Hello,

Trying to use a phone and an iPod you need to skip all capture cards and look for an app. (nothing wrong with the capture cards, but they are not going to help much unless your source device is a video camera). Unless you are trying to screen dump the iPod/Phone via HDMI for that a capture device would be used.

From what I gather the latency is not any issue since what you are doing is not live.

Sorry I have not bought or tried any of the apps available, but at least you know what you need to look for by reading further. You can add the IP Camera as a source for Vmix.

So a phone or iPod can be an encoder (with the right APP) up to a basic resolution. At some point the device like an iPod for instance will just run out of CPU, it might be very quickly depending on the model.

Personally I don't do any work where I would accept the quality from an iPod or Phone. I imagine the software encoders on the mobile device would not be suitable for anything but very short productions.

You would better better going with an IP Camera or just a HandyCam that outputs to HDMI at least and getting a capture device long term. Magewell, Yuan and Black Magic all make suitable capture devices, have a look at the VMix Hardware Compatibility list, it really helps to research that list.

VMix help file shows these formats are supported in Version 16. Searching for "encoder" in the Apple/Google Store might point you towards the end result. I can't recommend any, so try free ones first.

Stream Type

RTSP over UDP / RTSP over TCP

RTSP based sources such as the Teradek Cube and IP Cameras

Enter the URL in the following format: rtsp://0.0.0.0/stream1

Transport Stream over UDP

Select this option if a Transport Stream is being sent directly to the vMix machine over UDP

Transport Stream over TCP

Selecting this option sets up vMix as a TCP server that can accept connections from remote streams
Enter the port to listen for connections

Transport Stream over TCP Pull

Select this option to connect to a remote Transport Stream server such as the Teradek Sputnik using the TCP protocol.
Enter the hostname and port of the remote Transport Stream server

So I'm not able to directly answer your questions, but maybe point you into directions to help yourself.

Final thought, why not look at a Webcam (or two)? Latency is not bad on them. They don't need a capture card, look pretty good if you buy a good one + get the lighting right and are really cheap. Some of the higher end Logitech ones are popular.

@ vmixnewbie

Speegs is right. Although, you are definitely not the first to want to do this, you've probably even thought "this is a no brainer".
Unfortunately, those devices are not designed to be "cameras" of that nature, they don't have a typical 'output' jack that can be used to transmit a video signal to a capture device and be used as an input in vMix.
It will require additional software or Apps to be used and often the quality is nowhere near the quality of the actual camera on those devices, but it can be done.
The most straight forward example of how it can be done, and to some extent illustrate the complexity of it all, would be setting a device up as Skype call into vMix (again additional software involved, but certainly do-able if you are up to the challenge).
I think the webcam suggestion is the simplest and will get you up and running in no time. Fiddling around with how to get your iPod camera to be a source might prove to be more trouble than it's worth.

Just my thoughts.


Ice

@ vmixnewbie

Rather cool to hear you on 'Vocaroo', I've never seen that method used on a forum before (maybe I'll try that sometime, you may be starting a trend...)

In terms of 'latency', computer processing of digital video is inherently latent, the question of how much is dependent largely on your system specs.
Some high end units using high end components and capture cards are known to get the latency down to a frame or two, but typically you should expect somewhere between 100ms and 300ms on most average systems, which is enough to be noticed by the human eye but usually acceptable enough to pass for 'Live' (that's about a quarter of a second). If you are noticing greater latency than that with a web cam, then you may have to look more closely at your system's capabilities and what might possibly be causing a bottleneck.
If latency of any kind is unacceptable to you, then you may have to look into much more expensive 'hardware' solutions because the reality is that there will always be 'latency' of some sort with computer processing (it's getting better all the time, but then again, so is the image quality we are processing SD to HD to 4K).
My best advice is to TEST and experiment as much as possible with what you've got or can easily acquire before jumping in too deep with expensive options, you may be pleasantly surprised with what is presently possible for you right now.


Ice

@ vmixnewbie

To be honest, I am not all that familiar with the GoPro cameras and their video output.
AFAIK, older models do not output a 'live' video feed (but I could be wrong about that).
Newer models are supposed to output via HDMI which means you will need a capture device or dongle to accommodate that.
Other issues seem to plague users with getting the proper settings across the board in order to capture it properly in vMix.
Again, I don't want to come across as 'knowledgeable' with regards to GoPros, because I have absolutely no experience with them.
I've seen some great footage from them, but always as recorded in cam and edited in post, I am not as aware of it's use as a 'Live' camera, but there are others here that have and are using them so perhaps a search through the forum might shed some light on things.


Ice

Good move giving up on the iPod + Phone as video sources. Not impossible but way hard and the end result will be not very nice anyway and full of limitations.

I'm a huge fan on Magewell Capture Devices so far. This is the model to get: http://www.magewell.com/usb-capture-hdmi

They work with GoPro 2, 3, 4 for me. I don't have an older GoPro 1.

They have a video scaler inbuilt and don't need drivers (because they work using a universal webcam driver). That is why they awesome because you are busy/lazy and you just want something that works right away with just about any HDMI Camera. They are also pretty low latency. 1-2 frames, it will depend on how good your computer is for the most part. A quad core cpu, SSD and average video card should give you the ability to handle 3+ cameras. Magewell do some (not all) of the work in their capture box, whereas I webcam will load up your CPU more generally speaking. (Others Brands recently put out similar products like Yuan, I have not tried them so dare not recommend anything other than Magewell).

You can mess around for hours getting a GoPro working with a Black Magic capture device. Been there done that, yes can be done. The scaler makes it pretty easy, because no matter what you plug in as long as it's not 4K, the Magewell will conform it to what you want. So you don't have to think about frame rates and all that video tech stuff (although you can it has all the power as well in the advanced menus).

I like JVC Handy Cams, they are cheap (if I break it, I can get another quickly from a local electronics chain store). Sony's and others are also fine I have used them too. GoPros are good if you want that wide fish eye perspective, like a crowd shot, basketball hoop etc... Not sure you would use them in a studio EVER, but hey you could.

Anyway Magewell USB Capture ~$300 might be more, I have had mine for a while. A Full HD Handycam is much the same price. Some better than others.

That is what I often use, because I work on a very portable solution using a laptop for most of my work. USB 3 is important and avoid a USB 3 hub. Direct ports, if you are on a desktop good usb 3 cards are easy. Laptops well that's complex.

Now if your webcam is really slow, I think you may need to take a serious look at the webcam driver (from Logitech), not an expert on that, but others have reported that too on this forum. I don't use webcams myself except for Skype and Google Hangouts from time to time.

Maybe post the specifications of your computer (it might impact the advice given).

The question is can your afford 2 x USB 3 Magewell Captures Devices and 2 x HandyCams? I understand not everyone can, they are essentially the next step up from Webcams. Then it's just a matter of better than better cameras for more money and if you need very long cable runs to your cameras SDI is your friend. Otherwise SDI is expensive.

Avoid wireless if you can when starting out and also IP Cameras too. They can work very well, but the technical know how has to increase with those and usually so does the budget to do it well.

Vmix + Magewell USB 3 + Handycams + Gopros = Well Tested, Simple, Affordable, Reliable
(Not going to win a Film Award or IT but watchable)

What's your time worth? What if you could pretty much just plug stuff in and it worked right away? Then spend that time on mastering Vmix & learning your cameras vs thinking about frame rates, IP Addresses and driver configurations.

Oh and the Handycams often has 10-20x Optical Zoom, Simple Controls.

GoPro + Wifi = LowRes Preview Quality video only so avoid that.

I get no commission from anyone for this free advice :) I'm very focused on affordable solutions (but not always the cheapest, more what's value for money). People will have many solutions that might fit your situation so read this forum it's got a lot of information and research everything.

Or get rid of the fisheye effect using a virtualset with adjusted UVmap :-)

see post