ‘verve’.
In November of 2024 I got 'treat and now I can record 4K intros and outros on that.
I still keep 'wonder' around though and it is set up with some software I can use on the bench.
Screens
I have two screens bolted to the wall behind my bench:
- Teac TV 19" LCD television
- Leadstar TV 12" LCD television
I can connect the Teac TV to either 'verve', 'trail', 'insight', 'wonder', or 'surprise'. I have an 8-port HDMI KVM to control which.
The Leadstar is connected to the output of my HDMI to USB converter, so that when I'm converting HDMI signals to USB for recording purposes I can also see them on this screen.
Cameras
These are the USB cameras that I own:
- Logitech Brio (I have three of these).
- Logitech C922 (I have four of these).
- NBD Camera (I have one of these).
- Yum Cha HD Webcam with Mic USB Camera (I have one of these).
- Yum Cha 13MP HD Webcam With Mic USB Camera (I have one of these).
- I can use any of my iPhones for recording video too (I have five iPhones and an iPod touch).
| Workspace | Camera | Brand | USB Name | Computer | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| computer | Welcome/Farewell Cam | Logitech Brio | Logitech Brio | 'treat' | |
| computer | Face Cam | Logitech C922 | C922 Pro Stream Webcam | 'charisma' | |
| computer | Stand Cam | Yum Cha 13MP HD Webcam With Mic USB Camera | Integrated Camera | 'charisma' | |
| computer | Desktop (charisma) | OBS Studio | Display Capture | 'charisma' | often used to show 'proviso' |
| booth | Booth Cam | Logitech Brio | Logitech Brio | 'trail' | |
| bench | Lab Cam | Logitech C922 | C922 Pro Stream Webcam | 'verve' | |
| bench | Mat Cam | Logitech Brio | Logitech Brio | 'verve' | |
| bench | Wide Cam | Logitech C922 | C922 Pro Stream Webcam | 'verve' | |
| bench | Power Cam | Logitech Brio | Logitech Brio | 'verve' | |
| bench | Thermal Cam | UNI-T UTi260B Thermal Imager | UVC Camera | 'verve' | |
| bench | OWON Cam | OWON XDM1041 Bench Multimeter | DMMEasyControl | 'verve' | the DMMEasyControl software shows my OWON XDM1041 |
| bench | Desktop (verve) | OBS Studio | Display Capture | 'verve' | |
| bench | HDMI Cam | Yum Cha 4K HDMI USB 3.0 HDMI To USB Adapter | USB Video | 'verve' |
HDMI devices
HDMI devices connected to HDMI To USB Adapter by 5-In 1-Out HDMI Switch:
| Number | Attachment |
|---|---|
| HDMI 1 | Rigol MSO5074 Mixed Signal Oscilloscope |
| HDMI 2 | Yizhan Digital Microscope |
| HDMI 3 | TOMLOV DM602 Pro Digital Microscope |
| HDMI 4 | Xbox HDMI (available on bench) |
| HDMI 5 | GANA Mini AV2HDMI Up Scaler 1080p RCA To HDMI Adapter |
AV devices
AV devices connected to AV2HDMI Up Scaler by 4-in 1-out RCA Switch:
| Number | Attachment | Note |
|---|---|---|
| AV 1 | *unused* | owing to the way the RCA Switch is installed this input is inaccessible |
| AV 2 | game system | Mini Classic Game System 3.5mm Tip-Ring-Sleeve (TRS) stereo jack |
| AV 3 | test Xbox | OG Xbox display cable, available on bench |
| AV 4 | bench Xbox | OG Xbox display cable, connected to bench Xbox X1014 |
Software
I use OBS Studio on 'treat' (Windows 11 Home), 'charisma' (Debian 12 with KDE Plasma), 'verve' (Windows 11 Pro), and 'trail' (Windows 11 Pro) to record videos, and Kdenlive on 'charisma' to edit them. I keep the video files on 'charisma' and 'lore' and I upload them to my YouTube channels @InTheLabWithJayJay and @ElliotsExtras. I would rather have a Vimeo channel, but it's too expensive for me and the biggest audience seems to be on YouTube.
I use Logi Tune for tweaking settings on some of the cameras on my Windows boxes.
Converters
These are the various signal converters that I own:
- AVerMedia BU110 HDMI To USB Adapter (I gave this to a friend).
- Yum Cha 4K HDMI USB 3.0 HDMI To USB Adapter (I purchased three of these. One is in use, I gave one to a friend, and the other one is spare).
- Yum Cha Xbox To HDMI Adapter (I have one of these).
- GANA Mini AV2HDMI Up Scaler 1080p RCA To HDMI Adapter (I have one of these).
Switches
These are the various switches that I own:
- AOOCOO 4K@30Hz HDMI USB 2.0 8-Port HDMI KVM (I have one of these).
- AOOCOO 4K @60Hz USB 3.0 4-Port HDMI KVM (I have one of these).
- AOOCOO 4K @60Hz USB 2.0 4-Port HDMI KVM (I have one of these).
- Yum Cha USB 3.0 2-Port USB Switch (I have four of these).
- HDmatters 4K HDMI USB 2.0 4-Port HDMI KVM (I have two of these).
- Yum Cha 4K 3-Way HDMI Switch (I have five of these).
- GKRONG 8K 5-In 1-Out HDMI Switch (I have one of these).
- 4-in 1-out RCA Audio Video Signal Switcher (I have one of these).
I use my GKRONG 8K 5-In 1-Out HDMI Switch to select between the following equipment for recording:
I use my 8-port HDMI KVM to select between the following computers:
My other 4-port KVM RV77 4K HDMI USB 2.0 4-Port HDMI KVM is not currently in use.
Hubs
These are the various USB hubs that I own:
- Simplecom CH375PS USB Hub (I have two of these, one is damaged).
- Yum Cha 11 in 1 USB-C Hub USB Hub (I have two of these).
- Yum Cha USB 3.0 Powered 4-Port USB Hub (I have three of these).
- Tendak USB 3.0 Powered 4-Port USB Hub (I have five of these).
- ORICO PW11-9P-RG-EP-US USB 3.0 Powered 4-Port USB Hub (I have one of these).
Adapters
These are a few adapters of note (I have others!):
Mounts
These are some of the mounts I purchased (not all are presently in use):
- Acetaken C920WM-001 Webcam Wall Mount (I have three of these).
- ARKON CMPHD006 Webcam Wall Mount (I have one of these).
- EXSHOW Long Arm Webcam Wall Mount (I have six of these).
- Grestar Flexible Webcam Stand (I have one of these).
- Acetaken 25WMGRS-002 Gooseneck Clamp Webcam Stand (I have two of these).
Microphones
I have this microphone, but I don't use it:
- Yum Cha BM800 Condenser Microphone (This microphone looks fancy, but it's kinda shit. I mostly just use the microphones in my Logitech Brios). I am saving my pennies for the RØDE Wireless GO II.