Ability to handle multiple video sources

[nycriichimahjong]

Hello, I'm sorry if I'm posting a question that has been asked before. I see that people are running into hardware limitations when trying to incorporate more than 3 or 4 USB cameras.

I'm trying to run a set up to stream a tabletop game, mahjong. Ideally, there would be 9 video sources, but only 1 or 2 maximum displayed in each scene.
As someone not very tech-savvy, would I be able to use 9 video sources with a reasonably spec'd gaming laptop (Zephryus G14)?

My current plan is to have 4 or so USB webcams through a powered USB 3.0 hub, while the rest of the video sources will be android smartphones broadcasting on OBS.ninja.

I'm curious as to whether it be better to establish a separate WLAN network using a second wifi router just for the OBS.ninja smartphones, and basically broadcast with OBS through a second laptop.

The problem is after reading the forums and documentation, I've garnered that there are no 'hard' software limitations on this on the part of OBS or OBS.ninja, but rather people run into degraded performance and other issues that impact the practical feasibility of pulling something like this off.

Thanks so much in advance for any input you may have!

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Hopefully you understand that real-time video encoding is VERY computationally demanding.
Having a single computer process 9 simultaneous video streams will be REALLY demanding. First you have USB Root Hub limitations (which can be worked around via USB PCIe Add-in Cards (adding USB Root Hub(s) on a desktop PC). On a laptop, maybe using a Thunderbolt dock? or other ports... it depends.. But you still have CPU limitations. And the CPU constraint will be different, but not that dissimilar, whether USB or via network using OBS.Ninja

So, this is doable, but will require either
- becoming technically savvy on both OS and OBS optimizations, and hardware specific throughput monitoring. And probably compromising based on hardware limitations.
this means learning EXACTLY how the USB traffic flow into your specific computer. For example, why using a single USB powered hub for all USB cameras may not be optimal (probably isn't, but depends on your laptop)
- or if desire is single computer that can do it all, getting a really powerful computer (probably not a laptop), I'm thinking upper-end ThreadRipper workstation tower but only guessing. I could be way off. In part it also depends on what filters/effects/chromakey, output resolution, etc you might want to add into the mix

With OBS.Ninja, recognize that by default, you are sending video out to Internet and then back to OBS computer. Do you have the bandwidth for this [each OBS.ninja upload stream, the OBS stream itself, TCP reply packets, any other traffic, etc)? I'd consider that a risky approach. As for WiFi, you should understand WiFi channel utilization and what other devices might also be using WiFi. There is a reason you read in these forums to avoid WiFi if practical. For a greater chance of success, and with limited budget, I'd be inclined to get a second PC to capture additional video inputs and send that via NDI to primary OBS computer, if you truly need that many cameras

Either that, or get something like Atem Mini or other device to handle a bunch of the video inputs, so sending only a limited camera stream to PC. Typically these devices take multiple inputs and provide one output. But not my area, so you'll need to get others input, or do your own research

so, in short, it is possible but you are asking for something complex. So, whether you spend the time to becomes technically expert, or pay someone who is, and even then may (r may not) require expensive gear to pull off.
I suspect that powerful laptop will suffice, with a caveat, that you come up with a way to pre-process some of the video on another system, so the laptop isn't dealing with all 9 video streams at same time. One approach might be to turn USB camera off when not in use, but then there is a delay (not instant) if you switch to that camera. sorry, it is not simple to handle that many cameras on a single computer (especially laptop). But note, I've never tried anything like this. so take that into account as well.
Good Luck