5 Camera Video Setup for Podcasting Studio

Hey guys. I'm overseeing the podcast/audiobook studio construction for my company's new entertainment venture. It will ultimately be my job to produce the podcasts and audiobooks. The catch is that they also want to film the podcasts as well. I'm trying to find the most affordable set up that makes the editing/conversion process easiest for me on FCPX.


As you'll see I'm a bit all over the place. The essentials for what I'm looking for is
1) The right Camcorder
2) The most efficient way to record, edit and sync audio

What is the most affordable camcorder to use that works really well with FCPX? I've been hearing rumors that some aren't compatable and require a tedious conversion process. The Kodak Zi8 seems perfect because it shoots in 1080p and has a mic input, but I'm not sure if it works well with FCPX. Now, I don't know if the mic input is necessary. I was thinking the easiest way to automatically sync audio is by plugging the 4 mics into the camera's mic input and record that way. That should sync everything up automatically right? I also watched a tutorial on the multicam editing option in Final Cut and that seems perfect for this project. Do I need a mic input if I use this method? It seems like the syncing is super easy with the built in camera audio and the podcast audio files together.

I also would like to be able to record directly into the computer but don't know if that's possible. The process of taking 4-5 SD cards and uploading it after each shoot that way seems super tedious. I'm not sure if there is way to do that.

Another option would be for us to buy a video switcher but all the options seem so expensive. Anybody know of good hardware that'd work? That way I could edit on the go and if we want to make this a live ustream we can do so. I was also thinking about switcher software and using MIDI. Not sure if that is possible either.