In the past I’ve written posts on what I use in my podcasting and production environments.  This is continually evolving.  Here’s the latest from my view Tuesday nights! So how does it break down?

1. Macbook Pro (2009) – This is my general day to day machine.  Brought down, seen sitting on a stack of older PC laptops I’ve been attempting to get usable with Ubuntu installs.  Used for the show notes, chat interactions, and showing images and videos we broadcast through Desktop Presenter as a camera in WireCast.
2. iMac (2007) – It’s been limited in performance, so it’s been relegated to just having the chat up consistently so I can react live with the chat during the show.  Recently did a clean reinstall to see if I can get it up to snuff for a dedicated Hangout machine or other task.
3. Videonics switcher.  This guy is the same model I used in my high school media class.  This one was acquired as the former live switch for the International Wrestling Cartel for many years.  Serves as a switcher for any real cameras I may have in studio.
4. Behringer mic.  Always a good brand.  Delivers my Sorg Voice.
5. Sony A1U. A small HD camera that served well on the set of the Baristas.
6. Sony HDR FX-1000 – My general use camera.  Both of these cams are swapped in and out at will depending on if there are any other projects that need them in the week.  I do my best to attempt to double any equipment that we have to pull from the Podcasting setup, but there’s always something.
7. That’s Chachi on the couch.  Hi Chachi!
8. Panasonic AG-HVX200.  It’s an HD camera, but only if you grab a $600 P2 card.  In this setup, I’m testing it as a passthrough to get the S-Video based switcher and cameras through to Firewire for the Podcast.  I had been using an older, smaller Sony HandyCam, but have been trying to solve an issue to retain the widescreen nature of the video even though we’re transmitting as SD/DV resolutions.  Feel this solution could lead to better captures for the live switching we do for wrestling and event productions.  Still working on this one.
9. Sound board. Not the Behringer I usually use.  But a thankful donation.
10. Around the corner you can see one of the three monitors setup for our Skype guests.  This is so we can have a bit of an “in the room” feel with the guys, which I think helps our interactions.
11. Controls for Skype Machines.  Cramped, but I only ever need to load Desktop Presenter and Skype on each machine.
12. Lots of PCs.  Including the 3 Skype machines, and various other machines I’d been experimenting with Linux and Windows unitasking to break out tasks in the studio.
13. Wirecast.  Running off of the Mac Mini (2011) in the foreground  This machine is my main editing deal, which I transfer from my office to record the show weekly.  I love the portability!

A lot of what you see has been recovered, second hand, or repurposed.  Podcasting doesn’t have much of a budget in my world.  I use it for a bit of “proof of concept” that we can do something with quality and regularity.  It also serves as an experimentation ground (hence all of the extra equipment).  I could get into a bit more about the hows and whys I still do the Podcasting after all of these (7) years.  But that’s a post for another day… *Isn’t that panorama cool?  I love the feature on my iPhone.