Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
Hi All,
I'm a new user. :-) I'm not good at searching this forum yet, so I may ask a question that has come up before.
I'm learning how to hook USB webcams up to vMix. Generally I'm having success, I've got low CPU usage even with four cams hooked up, but it's time for me to ask questions. Here's one.
I've got two Logitech C615s hooked up. One is using a Brand X active USB cable, the other is connected normally. When I open the Logitech Webcam utility, it is easy to select between the two and adjust the settings individually. In vMix, it is only possible to modify the settings for the one connected normally. It doesn't matter which of the two CONFIGURE|ADVANCED|PROPERTIES I select, the same camera always gets modified. Can this be straightened out?
I'm suspicious of this Active USB cable, particularly its quality. I'm getting a lot of signal degradation from it. It was 1/3 the cost of the one from Iomega or Tripp Lite. I've read reviews bragging about using these name brands with webcams. I'm going to try one of them to see if there's a difference. Can you comment on this?
There is one other thing. It's probably as it should be, but I have to ask. Are these webcam inputs capped at 640x480? or am I missing something that's right in front of me?
Thanks in advance.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 8/2/2013(UTC) Posts: 1,077   Location: Fairhope, Alabama USA Thanks: 559 times
Was thanked: 200 time(s) in 166 post(s)
|
I doubt that it's the active cable that's causing the issue, but you can remove it and see if you get a different result. I'm guessing that vMix sees just one driver for the two cameras and so picks one webcam and applies all the changes to that one.
As for the standard resolution issue, double check when you add the camera input if the specified resolution is 640x480. You can change that to 1280x720 or 1920x1080 and see what happens.
Depending on your PC's internal setup, you might have some trouble with more than 2 webcams. Sometimes two webcams on one webcam controller will overload that USB bus. But if you're not having that issue, then be thankful.
Hope this helps. Please report back.
- Tom
P.S. Welcome to the forum!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 3/7/2012(UTC) Posts: 2,645 Location: Canada Thanks: 33 times
Was thanked: 506 time(s) in 475 post(s)
|
@ Rottenham
Welcome to the Forum. I am not all that familiar with connecting multiple Webcams in vMix (I would defer to Tom Sinclair, a.k.a. Sinc747, on that front) but I AFAIK, there are bandwidth limitations with USB 2 and getting more than one HD Video Signal might be a challenge if on the same bus. So perhaps a good starting point is to provide some of the specs of your system and how you are connecting your webcams to it. In terms of accessing the second camera on the extended cable, I would first ask what happens if you disconnect the first camera?
To the best of my knowledge, there is no limitation on webcam resolutions other than the vMix Edition you are using. vMix Basic or vMix SD are limited to accepting SD resolutions only. When you add the camera to vMix, you should have a dropdown menu of resolutions and if the camera is capable of your choice, you should be good to go.
Although not quite the same, your issue kind of reminds me of trying to hook up two cameras to the same Firewire Hub, if the cameras were from different manufacturers, they would be recognized. However, if they were the same, the computer could not distinguish between them. In either case though, the reality is that there is not enough bandwidth on a single Firewire bus for two signals to be stable, but that is a different discussion.
Ice
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
sinc, Ice, thanks.
I'm glad to know the cable isn't an issue. It looks like my webcam driver settings are the issue, I've been fooling with them. Returning the driver settings to the defaults seems to stabilize the image. Neither disconnecting the active USB cable nor moving it to a different controller had any effect. I suspect an auxiliary lens would do a lot for the long range clarity. I looked at some today.
As for the resolution, I see that I actually CAN go above 640x480, if I alter the default Video Format setting (more study needed here). I hadn't been understanding the vMix error message. 640x480 is probably best for my purposes for the time being, but I want to know what's possible.
I'll have to do any webcam driver settings tweaking in the Logitech utility, then leave them alone in vMix. That seems to work.
As far as I can see I have no USB bandwidth issues. Using vMix and four cams, my CPU usage is under 5%, which is nice. So far it hasn't mattered which USB controller I use. I'm planning to stay with USB2 because of its lower "endpoint" usage. I'm going to try plugging all four cams into a single USB2 daughter card and see what happens. I have a SYBA PCIE USB2 card on its way.
..............
Older I5 Quad, only 4 threads
32G RAM
500G SSD
GTX 1070
(lusting for I7-6 core)
..................
I am an ESL tutor. My primary use of a video switcher is in Skype meetings. It really holds the student's interest when you can switch cams easily and use a couple of transition effects. My Japanese friends got a real kick out of seeing the traffic on the street in front of my house! They like the Cat Cam too. :-) Meanwhile I am building up a second box as a residential surveillance system.
I like vMix. It's stable, has low resource usage, and has a straightforward UI. I'll probably sign up for the HD or SD version soon. I've noted that I'm allowed to run it on two PCs, which I like. Eventually I'll experiment with NDI, which looks like hot stuff!
I look forward to speaking with you in the future.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/11/2015(UTC)
Posts: 354
Location: NJ
Thanks: 9 times
Was thanked: 45 time(s) in 38 post(s)
|
You might want to try switching the driver for one of the cameras to the Windows USB Video camera driver.
I have done this with c920 cameras, but don't know it the c615 will work. The Logitech drivers have never played well with other programs when dealing with more than one camera.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
AlanZ wrote:You might want to try switching the driver for one of the cameras to the Windows USB Video camera driver.
I have done this with c920 cameras, but don't know it the c615 will work. The Logitech drivers have never played well with other programs when dealing with more than one camera. Hmm...an interesting thought. I may give it a try. I have more than 2 of these cams... ....................................... Later... I replaced both C615 drivers with the UVC driver. vMix now has no trouble distinguishing one cam from the other. I'm observing image stability now, it may have improved, I can't tell yet. I like this. Thanks Alan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/1/2015(UTC) Posts: 1,151 Location: Houston TX Thanks: 319 times
Was thanked: 263 time(s) in 233 post(s)
|
Logitech's webcam software was never designed to allow more than one webcam of a particular model to be used at a time. If you want to use more than one you need to change the host to use the generic UVC drivers for the webcam.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
mjgraves wrote:Logitech's webcam software was never designed to allow more than one webcam of a particular model to be used at a time. If you want to use more than one you need to change the host to use the generic UVC drivers for the webcam. I believe that. I replaced all my webcam drivers, regardless of mfgr, with the UVC driver. It is an improvement. I believe the UVC driver is more stable. Now I can begin to see the bandwidth limitations of USB. I've ordered a Star Tech PCIE USB card that provides a dedicated NEC controller for each of its four ports, and I look forward to trying it out. Right now I can't add four 720p cams. I think I've learned more about USB in the past two weeks than in the ten years before. I used vMix in a Skype meeting this morning. What a pleasure. The biggest improvement is the ease of screen sharing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 10/13/2012(UTC) Posts: 1,162  Location: Melbourne Thanks: 220 times
Was thanked: 199 time(s) in 181 post(s)
|
Rottenham wrote:mjgraves wrote:Logitech's webcam software was never designed to allow more than one webcam of a particular model to be used at a time. If you want to use more than one you need to change the host to use the generic UVC drivers for the webcam. I believe that. I replaced all my webcam drivers, regardless of mfgr, with the UVC driver. It is an improvement. I believe the UVC driver is more stable. Now I can begin to see the bandwidth limitations of USB. I've ordered a Star Tech PCIE USB card that provides a dedicated NEC controller for each of its four ports, and I look forward to trying it out. Right now I can't add four 720p cams. I think I've learned more about USB in the past two weeks than in the ten years before. I used vMix in a Skype meeting this morning. What a pleasure. The biggest improvement is the ease of screen sharing. Check out Tom Sinclair's YouTube channel. He has a number of episodes where he shows the tricks to get multiple webcams working on a PC. On YT do a search for Eastern Shore Broadcasting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
ask wrote:Rottenham wrote:mjgraves wrote:Logitech's webcam software was never designed to allow more than one webcam of a particular model to be used at a time. If you want to use more than one you need to change the host to use the generic UVC drivers for the webcam. I believe that. I replaced all my webcam drivers, regardless of mfgr, with the UVC driver. It is an improvement. I believe the UVC driver is more stable. Now I can begin to see the bandwidth limitations of USB. I've ordered a Star Tech PCIE USB card that provides a dedicated NEC controller for each of its four ports, and I look forward to trying it out. Right now I can't add four 720p cams. I think I've learned more about USB in the past two weeks than in the ten years before. I used vMix in a Skype meeting this morning. What a pleasure. The biggest improvement is the ease of screen sharing. Check out Tom Sinclair's YouTube channel. He has a number of episodes where he shows the tricks to get multiple webcams working on a PC. On YT do a search for Eastern Shore Broadcasting. Ah yes. I see he reviews the very card I just bought. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKip-YqXZtQHe's talking about filing something to make it fit better, can't wait to see what that is.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/11/2015(UTC)
Posts: 354
Location: NJ
Thanks: 9 times
Was thanked: 45 time(s) in 38 post(s)
|
Also take a look at configuring the cameras in vMix when you create each camera input so they use MJPG format instead of the default.
This will reduce or eliminate dropped frames, and likely improve USB bandwidth issues.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
AlanZ wrote:Also take a look at configuring the cameras in vMix when you create each camera input so they use MJPG format instead of the default.
This will reduce or eliminate dropped frames, and likely improve USB bandwidth issues. Thanks. I've begun looking at this. I have one using MJPG now, and I will configure others to use MJPG during the day. The Star Tech USB card will arrive today too, so I have an interesting day ahead of me. :-) What I can't figure out is, where does the DEFAULT come from? I do ADD INPUT|CAMERA, and VIDEO FORMAT is set to DEFAULT. How can I know what the default is to begin with? And how can I assign the default in advance? .................... OK. All my cams are using MJPG now, and I've begun to look at the Statistics report. I see a few issues here, but I don't know what the cause is yet. It could be controller-related, so I'm going to wait a while before bringing it up here. I have to say, I should have discovered this software a while back. I've been dabbling in this subject for quite a while but I've never been satisfied with the results before.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/1/2015(UTC) Posts: 1,151 Location: Houston TX Thanks: 319 times
Was thanked: 263 time(s) in 233 post(s)
|
Rottenham wrote:
What I can't figure out is, where does the DEFAULT come from? I do ADD INPUT|CAMERA, and VIDEO FORMAT is set to DEFAULT. How can I know what the default is to begin with? And how can I assign the default in advance?
Every software I ever seen defaults to using an uncompressed scheme for webcams, most commonly YUY2, although it varies by selected resolution. Not all webcams support MJPEG so it's never used as the hard coded default. Not sure if the default can be soft configured in vMix.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
mjgraves wrote:
Not all webcams support MJPEG so it's never used as the hard coded default. Not sure if the default can be soft configured in vMix.
If I specify MJPG and the cam doesn't support it, what will I see? A vMix error message? A black screen? I have three different makes and models of cams using MJPG now and all seem to be happy with it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/14/2016(UTC) Posts: 117  Location: Oss Thanks: 12 times
Was thanked: 15 time(s) in 14 post(s)
|
If you specify MJPG and the camera doesn't support it, vMix will tell you that with a pop-up message...
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
Mari wrote:If you specify MJPG and the camera doesn't support it, vMix will tell you that with a pop-up message... I see. Thanks. I like this program. The forum is good too. ........................... My adventure with the Star Tech four-controller USB card is complete. I'm returning it due to problematic operation. The build workmanship is marginal as well. Next up is the High Point RocketU four-controller card. I have high hopes. Anybody have experience with this part? ........................
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Advanced Member
Groups: Registered
Joined: 7/1/2015(UTC) Posts: 1,151 Location: Houston TX Thanks: 319 times
Was thanked: 263 time(s) in 233 post(s)
|
FWIW, I've used as many as 4 Logitech webcams on a single host. Once they were set for MJPEG encoding I could connect two to the front USB ports and two to the rear. That split the load between two different USB buses on my HP desktop.
Four webcams is kinda goofy if you're using the common C910, C920, C922, C930 models. I also have the PTZ Pro and BCC950 models, which are a bit more useful.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rank: Newbie
Groups: Registered
Joined: 11/29/2014(UTC)
Posts: 9
Location: CT, USA
Thanks: 1 times
|
mjgraves wrote:
Four webcams is kinda goofy...
Would you elaborate, mj?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Jump
You cannot post new topics in this forum.
You cannot reply to topics in this forum.
You cannot delete your posts in this forum.
You cannot edit your posts in this forum.
You cannot create polls in this forum.
You cannot vote in polls in this forum.
Important Information:
The vMix Forums uses cookies. By continuing to browse this site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.
More Details
Close
