Studio

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I have created a studio in my lab for the purpose of making videos about electronics and such which I publish on my YouTube channel @InTheLabWithJayJay. Below are some details about my spaces and equipment.

Spaces

In my lab I have myriad workspaces.

I have my "work station" which is where I have my dual 4K monitors and do most of my computer work (programming, etc).

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.

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. Most of my cameras are set up for recording on the bench. These 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 two cameras set up and connected to 'wonder' 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 'verve' or 'wonder'). 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 'verve'

These inputs are connected to 'verve' for recording purposes:

  • Welcome Cam (Logitech C922), for doing video introductions.
  • 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.
  • Lab Cam (Logitech C922), for showing pretty much the whole room.
  • Epoccam (bragi with Elgato Epoccam), for showing specific things on the bench, especially my bench meters, power supplies, and signal generator.
  • UNI-T UTi260B (thermal imager), for thermal analysis, that is, seeing what's getting hot.
  • Rigol MSO5074 (oscilloscope), for both analog and digital signal analysis.
  • Yizhan Microscope (microscope), for up close shots of things on the bench.
  • TOMLOV DM602 Pro (microscope), for even closer upper shots of such things.
  • Xbox to HDMI (Xbox to HDMI), for converting OG Xbox output to HDMI.
  • AV RCA to HDMI (AV/RCA to HDMI), for converting AV/RCA output to HDMI.
  • verve desktop (Windows 11), for showing software running on Windows 11.

Inputs connected to 'wonder'

These inputs are connected to 'wonder' for recording purposes:

  • Booth Cam (NBD Camera), for auxiliary projects, particularly my 300in1 and related.
  • Book Cam (Logitech Brio), for recording written work (such as books), or for other miscellaneous purposes.
  • wonder desktop (Windows 10), for showing software running on Windows 10.

Equipment

I have heaps of equipment in my lab, but here are some notes about the equipment I have specifically for video recording and editing.

Computers

I mainly record videos on 'verve' and edit them on 'charisma'. I can also record videos on 'wonder'. When I have the money I will replace 'verve' with something like 'vision' or 'victory'.

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’.

I still keep 'wonder' around though and it is set up and configured to record videos in the booth.

Screens

I have three main screens bolted to the wall behind my bench:

I can connect the UPERFECT to either 'verve' or 'wonder'. I have a HDMI KVM to control which.

I can connect the Teac to either my Lab HDMI KVM via HDMI input or to 'verve' via VGA input. The Lab HDMI KVM is in turn connected to 'verve', 'wonder', and 'surprise'; in addition to some spare cables for the fourth input.

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. The Leadstar has the roof aerial attached and gets good television reception, although television isn't really my bag.

Cameras

These are the USB cameras that I own:

I name my various cameras connected to 'verve':

The cameras connected to 'wonder' are:

The other cameras aren't presently in use.

Software

I use OBS Studio on 'verve' and 'wonder' to record videos, and Kdenlive on 'charisma' to edit them. I keep the video files on 'charisma' and upload them to my YouTube channel @InTheLabWithJayJay. 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 my cameras.

Converters

These are the various signal converters that I own:

Switches

These are the various switches that I own:

I use my 8K 5-in-1 HDMI switch to select between the following equipment for recording:

I use my 4 Port HDMI KVM to select between the following computers:

My other 4 Port HDMI KVM can control what is displayed on the UPERFECT 156J08 15.6" 4K HDMI monitor on my bench, either 'verve' or 'wonder' (with two ports spare).

Hubs

These are the various USB hubs that I own:

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):

Microphones

I have this microphone, but I don't use it:

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