Question / Help Awkward Setup advice please :)

Rumik

Rumik

New Member
Hi everyone, hoping I can call on your expertise with my problem. I have been streaming and recording videos for over a year using the PS4 and XB1's built-in streaming and clip recording, and using OBS on my Windows PC to capture PC gaming. Unfortunately I'm on Virgin Media in the UK so my upload bandwidth is severely restricted, so I can't actually stream at high quality which really bugs me. But in recent months my life has changed somewhat and I'm not spending much time at home on that connection, or with my gaming desktop. So here's what I want to do:

  • Record high bitrate, high res gaming from PC, PS4 or XB1.
  • Stream mid-low bitrate gaming from PC, PS4 or XB1.
  • Do both simultaneously.
  • Use OBS for all the plugins and audience interaction those plugins allow (like Twitch Alerts).
  • Utilise the hardware encoding of a dedicated capture device (such as the Avermedia Live Gamer Extreme) in order to reduce the load on the streaming/recording PC.
  • Stream from and record to either my beefy desktop gaming pc or my Surface Pro 3.
    • I currently work away during the week, so the only PC I have is my Surface Pro 3. Hence the need to reduce the load on the PC.
  • Use my Surface Pro 3 as a portable monitor for console gaming.
    • Sometimes I travel, so I'd like to take a console and my Surface Pro 3 with me in case the hotel doesn't allow the use of their TVs' HDMI inputs. Using a USB 3 capture device like the Live Gamer Extreme would mean I can run the live preview from the capture on the Surface and play from that, with virtually no lag.
So, can I do all that? I'm looking at the Live Gamer Extreme. I think the most important aspects of the above are these:

  • Record high bitrate, high res gaming from PC, PS4 or XB1.
  • Stream mid-low bitrate gaming from PC, PS4 or XB1.
  • Do both simultaneously.
  • Use my Surface Pro 3 as a portable monitor for console gaming.
Does anyone have any advice for me please?

Thanks :)
 
1+2=3) OBS Multiplatform can do this.
4) OBS Classic and MP plugins are not cross-compatible. But there is a browser plugin for MP, so you can still use TwitchAlerts, Nightdev, etc.
4) You're SOL. Those encoders are proprietary, and their output looks like complete S anyway. Don't bother, they wouldn't be worth using even if it were possible. Get a fast CPU.
5) Not a problem.
5b) Problem. Especially given that the Surface is effectively a laptop, with all of the associated problems when it comes to livestreaming and hardware in general.
6) A fast capture card should do this over USB 3.0
6b) Not that capture card. It's riddled with problems. Avermedia gear is considered 'starter grade' for a reason. Stuttering, freezing, variable capture delay, crashing, and all with no known-reliable fixes or workarounds. Same with the Extremecap U3.

Look into an XCAPTURE-1. But some of the stuff you want to do just isn't going to happen with present-day tech, sorry.
 
Thanks for your reply :)

OBS MP doesn't support hardware encoders yet, right? Seems like a HUGE drawback.

Okay, forget about streaming on the Surface Pro... what about just recording? As an example, I understand the LGX software utilises the LGZ hardware encoder, so will that take the load off of the Surface? Will simply recording the incoming video with OBS tax the system?

Doesn't look like the X-CAPTURE 1 is available in the UK, so the only alternative that has USB 3 that I can find is the LGX. From all the reviews I've watched and read the quality seems very good, and it's at the right price point.
 
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OBS-MP doesn't support QSV, NVENC or VCE presently.
Not really a drawback, as hardware encoding methods are mostly a band-aid to allow those streaming from a potato to get *something* up. Not recommended for anything other than local recording. And even that is debatable.

Can't speak on the Avermedia stuff. I'd expect so.
You can set up OBS to use the Ultrafast encoding preset and tell it to use as much bitrate as it needs. This will result in pretty huge video files, but they're simple to re-encode later with a high-quality non-realtime multipass encoder for archival purposes or uploading to YouTube. Up side, it results in almost no impact to gaming performance on the machine.

The XCAP isn't available in the US either. Here's a link to Solaris Japan:
http://solarisjapan.com/products/xcapture-1-usb-3-0-hd-capture-unit
They have them for £202.64 at the moment. Your call though.
 
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