Streaming/conferencing set up help.

[dojo]

Hi guys

I wonder if someone can help me.
Im a professional musician and the current situation has led to a lot of work vanishing.
I make a good chunk of my income from teaching so I'm looking to improve the quality of my webcam lessons and also move into some live streaming.

Ideally I would like a camera on my face/torso and another one on my hands. 2 cameras for now is good enough.

Some of the software I've heard sparko (for PC) or manycam for Mac.

I've also heard of OBS.

Is OBS different to manycam/sparko or is it basically same thing??

I think I will run castr for live streams and that makes sense. But getting decent quality audio and video with 2 cameras seems a little unclear.

Thanks so much for any help in advance.

[Fordo]

Hi there, I might be of some help - Im a director of photography by trade, but have worked on the tech side of some streaming jobs in the past. (including a 4 cam show, live to Facebook, over 12 hours, where every half hour musicians had to write and perform a comedy Song based on suggestions from the Facebook comments)

Anywho - I think theres going to be an upsurge in streaming content in the next few months, so I've got myself back up to speed with the latest hardware. And I think I know just what you might need.

For doing a 2 cam guitar tutorials (nice idea btw to keep your business ticking over), I think it needs to be a very simple setup, that leaves you free to play guitar and talk to your pupil, without having to keep putting guitar to the side and clicking away with a keyboard or mouse.

Blackmagic studio do a lot of pro level broadcast switchers, but they've recently brought out a very cost effective bit of kit, designed for youtubers.

The ATEM Mini - Its an all in one switcher and streaming solution. Can take up to 4 HDMI inputs from cameras. Connects to the computer via USB, but what's quite smart, is the final programme video feed, appears to the computer as a webcam - so you can use Skype, what app, whatever form of web video your clients want to use.

You plug your two cameras into the ATEM via HMDI, and plug the ATEM into the computer via usb. Load up Skype or WhatsApp, or zoom, and the software see the ATEM feed as a webcam. Then position the item next to you, and you can cut between the two cameras at the touch of a button.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/blackmagic-atem-mini...

I had a play with one of these a while ago, and its a great bit of kit. Solution like OBS, can get very tech very quickly - in theory you could use OBS to use your existing webcam, and then a 2nd feed from another webcam plugged into your computer. But you'd need to use the software to cut between the cameras, so you'd be fiddling with mouse and keyboard a lot - that's why I think a hardware solution like the ATEM mini might be a better way of doing it.

The ATEM Mini also has some more advanced features too - I think you can do picture in picture, so you could have the close up of the fretboard as your main shot, with a head and shoulders shot of you as the picture in picture.

Or even setup an iPad, 2nd laptop, or your own computer going back into the ATEM as a '2nd screen', so you you could put tab or notation up on the screen as a 3rd 'camera angle'.

If you need any recommendations for camera or mics, just let me know

Edited by Fordo on Monday 23 March 15:48

Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 24th March 09:25