Question / Help Total noob here

Unconformed

New Member
Hi all

First off, big thanks to the devs for making open source software.

I'm after some help to guide through the steps I will need to live stream a launch party in Sept.

It's an all live electronic music show running for four hours, to celebrate the launch of a web application some friends and I have been building for sometime now. I used to put in parties and I'm really excited to be throwing one again.I just want to point out all artists are playing live - so there is no copyright issue.

Some things

1) We have access to a Professional camera (not sure if needed)
2) We want to be able to stream audio and video
3) I looked at the streaming options and I have discovered that Youtube might be the best fit
4) We'd like to be able to tell our users what the url is before the event.
5) I am unsure if I need a capture card - I was hopig to use my laptop in the club, but can bring my PC if I have to
6) We have VJs, and I;d love to add their visuals into the mix
7) Looking at this guide, I notice it talks about audio from the mic. Is it possible for me to put a line in from the DJ console / mixer?

My Hardware

I have i7 4078k w Radeon 7950 (3g DDR3 ram) and 16 G ram and an SSD.

So far, I have DL'd OBS and I am going through some of the guides. I am starting with this one. And also this overview.

Update, so far guides are good!

I am really hoping someone can guide me if I run into any issues - I have always found video challenging!

Thanks heaps.
 
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Update - I was able to see a stream on my channel! It is very slow - super laggy so I probably have so optimisation to be doing.

The stream is looping heaps.

I got it right down to 320 p and my friend said it was pixaled but that is to be expected. II have set bit rate to 750. Need to check the club's connection speed, hoping it is fiber.

Summary of remaining questions

1)Will a capture card make things better?
2)Is connection speed my #1 factor?
3)Will have a pro cam matter (in a club, low light etc, we figured a good camera would help). Or can I get away with a good web cam?
4)We'd like to be able to tell our users what the url is before the event - can I do that with the URL Youtube has now given me for sharing? Will it change?
5)We have VJs, and I;d love to add their visuals into the mix
 
Just a heads-up, copyright still applies if they're playing any covers. If it's all their own material, it should be good. Though you might also want to get a broadcasting agreement signed by all creatives involved, just to cover yourself.

1) No, unless your professional camera needs one. A capture card will not reduce CPU usage.
2) Yes, connection speed and CPU.
3) A good camera will be necessary in sub-optimal conditions. Most webcams will reduce framerate pretty massively in low-light conditions. It's why many casters have very bright lights pointed directly at them for hours on end.
4) No idea. Maybe? Check with YouTube, this is not an OBS issue.
5) Capture card needed, as well as splitters probably. Also be wary of more copyright issues, if they integrate footage from copyrighted works in their setups.

If it's looping, do NOT watch your stream from the system you're streaming from. It'll capture the played-back audio and send it out again.
 
Just a heads-up, copyright still applies if they're playing any covers. If it's all their own material, it should be good. Though you might also want to get a broadcasting agreement signed by all creatives involved, just to cover yourself.

1) No, unless your professional camera needs one. A capture card will not reduce CPU usage.
2) Yes, connection speed and CPU.
3) A good camera will be necessary in sub-optimal conditions. Most webcams will reduce framerate pretty massively in low-light conditions. It's why many casters have very bright lights pointed directly at them for hours on end.
4) No idea. Maybe? Check with YouTube, this is not an OBS issue.
5) Capture card needed, as well as splitters probably. Also be wary of more copyright issues, if they integrate footage from copyrighted works in their setups.

If it's looping, do NOT watch your stream from the system you're streaming from. It'll capture the played-back audio and send it out again.

Hi

First of all - thanks very much for your time. After testing last night, I ended up adding a bunch of friends and streaming for 2 1/2 hours of me talking crap - good times.

Some additional questions based on your feedback - if you would.

1) My mate's pro cam will be using HDMI out. I assume then that I'll need a capture card with HDMI in. My Vid card has HDMI out but I doubt it has in
2) Is a splitter like a video mixer? I can chat to the VJs but I think it is very likely they will have some material in there that could infringe so I may not broadcast it.
3) Once I have the capture card, will the software just pick it up?
 
1) Yes, inputs are different than outputs. You'll need an HDMI capture card.
2) Possibly? It takes one HDMI feed, and splits it to two outputs (one for your capture card, one for the projector/whatever)
3) You'll have to install the drivers first. Make sure the card is standards compliant (eg: DON'T pick up a Hauppage HDPVR2). See below for a couple of recommendations.

The AverMedia C985 is a common starter-grade HDMI cap card. I'd more recommend looking on eBay for a Datapath Vision e2s, as it has two inputs and some very nice high-level gear. They also tend to sell used in the $140-160 range, and can do 1080p@60fps on both of the inputs independently. Otherwise, you'll need a capture card for each input source (which gets pricey fast, can cause glitches, and run you out of room in your case).
Do not recommend any USB 2.0 cards for a live event like that, they will all have around 2 seconds of capture delay.
 
1) Yes, inputs are different than outputs. You'll need an HDMI capture card.
2) Possibly? It takes one HDMI feed, and splits it to two outputs (one for your capture card, one for the projector/whatever)
3) You'll have to install the drivers first. Make sure the card is standards compliant (eg: DON'T pick up a Hauppage HDPVR2). See below for a couple of recommendations.

The AverMedia C985 is a common starter-grade HDMI cap card. I'd more recommend looking on eBay for a Datapath Vision e2s, as it has two inputs and some very nice high-level gear. They also tend to sell used in the $140-160 range, and can do 1080p@60fps on both of the inputs independently. Otherwise, you'll need a capture card for each input source (which gets pricey fast, can cause glitches, and run you out of room in your case).
Do not recommend any USB 2.0 cards for a live event like that, they will all have around 2 seconds of capture delay.

thanks heaps! Ideally, I'd like to find a cheap capture card as this is going to be a one off affair. I'd expected some sort of delay, so 2 seconds should not be a problem.
One more v important question.

I'm going to need to put an audio line directly out of the audio console into the PC. If I get a line in to the PC will the software detect the audio and stream that?

Regards,
Unconformed
 
If you want cheap, look at the Easycap. It's about $8 on Amazon, and can accept composite video if your cam can put that out. Looks pretty crappy, but if it's a one-off? It's eight bucks. Cheapest HDMI cap card you're really going to find is about $120-140.

Plug it into the line-in on the motherboard, and set Windows to 'listen to this device'. Then set OBS' desktop channel to the default system speakers.
OBS used to be able to set a recording device as the Desktop audio channel for just that application, but it was removed as newbies were checking it (for some reason, I don't understand people sometimes) and couldn't figure out why their sound wasn't working. You'd have to ask @Jim if it's actually still in Classic hidden as a command-line option or something where people who don't need it won't accidentally screw things up by turning it on.
 
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