Is anyone here using vMix?

Been playing around with a trial to use their Replay system. Way better than anything else I have found so far that doesn't cost $30K

Have you looked at Wirecast Replay system?

Yes I have used it since it came out but it doesn't have tags, multi camera iso bumpers for transitions etc.

Looks interesting and nicely priced. I'm using Livestream Studio at the moment and love it .. I wonder if this is better? Can I stream to the Livestream CDN with it ?? LSS is a bit of a CPU hog so a normal laptop isn't usable ..you need a minimum i7 quad at 3.4GB at least to use Livestream Studio ..any used vMix on a standard laptop??

Check out the Reference Systems | vMix (http://www.vmix.com/products/vmix-reference-systems.aspx)

They list a 4 cam laptop system that I believe others have used successfully. Once I started using multiple cameras I moved to hardware vision mixers like the ATEM and Datavideo HS-1200. I still use Wirecast to display graphics using chroma key on the hdmi out to the mixer

Thanks Josh

Looks pretty simple so I have to get my head around it. I'm used to LSS and all it's features including the ability to pan crop from a static camera and preset 4 different crop positions per camera too ...guess reading the manual would be a good start to see what it can do?

Much Appreciated

Yeah. They give you a free 60 day trial so go nuts. I am a heavy wirecast user and I know it has similar features and in that case you could make shots all day long and use the same camera and just change it. So depending on the version and its shot limit if any go nuts.

Yes I have used it since it came out but it doesn't have tags, multi camera iso bumpers for transitions etc.

Please do describe "tags" and "multi camera iso bumpers." Perhaps this is something I should look at vMix for if I understood these features.

Wirecast reply is a replay of whatever is in the program window or stream. If you have 4 cameras coming into the system during an event you want to reply the replay system will only allow you to replay what you had on program. If camera 2 had a better shot the current replay system will not let you replay the feed that was coming in on camera 2. Proper replay systems will have an iso or isolated recording of 1 or more cameras regardless of what was on program for you to chose from after the fact.


tags are simply a method of applying a tag or word to a reply. In Basketball that might be "3pts" for any recorded 3 point shot or "Dunk" or "official" for offical review requests. That way they are easy to recall and you can build highlight reels really fast by asking for shots that have specific tags or you could just go the whole game giving out the best plays a highlight tag so at the end of the night you can have it play back the highlights.

The bumpers are just videos or graphics you have the system automatically play before the highlight to make transitioning in and out easier.

To be honest I have played with vMix and it seems to work well but it simply doesn't have the innovative features that I am used to on Livestream Studio. I use the 4 take buttons in LSS quite a lot and it's very useful to be able to pre-frame 4 different shots on each camera and be able to switch to them without touching the camera or physically having to go up to it. As an example at a wedding we can pre-program the main cam with a wide shot of the couple and officiant, a closer shot of just the couple exchanging vows, a close up of the ring exchange and then another closeup of the couple having their first kiss and switch between any take instantly (or with a transition) directly from the computer. Also being able to have our main aisle camera wireless is a big advantage using the Livestream Broadcaster Pro unit.

Admittedly shooting stuff like fast moving sports is another scenario completely and probably needs an operator on each cam!! I do the the fact that I can do a 3 camera shoot each with 4 pre-programmed framing (also adjustable in preview or even in live mode all by myself !

Do you have a video of the interface showing this in use? It sounds like you have a camera setup with a wide shot and then you have a scene or shot that takes said camera and crops and zooms to a certain point. You then have several more shots with different pan & scans. This sounds like what can be done in vmix and wirecast but wanted to make sure I understood.

Thanks Josh

On the page take a look at virtual camera crop ..they explain it better than I can

https://livestream.com/studio

Yeah you can do this in the other software. I think I like the LiveStream control interface better for this type of thing but it appears it is limited to 4 shots where I could keep going with Wirecast and click between the shot layers as needed.

vMix Basic only cost $65.00. It accepts four inputs with every format. You can use overlays, custom titles, etc.
The damn thing does more than I can list. Lots of tutorials on You Tube and a GREAT forum. I asked who on this forum was using it because I had a problem that was driving me nuts. I posted my problem on the vMix forum and got lots of responses. One of their members suggested that I join him on "Zoom" (cute system and free).
He spent 1 1/2 hours with me solving my problem and teaching me LOTS of vMix capabilities.

Go vMix!

Communities like that are awesome :)

Josh, Wirecast 7.x replay allows the use of ISO cameras.

Wirecast reply is a replay of whatever is in the program window or stream. If you have 4 cameras coming into the system during an event you want to reply the replay system will only allow you to replay what you had on program. If camera 2 had a better shot the current replay system will not let you replay the feed that was coming in on camera 2. Proper replay systems will have an iso or isolated recording of 1 or more cameras regardless of what was on program for you to chose from after the fact.


tags are simply a method of applying a tag or word to a reply. In Basketball that might be "3pts" for any recorded 3 point shot or "Dunk" or "official" for offical review requests. That way they are easy to recall and you can build highlight reels really fast by asking for shots that have specific tags or you could just go the whole game giving out the best plays a highlight tag so at the end of the night you can have it play back the highlights.

The bumpers are just videos or graphics you have the system automatically play before the highlight to make transitioning in and out easier.

In Wirecast any ISO cameras can also be used in Replay and each File can be named.

Nice to see ISO reply in the latest version. Are you able to tag things in the usual EVS layout or are you talking about right clicking on shots to rename? I am downloading the 7 trial to give it a shot and see how it does. Basically looking to be able to review all capturing cameras, Set a in point and out point, have that applied to all shots at the correct time code (all cameras are synced) and then easily select which cameras i take to program out.

In Wirecast any ISO cameras can also be used in Replay and each File can be named.

Hmm I have a Pro version of 6 but the 7 trial doesn't let me test the system. I read the online guide which told me how to set it up but the replay portion only seems to tell me about the old method. It doesn't mention how to call back something from camera 1 instead of the camera 3 I happened to be on. Trying to find a video of someone using ISO replay with 7 pro since I cant test it my self.

edit:

It looks like it will probably create a shot for each iso recording. So if I have 4 inputs and click the replay button I will get 4 new shots in the program. If I then wanted to use 3 of my angles in a replay I would have to edit and tighten up each shot one by one, then drop them into a playlist.

Back to vMix evaluation, for those you can easily stream to LiveStream's CDN using their free Producer software which is nice! You simply set vMix to External Output and it appears on Producer's camera list and then it signs you in to your LS account and event list and you stream from there.

The very affordable price of vMix makes it worth a good trial workout. Still figuring out a lot of stuff ..I use a Logitech C930 conference cam as a B-Camera for audience shots but vMix says it doesn't support 1080 for some reason ..have to check out the forums and they seem very active and helpful!

EDIT: Oops my fault!! The vMix software when installed seems to default initially to 72x576 SD !! I changed the project settings and it works very well ..Love the virtual sets too!! Does anyone know if you can pin the audio mixer window in the interface? Because it's a floating window whenever I select another video input it loses focus and disappears ..it would be nice to have it on screen all the time

I must admit I like the vMix software but why the crazy pricing ? For an HD edition the basic version only allows you 4 inputs then it jumps to 1000 inputs? One would think they would have a paid version that would suit a standard setup with say 2 or 3 cameras for an intermediate price With only 4 inputs you are stuck with 2 cams and 2 audio channels and then you are screwed. Even a basic setup with a couple of camera inputs, a couple of audio inputs, colour bars and a few overlay channels at a higher price would have been more sensible to have a paid basic model. I simply couldn't work with only 4 inputs ...I am using the Livestream FREE version and still get unlimited audio inputs, 2 direct cam inputs and 1 remote cam input and a multifunction overlay channel with unlimited overlays.

How do you guys manage with just 4 inputs or does everyone have the 1000 input paid version.

Chris, I am a VERY inexperienced vMix user. In my setup, the audio is embedded in the video.That still gives me four inputs of data.....video or otherwise.

Their pricing is unique. All versions of vMix appear to be the same. The only difference is the NUMBER of inputs

Hi Dan

You still know more than me!! The issue for me is, say I'm doing a presentation with 4 guest speakers and external mics I need to have a title and 4 lower thirds captions to put on the screen as they appear...that eats up the 4 inputs before I start!! In Livestream Studio I can setup just on overlay and then assign as many data fields as I need and just switch to each as I need them ...plus I can have unlimited on screen graphics all in a single channel ..yes I'm limited to 2 direct cameras and one remote camera but each camera also gives me a channel in the mixer so I can lift or drop audio at will.

I guess I could live with watching my levels via an analog mixer but it still gives me an issue with the graphics .. the Chromakey and virtual studios are really neat but again I assume they would need another input ....Can you do a lower third caption in vMix and then assign multiple text inputs that you can select as you need them or would you need the option that gives you 4 overlays??

It's still pretty nice software ..I'm impressed!!