The user is setting up a multi-cam studio remotely and needs a more idiot-proof way to manage the setup, including easier controls for recording and switching between cameras.
Hey folks, The company I work for wants to build a VERY budget 2 person podcast studio in a spare room in their office (for internal use). They know I'm a photographer/videographer, so they put my in charge of setting it up. The main problem is... I live 2000 miles away and work remotely. I'll be able to head out there next month to set it up, but I've basically gotta get it to be as idiot proof as humanly possible. Right now, I'm planning on running both mics and three cameras (left, center, right) into a Rodecaster Video S. Pretty sure the mics will be a piece of cake to set-and-forget. But the cameras are what I'm worried about. I'm going to be using manual cinema lenses so I can literally tape the focus and aperture rings so they can't be moved. Luckily there's a lot of decent cine lenses for cheap out there (currently leaning towards the Sirui Night Walker line). But I'm torn on what bodies to choose. I'm currently leaning towards the Canon EOS R50V, because it has active cooling, and a mode dial with programable custom modes. It's been a long time since I've done anything with Canon, I'm typically a Sony shooter, but I've heard a lot of stories of overheating on their ZV E10ii. And that's basically the budget I've got to work with. I'd love to go higher and use studio cameras, but that doesn't seem to be an option. My hope is that I can set the cameras up with dummy batteries, wire everything (lights, cams, Rodecaster) into an outlet, and then all they would have to do is flip the switch and hit record on the Rodecaster. Then at the end they would just need to stop the recording, unplug the SSD from the Rodecaster, plug it into their computer, and upload the files to Dropbox, and Bobs Your Uncle. I've never owned a Rodecaster before. And I've certainly never set something up like this where I wouldn't be able to run it. So I'm asking for your advice on where I might have a hard time, what to look out for, the unknown unknowns, etc.