Affordable HDMI capture devices for live streaming.

C

Camera Expert

Well-known member
If I were to shoot an event that needs to be live-streamed for around 4 hours, I'm thinking about using WireCast (Hopefully the free version is all I need since it's only 1 camera. I just hope it's good for 4 hours of streaming) for the encoding and stream it to YouTube.

I'll be using a laptop and I'm wondering what HD capture devices people would recommended that wouldn't break the bank. Basically I need something that would attach to the USB 3.0 port of my laptop.

BlackMagic Design Intensity Shuttle is around $190 and does 10 bit and 422 input. It's probably the best bet unless theirs something decent for around $100 even if it's just 8 bit and 420. It would have to be compatible with WireCast though and it would be good if it's 24p capable.
 
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I've been trying to set this kind of thing up with a contact and they've gone with the Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle, too, which seems like a solid device.

The issues so far have been on the software side. Apparently Wirecast's partnership delivering a free streamer for YouTube has ended. We've been recommended Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) but haven't had much success with that either. The main problem is that they want to use their own laptops and they can't give them out to me with the passwords so I haven't been able to get anything working for them, aside from a couple of early successful Wirecast broadcasts.
 
It says here that WireCast and YouTube compatibility is back to normal.
http://forum.telestream.net/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=44&threadid=17219&enterthread=y


I'll also look into that software you mentioned.

I figured if I did end up getting the Black Magic box or something else, I'll ask a band who'll be performing at the same venue on an earlier date if they wouldn't mind me live streaming their concert perhaps for free just so I can test out the live stream using the venue's internet to see how fast and/or reliable it is. Speaking of speed, it would be great if any software offers H.265 encoding. This way, the bit rates in HD streaming wouldn't need to be as high to still get decent quality. Instead of using something like 2,500kbps to 3,000kbps for 720p streaming, you'd be able to get away with 1,500kbps. Granted my laptop would have to handle H.265 encoding very well. It's an i7, with a dedicated NVidia GTX graphics card, 7200 RPM hard drive and 16GB of RAM.

The Intensity Shuttle came out in 2012 I believe and can't do 1080p60. Shouldn't it be cheaper than $190? Other companies have slightly cheaper capture units that does 1080p60 although they probably don't capture at 10 bit. It would be sweet if Black Magic has a 1080p60 version with just HDMI on 1 end and USB 3.0 on the other end.

HDMI input really should be standard in top range laptops and computers.
 
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Computers, even multicore Xeon processors, aren't capable of encoding H.265 live yet and may not be for several years outside of a dedicated hardware encoder.

Wirecast Play (free) for YouTube is available again.
Producer (based on Wirecast and free) for Ustream is available.

Blackmagic Intensity Shuttle USB3 should work with Wirecast but that device can be finicky depending on how USB3 is implemented.
Magewell has HDMI or SDI to USB3 device which is very reliable but costs $299. It's driverless so there's no compatibility issue as long as the USB3 port is properly implemented.
Personally Thunderbolt tends to be the most reliable input. HP, ASUS, Dell have Thunderbolt laptops.
 
Been there, done that.
From my review of Intensity Shuttle on Amazon:

I was prepared by the time the device arrived. Installed latest Renesas drivers, verified firmware. I wanted for it to work because I love BMD, especially their software. Well. It did not work. Software installation goes smoothly, all devices recognized and visible in the device manager. Video is black, loud noise in audio. Posted a detailed message in BMD support forum with versions of driver, firmware, OS, symptoms, ask for help in troubleshooting.... and nothing.
Started looking for alternatives. Settled on StarTech.com USB3HDCAP. Installation of hardware and software was a total non-event. It just works. I was sitting in Wirecast staring at live video in 5 min. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

As I said, this works well:
http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-USB3HDCAP-Video-Capture-Device/dp/B00PC5HUA6/

Cheers!
 
This is going to kill me to say this, but Matrox Monarch HD device. Support is crap, there are still a bunch of bugs with record or record+stream. But it is a "computerless" streaming device. Bring a decent HDMI monitor so that you can grab the device's IP number to get into the web configuration and set up the stream parameters.

I used ours to stream out of our studio each week this past semester and it worked great, but can't record (which I really want too).
 
Has anyone hooked up 2 or 3 cameras to a laptop? My boss wants me to look into streaming High School football and basketball games with two cameras (or 3 if possible). One for action and one on the announcers.

I am using the vMix software for mixing, lower thirds, etc... And I bought the unlimited version. Just need a way to get more than one source into my laptop.
 
You should look at the Convergent Design Apollo. Up to four HD sources, live switching, record all five (four ISOs and Live-Switch), plus output program feed over SDI to your encoder. I use the BMD UltraStudio Recorder, just $137.
 
I've done it with Wirecast so it should be just as easy with vMix.
It depends on the resources your laptop has.
First you want a very recent Quad Core i7.
Then you want to make sure there's a good GPU in the laptop. vMix takes advantage of that handing off encoding so the CPU load remains low. Integrated GPUs don't handle that as well and if your CPU% runs high you get problems like dropped frames, low frame rates and such.
Finally your laptop inputs are critical. Thunderbolt affords you the least expensive and most reliable inputs. Blackmagic Ultrastudio MiniReocrder HDMI/SDI to Thunderbolt is about $145 each. If you bootcamp a 15" MBP to run Windows you have two inputs. USB3 inputs are more expensive but there are two very good ones on the market. Magewell and Epiphan each have a HDMI or SDI (you have to chose when you buy) to USB3. They are about $350 each. The problem is separate USB3 inputs might actually be on the same bus which limits input bandwidth. It's possible to have 2 USB3 inputs but they're actually on the same bus so only one device will work. You have to test and check the hardware on the laptop.

So 2 or 3 cameras on a laptop is definitely doable (you may need to keep everything at 720p) as long as you have the laptop that can handle it. Generally the top of the line gaming or workstation laptops are best of course.
 
Thanks, I used 2 GoPros and a DSLR on my laptop once a couple years ago. I grabbed the WiFi RTMP stream from the GoPros and plugged the DSLR into a USB HDMI encoder (one of those external gaming things) to live stream a couple of parades.

I am ordering a JVC GY-HM200 today for ENG work. It has built-in Wifi and Wired RTMP streaming, so my thinking is to plug the camera into a switch with a wired network adapter, use a USB HDMI encoder to grab video from a point-and-shoot and use a Microsoft USB webcam and into my laptop. It's fast enough to handle 3 sources and I'm broadcasting at 960x540. I've found that works best when I'm working outside of our building with variable speed internet connections.

We're only going to do it at schools that can provide us with a wired internet connection in the booth. If I get it all working, I'll post notes.
 
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