Purchasing Equipment

[simon_crowe]

Hi all, looking for some advice on what equipment to purchase that would suit my needs.

I'm looking at buying one of the latest Macbook Pros with thunderbolt. I want to be able to stream reasonably good HD video on livestream, using Procaster (or something else if its better).

I have a Panasonic AF101 and a Sony EX3 which I would like to use. As far as i know they both have the same outputs so it shouldnt make a difference which?

I was looking into the Blackmagic Intensity Extreme but it doesnt look like its fully supported yet by procaster.

I while back I tried my first proper livestream using a Sony HVR-A1E connected directly to a MBP through firewire. It was very hit or miss with the stream starting and I could only get it to start up on the lowest quality preset on Procaster which wasnt very impressive. In fact I had a new MBP and a older MBP and I could only get it to start on the older slower model for some reason.

I need the set up to be able to work through a laptop rather than a tower as there will be some travel involved in future for jobs

Any help or advice would be much appreciated!

[simon_crowe]

I should specify it'll be a one camera set up, I meant I could use either the Panasonic or the Sony Ex3. Although a set up that could potentially handle two cameras would be cool but not essential! Thanks

[mbaron]

simon_crowe,

In order to capture and stream HD content on a MacBook Pro it would need to be at least an i5 or i7 system. At this time Procaster offers experimental support for the following devices on Mac OSX:

Blackmagic Intensity Extreme
Blackmagic UltraStudio 3D
Blackmagic H.264 Pro Recorder
Matrox MX02 series devices


Matt
Livestream Support

[simon_crowe]

hi thanks for your reply. When you say 'experimental support' does it mean it is not guaranteed to work? Is there any of those that you would recommend over the others. I need to purchase something soon and want whatever one is most likely to work!

Thanks

[mbaron]

Hello Simon,

This means that our Procaster development team is currently doing testing on these devices and hope to have them certified for use with Procaster in the near future. At this time we would recommend the Blackmagic UltraStudio 3D out of the four devices I listed in my previous post. Do you have a plan as to which Procaster preset/bitrates you'd like to stream at?

Matt
Livestream Support

[simon_crowe]

Ok great I'll look into that model then. I'll be aiming for as good a stream as the set up can handle really but even if I could manage to get maybe a 720 1-2 mbps stream i'll be happy to be honest. I will try buy the ultrastudio 3d and a new i7 MBP then. You think this would be my best bet?

Thanks

[simon_crowe]

Or do you think BM Intensity Extreme or Shuttle will do the same job for what I want it for. Both models are less than half the price of the UltraStudio and I'm not sure I need all the extra functionality it provides?

[simon_crowe]

Will the Black magic intensity shuffle suit my needs. Or even the bm h264 recorder?

[mbaron]

Each of the four devices I listed above should meet your needs given you have the proper equipment to interface with and run them. In regards to the Intensity Shuttle, we have not had success with this device and cannot recommend it at this time.

Matt
Livestream Support