6 cam setup fpr obs livestream - the answer no one seems to have

Odemira livre podcast

Odemira livre podcast

New Member
Can someone explain how i setup six video inputs, on a laptop, for livestream with OBS? All inputs must function simultaneously. I've been seraching the web extensively foe such answer but nothig so far... .
 
Harold

Harold

Active Member
6 video inputs on a laptop is going to be between extremely difficult and impossible due to USB routing issues.

If you need that many inputs, you're better off with a desktop mounted in a DJ travel rack
 
L

Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
hopefully you understand that real-time video encoding is VERY computationally demanding. And now you want 6 video streams all being visible to OBS simultaneously? That is a fairly niche use case .. and therefore potentially an expensive one.

As noted above, typical consumer USB isn't going to work. Is there a specialized outboard USB hub with multiple chipsets to bypass USB Root hub constraints? maybe, if yes expect to pay a hefty premium for such. I could see something like such a USB device existing in manufacturing. *IF* such a hub exists, don't be surprised if it cost more than the laptop (why? low volume, and typical customer can afford to pay thousands on large mfg line).
Ethernet based NDI cameras connected to a robust network, and an upper-end engineering class laptop (NOT small, light, or inexpensive), MIGHT work, depending on resolution, frame rate, etc. But a laptop for that many cameras will ALWAYS be a poor fit, just as laptops are nowhere near as powerful as desktops for video editing (power and thermal constraints)
Another challenge will be 6X NDI HX (compressed) streams should fit fine on a 1GbE connection (assuming laptop isn't getting other input as well), BUT, then you have the CPU processing overhead to de-compress the video. Uncompressed NDI will save on laptop CPU but now you need to be careful of hitting limits on single 1GbE link. So you might have to consider maybe a TB4 dock (for multi-monitors as well) and a 10GbE link? depends on your camera as to bandwidth needs
And you don't mention what else might be desired (from an OBS/streaming) perspective, which would impact CPU and RAM requirements. You will most likely save a lot of money if you use a video switcher (or some sort) in front of laptop, so laptop only dealing with 1, maybe 2 video streams (same if you used HDMI or SDI instead of NDI). But depends on desired functionality if that might work for you

If this was my need, I'd be calling major PTZ camera manufacturers and asking for a proposal. Most will propose their own video switch hardware, so you'll need to understand why you want to use OBS, specifically, to get an idea of a possible solution that meets your use case. You haven't mentioned distances from streaming PC to cameras, and what, if any camera control is required (ie fixed position or PTZ). So in my mind, I can envision a possible setup, but it would probably start around $20K for cameras, network, and computer. A lot more if 4K was desired. Then again, maybe there are much cheaper options... depends on more details of your use case
 
Last edited:
Odemira livre podcast

Odemira livre podcast

New Member
Lawrence_SoCal said:
hopefully you understand that real-time video encoding is VERY computationally demanding. And now you want 6 video streams all being visible to OBS simultaneously? That is a fairly niche use case .. and therefore potentially an expensive one.

As noted above, typical consumer USB isn't going to work. Is there a specialized outboard USB hub with multiple chipsets to bypass USB Root hub constraints? maybe, if yes expect to pay a hefty premium for such. I could see something like such a USB device existing in manufacturing. *IF* such a hub exists, don't be surprised if it cost more than the laptop (why? low volume, and typical customer can afford to pay thousands on large mfg line).
Ethernet based NDI cameras connected to a robust network, and an upper-end engineering class laptop (NOT small, light, or inexpensive), MIGHT work, depending on resolution, frame rate, etc. But a laptop for that many cameras will ALWAYS be a poor fit, just as laptops are nowhere near as powerful as desktops for video editing (power and thermal constraints)
Another challenge will be 6X NDI HX (compressed) streams should fit fine on a 1GbE connection (assuming laptop isn't getting other input as well), BUT, then you have the CPU processing overhead to de-compress the video. Uncompressed NDI will save on laptop CPU but now you need to be careful of hitting limits on single 1GbE link. So you might have to consider maybe a TB4 dock (for multi-monitors as well) and a 10GbE link? depends on your camera as to bandwidth needs
And you don't mention what else might be desired (from an OBS/streaming) perspective, which would impact CPU and RAM requirements. You will most likely save a lot of money if you use a video switcher (or some sort) in front of laptop, so laptop only dealing with 1, maybe 2 video streams (same if you used HDMI or SDI instead of NDI). But depends on desired functionality if that might work for you

If this was my need, I'd be calling major PTZ camera manufacturers and asking for a proposal. Most will propose their own video switch hardware, so you'll need to understand why you want to use OBS, specifically, to get an idea of a possible solution that meets your use case. You haven't mentioned distances from streaming PC to cameras, and what, if any camera control is required (ie fixed position or PTZ). So in my mind, I can envision a possible setup, but it would probably start around $20K for cameras, network, and computer. A lot more if 4K was desired. Then again, maybe there are much cheaper options... depends on more details of your use case
Click to expand...
So far, I am able to have 4 cams setup with 3 webcams and a mobile phone with droidcam OBS. Plus an audio interface routing 4 channels, and bunchit works fine with low usage from my MSI gf75 thin I7 9th gen Nvidia 1650 GTX 4gb, 16gb ddr4 and an SSD 500gb. I was hoping to find some external conector that could do as my audio interface and output several video channels to be recognized by OBS. The main reason is that I love the live stream camera management on OBS.
 
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Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
PTZOptics just sent an email about a certified/supported computer based on the new Intel NUCs (Ghost Canyon or Tiger Canyon using 11th gen CPU) tested and supporting up to 8 of their cameras (email doesn't indicate if USB, NDI, or ?? I'm suspecting NDI (not USB or HDMI) cameras as that makes the most sense)
 
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