Question / Help Three USB Inputs issue (2x Webcam 1x Mixer)

[DJ_HiP]

I've search as best I can on the forums, so I apoligize if I'm doubling up.

I'm attempting to stream a meeting using OBS, I have the setup working beautifully with one webcam and the usb mixer, but as soon as I add the second webcam I can only get 2 of the three devices to initialize.

I'm using an i5 windows laptop running windows 8.1

Webcams:
Microsoft HD Cinema (720p version)
Microsoft Lifecam 3000

Mixer:
Yamaha Audiogram 6 (USB mixer).

I have added the webcams to the global source list so that I can switch scenes ok, but I cannot add the USB mixer to the global list (Which I suspect may be the problem.. but we'll get to that).

I am only using two scenes,

Scene 1 only has the HD Cinema webcam
Scene 2 has both webcams.

I've defined the USB Mixer as the global microphone in the settings, so it should apply to every scene.

What happens is if you start the recording/preview in scene 1 (Which only has one webcam) the microphone initializes fine and you get audio and video.

If you start the recording/preview in scene 2 (Which has both webcams) you get both video feeds but the microphone fails to initialize (Which you can only tell by the fact the microphone audio level sits at zero and the recording thus has no sound).

If I select the inbuilt microphone of the laptop (So it's not usb) I can get audio on both scenes, but obviously terrible audio compared to the shotgun mic in the usb mixer..

So I'm a bit lost, possibly I've found a bug? Maybe it's a simple limitation in OBS?

I've tried swapping usb ports around (As this laptop has 2x USB2 and 1x USB3, so in theory two usb buses) but it's made no difference.

Attached is the log file (Made the post >10000 characters), this has two sessions, the first is starting in Scene 1, the second is starting in Scene 2.

I can't tell if there is any difference in the logs, but I also don't know what I'm looking for :)



Hopefully I've explained well enough that some one is interested in helping me :)

 

[dodgepong]

I don't see any particular errors in that log...if you fear it's a USB saturation problem, you can try lowering the resolution of the webcams in the video capture source properties (check Custom Resolution and choose something lower than 720p).

 

[DJ_HiP]

Thanks for feedback :)

So if OBS detects a usb throughput issue it simply stops initializing devices? I would have thought you'd see frame rate drops or encoding issues rather than losing an entire device? When the two webcams are running (While audio has failed) they both display beautifully and smooth so I wouldn't think it's a bandwidth issue then..

That was the other thing I forgot to add, as this is a USB mixer, maybe it needs to be added to the global source list to get it to be initialized when everything else fires up?

The only other thing I have not tried is putting a USB3 hub on this laptop and plugging everything into that, as that would ensure zero bandwidth issues.

 

[dodgepong]

I usually don't see USB saturation problems when webcams are at 720p, and usually their quality is degraded rather than shut off (stuttering and such). It's usually a 1080p webcam problem. I thought I'd mention it just in case.

I don't think you can make the mixer a "global source". It kind of already is a global source, since it doesn't change from scene to scene.

Are the webcams global sources?

 

[DJ_HiP]

Yep I have both webcams loaded in Global Sources (I first discovered that when I was switching scenes (Prior to this issue), it kept restarting the cameras, until they were loaded in GS's).

I was just thinking about the bandwidth issue and it can't be that, as when I had both webcams on the USB2 ports and the mixer on the USb3 port it was the same outcome.

I'm assuming others are using >2 USB devices at a time in OBS so it can't be some weird flaw there.

What I'm guessing is this is some odd incompatibility as it's a USB mixer, thus may be a strange bug... I just don't quite know what to do next to prove it is a bug :)

 

[DJ_HiP]

I have performed some more diagnostics;

When I only have the two webcam's plugged in and not the USB Mixer, both webcams come up fine as expected.

When I have all three plugged in, this entry appears in the log:

19:30:23: Using directshow input
Warning -- DShowPlugin: control->Run failed, result = 8007001F
19:30:24: Using bitmap image
19:30:24: PERFORMANCE WARNING: Scene change took 929 ms, maybe some sources should be global sources?

The input it is talking about is either of the two webcams, the USB Mixer always works with the testing I was doing but only one webcam would come up.

Can anyone shed any light?

(It could be a similar issue to this thread? https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/cant-make-2nd-webcam-work.1823/ )