Best Video Compression for Wirecast 4.0

[Bob O’hearn]

Just got off the phone with Telestream. They have no idea what the optimal format is for playing video on Wirecast 4.0. Quicktime was as close as they could get. The tech said to find a quicktime movie that plays back smoothly and use those specs. No help at all. Couldn’t believe it. I said, “don’t you guys have a setting in Episode that would be optimal? He said no, I would have to figure that out my self. I need a nap.

[Craig Seeman]

I frame codecs are better than GOP based files. Frame size should be close to your streaming frame size. All this minimizes resources need to decode and scale the image. Apple ProRes, AIC, even Photo JPEG should work well. Your ability to decode and play files are really dependent on your computer. What plays well on a MacPro might struggle on a MacBook. That’s why there’s no “best.”

[Bob O’hearn]

Thanks Craig,

So for example, I’m coming off a Prores 422 FCP timeline with a four minute clip I wanted to Wirecast. I’ve tried different flavors of MP4 and quicktime and not having any luck. How would you proceed?

Thanks in advance.

Bob

[Craig Seeman]

Use ProRes. Frame size counts too though. You may still need to scale the file down to your streaming target resolution. If you’re streaming at 640×360 you’d ideally want a ProRes file at 640×260,

[Bob O’hearn]

Craig,

Did you mean ProRes 640 by 360?

[Craig Seeman]

[Bob O'Hearn] “Did you mean ProRes 640 by 360?”

Yes, customize the frame size. Of course 720×486 might be fine if you want a source that can have other purposes. Ultimately the less work the CPU/GPU has to do decoding the file, the better the playback will be. A beefy MacPro can certainly handle H.264 files but you may make a MacBook cry if you’re trying to play an H.264 1920×1080 file in a 640×360 stream.

[Bob O’hearn]

I’m having a lost weekend. Love your cat by the way. Looks like he kinda runs the place:) I’m using Mac Pro to a Macbook pro and trying all kinds of things. So I can use H264? Right now I’m making a ProRes 320 by 180 and hoping for the best. I will be using the Wirecaster to highlight my video work with clients and it’s really giving me a run for my money. Some of the clips just stop on the last frame and some loop.

[Craig Seeman]

[Bob O'Hearn] “Love your cat by the way. Looks like he kinda runs the place:)”

He’s the boss.

[Bob O'Hearn] “So I can use H264?”

There are no absolute answers. You have to test on your system. It depends on the frame size and date rate of the file and what else is going on on your system. MacPro should be OK but the only answer is “it depends . . .”

[Bob O'Hearn] “Some of the clips just stop on the last frame and some loop.”

Check your Playback settings. That’s controllable in Wirecast. Read that section of the manual.

[Bob O’hearn]

Craig,

Nailed it! Made an AIC @ 640 x 360 29.997 and works great. Thanks for your help and patience.

Bob

[Craig Seeman]

Thanks. It’s a good trick for solid playback.