Can I Have A Camera Input Into My Mac

Not long ago, I wrote a blog post on how to get a single camera signal into your computer. This post expands on that and delves into the realm of connecting multiple cameras to your Mac or Windows PC for live switching and streaming! I'll cover what capture devices to look for if you are using a desktop, or a laptop. I'll as well briefly review the most popular switching/streaming software, and so you lot can zero in on what will exist all-time for you.

Information technology's adept to understand that every stream of video (i.e. camera feed) y'all bring into your figurer requires resources. Depending on the CPU, GPU, software and other factors, your calculator may exist maxed out by two cameras, or information technology might be able to handle vi or more. In general, newer computers with fast CPU'due south and bulky GPU's are going to practise a much meliorate job of handling multiple camera streams. If your awarding is mission-critical, I highly recommend looking into a purpose-congenital alive switching system like those from NewTek or Superlative Video Systems. For the purposes of this post, I volition focus on a more piecemeal, DIY approach to live switching.

Laptops

Laptops with Thunderbolt™; either Windows or Mac, lend themselves quite well to ingesting multiple cameras.

A Thunderbolt equipped laptop will let yous to connect an external capture device, such equally an AJA IO 4K, or anAKiTiO Thunder 2/3 PCIe Box.

With the latter, you add together your own PCIe capture card, such every bit a BlackMagic Design Decklink Duo 2. With the manufacturer provided drivers, your figurer sees each photographic camera every bit an private input. With your live switching software of choice, y'all can then transition between cameras and create divide-screen or picture-in-movie (PiP) furnishings.

If your laptop does not have Thunderbolt, you are limited to the USB 3 jitney, which necessitates the use of a hardware switcher (e.one thousand. ATEM Boob tube Studio HD, Roland V-1HD, Roland V-1SDI) to handle the photographic camera feeds. The program output of the hardware switcher is fed into the computer with a USB 3 capture device, such as those recommended here: Capture Devices

Using a hardware switcher continued to your computer is not a bad style to go. However, you practise lose some functionality and integration. For instance, y'all may have to apply one software plan to switch cameras, and some other to add graphics and encode the web stream. Y'all also lose the ability to blended multiple camera images into ane frame. The benefit is that your computer only has to procedure one video signal, the program output, instead of multiple cameras. This means that a lower powered figurer can piece of work but fine!

There is 1 specially potent switcher/Mac software combo of which I am a big fan; The ATEM Television Studio Hd and mimoLive!

The really absurd thing about mimoLive is that it controls the ATEM switcher over a network connection. That ways you can do graphics, video playback, streaming, recording and switching––all from i application! If you lot want to acquire more about how it works, check out these videos: https://youtu.be/D3UvzTE7upU https://youtu.be/Oc_ZQBGSahU

Sans mimoLive, you lot could use the ATEM Software Command to switch cameras, or just push buttons on the front confront of the ATEM TV Studio HD. You will still want software that can add graphics and stream to Facebook, YouTube or whatsoever other CDN (Content Delivery Network).

Livestream Studio Software

All the software packages do the same bones things, i.e. switch between multiple sources, encode/stream, add together titles/graphics, video playback. What you choose comes down to your reckoner platform, budget and additional features that you may want or demand. Below, I list some of the more pop software options, with a few notes about each.

WireCast: Widely used/highly advertised. Latest version is much improved and quite skillful. Mac or Windows.

vMix: Quite popular with churches and quickly gaining inroads into other venues. Frequent updates and pricing options for any budget. Windows only.

OBS: Free, open source software. Very popular, but not as reliable as paid options. Windows or Mac.

mimoLive: My personal favorite. Intuitive, layer-based interface. More than expensive than other options. ATEM Command! Mac only.

StreamStar: Up and coming. Lots of options for sports scoring. Windows only.

LiveStream Studio: A solid selection. Unknown future with Vimeo buyout. Windows only.

Calculator Video Hardware

The nature of a desktop figurer is such that yous can pack in a lot of CPU power and a massive GPU. This makes them more appropriate for a product with many video sources. A PCIe capture card is what you'll desire for ingesting your cameras.

Blackmagic Design Decklink cards are very popular, because they offer slap-up functionality at minimalist price betoken. Mission-critical builds tend to get with AJA hardware because of its legendary reliability and meliorate tech support. Granted, you pay quite a scrap more up front. Magewell is another brand that is gaining in popularity.

If you lot are looking to put your ain system together, vMix.com has some reference systems posted that will point you in the correct direction, fifty-fifty if you lot are planning to use a different Windows based software parcel.

https://world wide web.vmix.com/products/vmix-reference-syst...

Feel free to reach out with whatsoever questions you may have. I'thou happy to aid you discover the gear you need!order@dvestore.com

30th October 2017

Source: https://www.dvestore.com/blog/connecting-multiple-cameras-to-a-pc-or-mac/

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