I am looking for some suggestions from the experienced folks here in this Forum. I am trying to decide which type of hardware arrangement to purchase;

1. A zBook 15 with 3 (?)external Mini Recorders (or Magewell box) derived from this concept(but using a zBook with vMix:





OR

2. Building my own box, any recommendations as to something to emulate (that works with vMix) and the source for parts


Thanks in advance

Hugh

I would build my own setup. Depending on what you want to achieve, the size and expandability of your setup is very important. I noticed you didn't count the cost of tripods, cables, batteries, AC adapters,.. This can add up very quickly, don't forget it.

With the setup you propose you will have a hard time to add more camera's when your business grows. You will also not be able to provide things like IMAG or High quality streaming to your clients without pushing the hardware to it's limit. And then we didn't even mention 4K, which will be the standard in 1 or 2 years.

With a custom built desktop pc you can save a lot of money later: you can swap out cards and replace them with 4K capturecards or decklink quads, you can add more RAM easily, change the videocard or processor or add harddrives in raid in order to run a multicorder.

Depending on where you want to go with your setup, there are some cheaper or better but a little more expensive alternatives for your camera's.

Studio, conferences & sports: Blackmagic Studio camera : http://www.bhphotovideo....hd_studio_camera_hd.html
This one is cheaper (depending on the lens) and will offer you a big screen, tally, sdi,... It's not a good cam in low light though. (SDI)

Concerts, high end stuff: Sony A7s : http://www.bhphotovideo....s=ma&Top+Nav-Search=
It's a dslr, but very capable for multicam. The downside is that you got to rig it and buy lenses, the positive is that it delivers 4K and is SUPERB in low light. (HDMI)

All round: Canon XHA1: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/canon-xh-a1
If you want to save on camera's now, these are super deals. Everyone is dumping them for cheap, because they need Mini DV cassetes. They are very capable cams though and offer connectivity over component to a decklink capture card. These camera's will make you look very pro, for the cost of a consumer camera. (component/firewire)

Sports, concerts: Vixia mini X: http://www.bhphotovideo....n_vixia_mini_x_full.html
Fisheye camera with superb microphones. More reliable then a gopro, for just a bit more. Very good in low light, comes with an AC adapter. (HDMI)

Some of these cams use a cheap HDMI connection. We use a little Sugru to attach a small cable tight into the camera, so we don't destroy the hdmi port of the camera. you can convert the hdmi to sdi for long runs using a cheap hdmi to sdi converter from amazon or ebay (50-60$).

For a desktop pc, I would build one with these parts:

ASUS P9X79-E WS : http://www.newegg.com/Pr...9-_-13-131-971-_-Product
Intel Core i7-3930K: http://www.newegg.com/Pr...spx?Item=N82E16819116492
16 GB RAM
GPU GTX 750ti
3x decklink mini monitor


This pc will give you all you ever need the coming 3-4 years: It has 7 pci express slots, that allow you the maximum of HD or 4K video inputs you will need. You can start with a few cheap capture cards and build onwards if you need more without the need of selling your old setup.

Depending on your need, I would also buy a good soundcard. Soundquality is just as important as videoquality. We use a Zoom R16 with 8 xlr or Jack inputs, we can mix them realtime and add them to vmix. If you don't use that immediatly, you can go for a cheap usb card.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for all the camera suggestions, my group is looking at purchasing more cameras for our hockey league. I will inlcude your suggestions in my report.

Really appreciate the audio card suggestion as I had overlooked the audio aspect.

Looks like NewEgg will win out over HP zBook.

Once again thank you.

Hugh

Hugh, you will no doubt find many configurations among users here on the forum. I have just had to learn as I go and there have been wasted purchases because I "thought it would be good for streaming". I will now run 2 setups, a PC which I built for home games and a laptop for road games and other simple setups.

For our home games (basketball) I use my PC setup because it has 2 Decklink Quads which I need because I am using 6 cameras plus outputting to Hyperdeck Shuttle to record the vmix output for archival.

Laptop Setup (used last night for first time - very pleased)
MSI Computer GT72 DOMINATOR GT72 DOMINATOR-214 $1900 on Amazon http://amzn.com/B00O4ORZZQ
This laptop has 6 USB3 plugs. Great graphics card. 16gb ram
(2) Magewell XI100DUSB-HDMI HDMI to USB 3 capture cards. $199 each. http://amzn.com/B00I16VQOY
I use one CX900 camera and one CX220 camera
Verizon Jetpack Data Device with HighGain antenna attached. Stream at 720p. 2.5mbs

Using same sound system.

---

www.pcpartpicker.com is the best site for "building" your PC part list and costing it out. I then searched ebay for some used stuff (ie video card or case).
The PC specs are:
Case: Corsair 500R
CPU: i7 5930k
RAM: DDR4 16gb (DDR4 still very high)
Video Card: EVGA GTX 770 SC 4GB with ACX cooling
MB: Asus X97 Deluxe
SDD: (4) 250gb Samsung 840 in RAID 1+0 (total of 500gb space)
HDD: 4TB drive for storage
(2) Decklink Quad Cards (other good brands as well)
(1) Hyperdeck Shuttle for recording
1200 watt power supply

---

Sound: (the number one overlooked aspect of streaming and IMO the hardest to learn)
Behringer Xenyx 1832USB Mixer ($279 on Amazon) http://amzn.com/B0036E8DE2
ART Pro Audio HeadAmp6 6 Channel Headphone Amp (used on ebay for $135)
Behringer Multicom Pro-XL MDX 4600 CompressoAudio-Technica BPHS1 Broadcast Stereo Headsetr Limiter (used on ebay for $37)
(3) Audio-Technica BPHS1 Broadcast Stereo Headset ($199 on Amazon or $150 on GearTree) GREAT headsets.

I built a small custom rack to hold the mixer, compressor, and headphone amp

---

Cameras:
(2) Sony HDR CX900. $1500 each and very pleased with them
(4) Sony HDR CX220. $100-200 each on ebay. Good for wide shots. Scoreboard corner overlay, etc. I mount them as fixed cameras to switch to while saving or grabbing an instant replay. Otherwise, always using the CX900 to follow most play action (basketball at the moment)
Logitech C920 webcam to capture commentators.

HDMI to SDI Converters: $45 each and they have worked perfectly for me. I got some on ebay and some on Amz http://amzn.com/B00ID4BVD0

I mounted 2 GoPro's as goal cams but they are a permanent mount and not part of the "portable gear".

---

Now there are cables, and just the miscenaneous "stuff" we always need (Wireless HDMI transmitter, bulk cable, connectors, spares, etc.) I did not total mine up to the penny but it would be a little less than $12,000. This is with 2 computers. I think you can stream the sports without spending near $2500 on each camera.

Again there are alot of guys here who are much more experienced than me. I am very happy with my current equipment setup and I am now to a point where I will just stream and quit trying to add one more thing to make it better (I think so anyway). You can "one more thing" forever!!

Tim

Thanks Tim
Now my head is spinning. Build or buy? I sure like the portability of the laptop approach.
Those Magewells are expensive, I would need 3 (or 4).
Do you use the Hyperdeck Shuttle for recording/archiving with the laptop? I guess this is to avoid writing to the HD of the computer.
Any rationale for the MSI laptop over the zBook or other laptop ?

Any links to your games (live or archived) so I could sneek a peak ?

Thanks

Hugh

@ calamityjane

If you are intent on the laptop approach, stick with the thunderbolt port and consider an external expansion box such as this:
http://www.netstor.com.tw/_03/03_02.php?OTc

As previously stated, there is no "right" way to do this, it's mainly what is "right" for you and what your budget can afford.
If you stick with SD cameras the magewell XI006AUSB might also be an affordable solution.

Keep us all posted!

Ice

For the scoreboard, I use one of the Sony CX220 cameras zoomed in on the scoreboard. vMix is VERY nice in that it allows you to crop, zoom, shrink, and move any camera input, then use as overlay. So I crop the shot and move it to the bottom right corner. Then yes it is inserted as an overlay. You can use triggers to turn the overlay on and off.

For instant replays, vMix uses the "Video Delay" input. You can add a video delay for every input as well as the "output screen". I had to play with this feature a good bit to learn it and understand hyow to use it, now it is second nature. Basketball is so fast paced that we don't use it as much as we did in Football. Football it was used on many plays. Basketball not so much because of the pace of the game. But I constantly "save" the video delay input on all the good plays. Then we can que them up and play them during a time out or half time.

Martin is going to ultimately make the Video Delay (Instant Replay) a separate module but when that happens it will offer MUCH more than what it does right now. I find it VERY useful in its current form but I do look forward to seeing features of the separate module (expected release mid 2015).

In view of my indebtedness to so many folks on here, I must bring Tim and others up-to-date on my project.

Two partners have made an ATEM available and a HD encoder.

The ATEM is a rather sophisticated bastardization of the original. It includes a couple of built in monitors, a ClearComm rack and a Hyperdeck Studio Pro.

We have done two games (broadcasts) so far in HD. We are using three cameras to do this.

I wanted ( & tried) a laptop with HDMI out as a 4th feed to the ATEM. Unfortunately the laptop I was using could not push out 1080 video without being jerky. I have not giben up on the laptop (for pregame interviews, commercials, designated league videos etc) but now must purchase a laptop fast enough to do the job. Basic requirement is an i7 processor and must have HDMI out.

That is where we currently stand on this project.

Thanks for all the input, advice and encouragement

Hugh