@Boinx @mimolive@deansuhr.us anyone!
Hey can someone post the example configurations like you guys had for BoinxTV, mostly interested in the most economic MacMini that can be used, i’m currently using a MacMini 2.3GHz Intel Core i5, Intel HD Graphics 3000 thats not good enough - its starts to overload after a couple of minutes I’m thinking the videocard is not good enough… thanks!
OR what would be the optimal setup MacPro? i7? Etc…
thanks!
Juan
@“Juan Grano” Thank you for your interest in mimoLive and for taking the time to come to the forum and post your question.
The answer to your question is not easy. For example, the OKCOwlCam is using a Mac mini for a quite complex 24/7 live stream.
Currently, I would not recommend a Mac Pro if you plan to use it for Live Streaming because the Mac Pro doesn’t have a hardware h.264 encoder and the macOS software encoder is very CPU intensive.
Can you tell us more about what you want to do?
If you are shopping for a new Mac, here is a comparison chart where you can load up 3 different computers to check their specs. GPU info is about mid-way down the page:
http://www.everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/
With GPUs you have a limited amount of pixel “real estate”, and you get what you pay for. As far as I understand it, each Syphon layer will use up that GPU real estate in pixels, with the big killer being simultaneous full-frame videos.
I use the mid-range MacPro, and can feed several 1080p video layers in as Syphon. I haven’t hit the ceiling in Mimo yet, but depending on what I’m doing in those other programs (and any full frame filtering) is where I hit stutters or dropped frames.
I’m surprised to hear Oliver’s recommendation against a MacPro. In my (limited) experience I was not able to stream full capacity to youtube because of their limits (or more likely my internet limits), but I did notice that my h264 disc recordings have dropped frames…. 422 recordings are HDD killers, but I bought a little Atomos Ninja2 HDMI recorder for long flawless 422 recordings (1080p30fps or 720p60fps for about $300us). Works as a playback too.
Wow, that’s pretty interesting @“Oliver (Boinx)” I thought a MacPro would be the best way to go, I was even thinking of building a Hackintosh just for mimo live streaming - I have a client that all she wants to do is stream live to facebook, so i recommended MimoLive since its so easy to use. So what would be the ideal Mac to get? Her set up is is fairly simple, one camera, graphics from mimo a mic and that’s all! but she is looking to upgrade to: two HDMI cameras in the near future… Again thanks for your response!
Thanks @wetcircuit i was surprise too with his advice, I guess maybe upgrading the video card on the MacPro, might work as well, I guess i’m just looking for the mac THEY are using it seems to work pretty well when they do their demos…
@“Juan Grano” A Hackintosh is an interesting idea if you can support it for your client and are a little adventurous. Make sure you get a good graphics card, ideally something with hardware h.264 encoding that is supported by the hackintosh community. For video capture, a Magewell Pro Capture Dual HDMI card would be good as you can mount it fixed in the computer.
If you don’t want to risk it with the Hackintosh, I assume the graphics are not very complicated, so you could also use a 5k iMac or a new 15" MacBook Pro, depending on the budget and if the setup should be mobile. Maybe you can give me more details on the graphics? I’m surprised that the Mac mini doesn’t work, can you send me the document? Are you by chance trying to stream and record at the same time using H.264? We recommend using ProRes 422 for recording if you are streaming at the same time as a Mac normally only has one H.264 hardware encoder.
For HDMI capture, either use a Blackmagic Design Mini Recorder via Thunderbolt or an AJA U-Tap or a Magewell HDMI USB dongle via USB 3, depending on the Machine you choose.
As for the camera, a Prosumer camcorder or a DSLR would work. The DSLR would probably have better image quality but is harder to set up and you’ll need a DSLR with a clean HDMI output (many DSLRs use HDMI as a view finder and display all sorts of info on the video) and on that doesn’t turn off after a couple of minutes to keep the sensor cool.
For audio, I recommend a Zoom H5 and a Countryman E6 microphone. The microphone is expensive, but it is almost invisible and has a great sound. The Zoom H5 is needed to capture the XLR audio from the Countryman mic. If you plan to stream from a studio setting, I recommend using a XLR cable instead of a wireless as the wireless often has interference and that is hard to troubleshoot.