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Best Multi camera setup over long distance
I have wirecast setup with livestream and want to add 3 cameras over a long distance with Cat5.
I know I could use Firewire Cat5 Repeater which will allow me to run Cat5 cabling from the cameras and then connect back the Firewire into my computer.
But is there another device I can use with this setup, so I don’t need an extra video card for each camera and be restricted to my desktop?
It would be great to use my macbook rather than needing a desktop with several video cards.
Would something like the MoTU v4hd work?
https://www.motu.com/video-products/v4hd/laptop.html
Another options seems to be a Matrox MX02 but it requires a MacBook Pro.
Any other options would be great.
Thank you.
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2 Replies
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I think you need to provide a few more details.
If Ethernet would work then so would wireless if each camera is attached to a computer with Desktop Presenter. There’s no IP camera support yet.I’ll be testing MXO2 within the next couple of days but that doesn’t have anything to do with Ethernet connections.
Sorry but unless you’re explicit about your setup we can go back and forth for days with nothing but guessing on my part.
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From a brief look at the MoTU pages, it looks like it only delivers one source at a time, which is not what you want for WireCast. Well, you might be able to do cuts between cameras (does it provide a clean cut?) but dissolves and other effects require each source be feeding WireCast at all times.
I’ve read about those Cat-5 FireWire extenders, it seems like they would work but I have no evidence of this. Feeding multiple FireWire cameras into a single FireWire bus on a MacBook/Pro is very unreliable and should be avoided (see WireCast docs about this).
If I wanted medium-distance camera runs, I’d consider simply using analog composite video cables and digitizing it with USB digitizers at the Mac end. That also might let you use a MacBook/Pro. (I haven’t done that either though.) This doesn’t give you HD, but live streaming of HD is pushing the bandwidth envelope pretty hard at best.
Craig’s suggestion of a computer at each camera running Desktop Presenter would be an all-digital option if you prefer that. That avoids the single FireWire bus issue too. That’s 4 computers though!
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