Anyone used Vmix software with PC in a professional high use working environment ?

@ garethb

Although this is a 'Forum' of the "converted" and you might be hard pressed to find anyone offering a negative review of vMix, the "proof is in the pudding" as they say.
I'm not sure what you've researched or what you've tried but vMix has certainly proven itself to be a cost effective solution for many users when comparing it to what else is available in the market.
I would refer you to richardgatarski (who does similar work to what you reference) and Cpilcher (who migrated from ATEM to vMix) as two users that come to mind that would be excellent resources to answer some of your questions.
If you are coming from a Mac background and have had bad experiences with PC's, I would recommend staying away from lower end PC's and components and go with what is as good as or better than Apple ($ for $) in a high end workstation build (the vMix Go likely falls into that category).
I think vMix has turned a lot of heads at the annual NAB Show each year, and this year is no exception as it looks to power the Teradek booth again with vMix Go as well as stream live daily from their own booth, so if you can wait another month or so before committing, that might be a good place to see vMix Live in action. It might also give you some time to 'Play' with the Trial version in some capacity (using Bootcamp on a Mac maybe) to get a feel for what may or may not be possible for you.

I hope that helps some, I know it's not an easy decision when having to invest hard earned money on this stuff, but I think you'll find this community and the vMix developers to be second to none.


Ice

I can vouch for VMix in a professional environment. I've sold all my NewTek Tricaster and 3Play gear to convert all our production systems to VMix based units. We done over 50 multi hour sporting events with 3 Sony pro cameras coming in on SDI to a AJA kono 4 card. Play commercials during breaks, plus graphics, recording a h2.64 copy for YouTube and streaming in HD to our platform on DaCast. Using a Dell Alienware PC with Invidia graphics card, SSD drives for speed and plenty of RAM. Not a single crash....ever. No lag, no sync issues. It just works. If you have more questions, feel free to contact me. Like Ice said...the key is a PC with plenty of umph in the box.

garethb,
I would say yes, vMix should be able to do what you need. But in vMix 16 you only have two Fullscreen outputs which is not enough for monitoring Preview, Multiview, AND sending to a projector. (The External outputs have too much latency). But with upcoming vMix 17's NDI support (which so far looks very good) you have virtually no limitation for minimal latency outputs. Meaning, just add another PC that routes to its graphic card outputs Inputs/Outputs from your main vMix switcher.

Your direct question/demand to the vMix team seems unfair to me. vMix offer a set of tools, not full blown turn key systems that you ask for. Perhaps you should find a retailer that can help you out. But I emphatize with your concern. Been there (chancing on h/w investment), not knowing if it will work. So far it has - for me at least. Hint, max out on CPU power, motherboard, Graphics card, and SSD disks.

Regarding Windows' stability. We've had maybe a couple of blue screens over the years during live productions. A few more during rigorous testing, trimming, and experimantation sessions. Operator error and conference attendands unplugging our power has been more common. Actually, we feel pretty safe when changing vMix presets/settings (eg adding an Input, adding a capture card, streaming resolution, etc) during live production. The only thing that currently worries me is Microsoft's aggresive attempts to force upgrade to Windows 10. We are currently staying at 8.1 awaiting all drivers to be bug free. Furthermore, I am afraid that Win10 might decide to update/restart in the middle of a live production.

Good luck, and may the Force be with you :)

sorry, I run a production company - not teaching/training vMix ;)
There's a lot to learn and understand, after all vMix is behind the simple surface a very complex and capable tool.
I suggest you download and try, reading the help, and so forth...

Basically the so called "External outputs", eg used for Decklink output, have too much latency. Instead lowest possible output is obtained using the "Fullscreen outputs", ie the graphics card/s outputs (VGA/DVI/HDMI/Displayport). Still, depending how pecky you are, you will find it difficult to get a "perfect" lip sync for IMAG.

Watch the two most recent vMix Fun Time live show on their YouTube channel to get a grip on NDI. vMix 4K/Pro on a second PC can over NDI take for example the MultiView from Your production PC as an Input, and then output that to a monitor (ie attached to the second PC). And also, take the Preview from the production PC and put it on a second monitor, etc.

Thanks for your help guys...just trying to get my head around it all before investing...if vMix did show broadcast examples I do think they would sell more kit win/win situation...version17 seems the way to go as concerned about the latency issue, also will be wanting to go direct from individual cameras to direct feed (not program) to large screen...more research to see if this is possible !!

No, because vMix allows to assign its fullscreen to 2 displays only.