What hardware/software impacts video quality most

[pbrelin]

In order of importance, what hardware / software impacts video quality?

1. Camera
a. High def / low def
b. Anything else?
2. OS
3. USP or firewire cable
4. PC video card / PC speed
5. Any others?

What would you recommend for best picture quality.

Any audio tips? Best PC microphone?

[fulcrum9]

I would have to say it is the computer and the speed of the computer.
PC never delivers the quality I prefer.
Our G5 Mac however delivers near HD quality video and sound at times.
Of course we are also watching on the mac so that may also be a factor.
What ever the computer, You want at least 800mhz of processor speed, 1.5g of ram and at least 50g of storage.
so computers would have to be number 1.

Number 2 of course is the Camera.
The best cameras to use are miniDV and they must be connected via FW400 or 800 port.
USB is a joke for video transfer.
The reason we do not use Hard drive cameras is because they generate files that almost always have time code errors which cause final cut pro (our edit software) to go nuts.
Digital tape is just bettor for tracking and preventing time code errors.

Number 3 would be cables
Your FW cables should have a line buffer strapped to one end and a good rating.
If they are to long (more than 6ft) they can produce errors.

Number 4 would be ISP/wifi
The service you use for your central broadcasting terminal should be able to run at least 6m up and down. So it is best to have at least a 10m service.
If you use WIFI you need to get at least 3m or you will have significant problems.
I have run a broadcast from a terminal running on 1.5m but I lost the camera several times and the transfer was not that good.
If it was just audio then maybe.

[arikandvered]

I think the two most important things are your network connection and the encoding software. You need a fast internet connection or none of this works right. THen the computer that will send the video to Mogulus needs to be optimized. You should not run the studio software on the same pc that sends video. I would not use the flash interface as it takes a lot of memory and is not stable. I use On2 Live which costs a little but the results are much better. It also reconnects and provides more control. You can get it here: http://tinyurl.com/3knbmz

[benhomer]

Note that Flash Media Encoder 2.5 includes the same codec as Flix Live and is available for free so there is no need to purchase the Flix Live encoder.

More on configuring Flash Media Encoder to work in Mogulus Studio can be found in our userguide:

http://www.mogulus.com/userguide/ind...r_with_Mogulus

-Ben
Mogulus Support