So I'm researching how to get an advanced graphics into my Vmix system via NDI.

I've been looking at Titler Live for over a year, but I also want to consider other options.

I can buy a used Chyron for a reasonable sum, but I have no idea how easy it would be to incorporate it into a solo-stream and operate everything via hotkeys. My assumption is that a Chyron would be too fiddly for that kind of ease of use. Can anyone set the record about Chyrons or other graphics solutions worth looking at?

I love me some Chyron. There are some circumstances where I think it would actually be easier, but there are others where I think it would be quite tough.

If you have a CG that has a cool fly in and fly out, it's easy in GT. Overlay In and Out automatically utilize the Transition In and Out. But with an external system like Chyron, vMix only sees it as a video input. Unless you have some cool GPIO triggering made up between your vMix system and Chyron system, it will get a bit cumbersome. You'll have to overlay the input in vMix, run the effect in on Chyron, run the effect out on Chyron, and then pull the overlay out on vMix. Since NDI has tally in the protocol, it's conceivable that it could trigger the effect in (I don't know if it's implemented), but it wouldn't cover every situation for sure.

You could just leave Chyron on overlay fulltime, but your one accidental swap keypress away from disaster if you do that.

I purchased a copy of Chyron Lyric X for offline purposes a couple years, and that alone was something like $2500... with a non-profit discount. It's an additional license to get NDI output, which I can't even begin to fathom what the price tag would be.

The old school Chyron Duet keyboards are built like tanks, and will sound like one in active combat if there's a mic nearby. It's also worth noting that you can get some of the earlier HD capable hardware (I'm thinking HyperX and earlier) to choke pretty easily if you build something even moderately complex.