Question / Help Not sure about this proposed setup

[bvZed]

Currently streaming on a 7th gen i5 laptop with OBS Camera, audio through a Scarlett Solo. Not gaming, just your average YouTube stream. Works fine at 1080p30 but not much CPU capacity left for display capture of PowerPoint, videos, browser tabs etc. Plan was to move to a 9th gen i5 desktop and Nvidia GTX 1660Ti to get encoding off the CPU and take advantage of Nvenc. But, I also want to add a camcorder (Canon Vixia HF R800) captured with ElGato HD60 Pro.
Questions: 1) My understanding is the ElGato does its own h.264 hardware encoding. If running only the R800 camera, does that make the 1660Ti / Nvenc useless? 2) Can I run both Canon/ElGato and OBS Camera in different scenes? With the 1660Ti doing the encoding? Or do I need two cameras with a video switch in to the ElGato? My objectives are 1) unload the CPU, 2) add a second camera. 3) not spend money on redundant gear.

 

[qhobbes]

Try using Quick Sync instead of x264. This should save you some CPU cycles. Hopefully others can answer your other questions.

 

[carlmmii]

Agreed with using QuickSync for your current situation. Since you're streaming to youtube, bandwidth limitation should be less of an issue, so you should be able to raise your bitrate as far as your connection will allow.

As far as the other questions if you're looking to upgrade
- The Elgato's h.264 is ONLY for raw recording through Elgato software. It CANNOT be used as hardware encoding for anything else. Its purpose is to allow you to have a clean recording of your raw input in addition to the capture being fed to your streaming software for extra compositing.
- If you will be getting the 1660Ti, this will allow you to use the nvenc encoder, which takes the entire encoding load off of your CPU. This is completely independent of any scene setup or capture situation with the Elgato or OBS Camera.

I will say though, if switching to quicksync for your current setup alleviates your CPU load problems, then you may be able to keep your current setup and get an Elgato Camlink to add your extra camera. That would definitely be the cheapest option right now.

So, switch to quicksync, and do a test recording/stream to see how it runs. Also, you can post a log file from the test to see if there's anything that can be improved.

 

[bvZed]

At first glance, looks like QuickSync is giving me some headroom. Puts me in a better situation until I upgrade. Still plan to upgrade (who doesn't want to buy gear? I only don't want to spend money on redundant gear that can be spent on useful gear! ), but lead times on components are a month out.

My concept of the internal block diagram of OBS is a little shaky. The Elgato encoding/Elgato software/recording explanation vs OBS stream encoding helps make it clearer. Thank you!

 

[carlmmii]

Something to note - getting an Elgato camlink now will still be useful if you ever do plan to upgrade down the line. It is designed for one thing (it doesn't have all the bells and whistles of other capture cards, and it doesn't have passthrough), but it works perfectly for camera capture, and it means you wouldn't need to shell out for an internal capture card just to get your camera's feed.

 

[bvZed]

Appreciate that input. I wrote off the Cam Link when the you-know-what crisis sent prices to $400+. I can get an HD60 Pro for $179. Camera capture is all I need so I'll keep it on my radar.

 

[carlmmii]

Oh yeah, I bet. Everything is blown out of market proportions right now.

MSRP for the Camlink should be in the neighborhood of $130, that's why it's the go-to recommendation for this type of thing.