Hi everyone,

I've been testing different streaming software and found vMix the simplest and most convenient. There is a hardware issue though.

I use 1 camcoder, AverMedia Extremecap U3 capture card and an i3 or i5 laptop with built in graphics and hdd. It seems that this setup is only worth 480p streaming via youtube live. If I try 720p the CPU is 100% and the stream is not stable at all.

I guess the hardware is the problem. What would be the low budget solution to stream 720p at least (1080p would be better of course)?

Thanks.

Use FFMPEG instead of FMLE (if you are not already doing so FFMPEG is the default in the most recent versions of Vmix). FFMPEG uses significantly less cpu than FMLE.

Dropping your frame rate to as low as you can get away with. There is usually no point running at 60fps unless you are capturing a gaming contest. So maybe 25fps would be best depending on your situation.

The other thing to look at is the capture device you are using. They are not all created equal. Some will do more on the capture device effectively leaving more CPU for you to use. Others rely on your CPU.

Always disable power saving facilities in the computer when trying to achieve the full potential of the computer.

Turn off any virus scanners or other background processes you can, they consume CPU.

Finally, use a better CPU. I certainly have streamed @ 720p from an Dual Core i3 cpu with a single camera without an issue. I think you can get 1080i out of that cpu with the capture device I use, but you may be running a cpu at about 60-80%. Generally speaking you will want to keep <50% cpu usage. The closer you get to full usage the more likely you are to start dropping frames and having issues.

You need to look at the CPU usage in VMix (which is ONLY what Vmix is using) and the CPU of the entire computer (through task manager or the cpu gadget). Some people get confused by that.