Like the topic says, looking for a cheap one. I think my stream looks horrible because I don’t have one.
1 Like
Just to drop an unhepful platitude int here 
1080p60 is pretty heavy to stream live - do you have a way to test if your upload speed is enough to sustain it?
In any case following this thread as the webcam quality is pretty terrible - anything to improve on that would be nice 
1 Like
What sort of setup are you going for? Do you have an actual camera to use as a webcam? AFAIK normal webcams don’t benefit from capture cards. Capture cards just capture sources.
For a limited upload speed, 1080p 60fps might be a question mark but it shouldn’t be that heavy on the system, especially since there’s no games or other demanding software running. It’s pretty much the standard quality that everyone uses in gaming streams.
2 Likes
Also, what camera are you using? Maybe that’s the bottleneck.
2 Likes
Yeah I think you’d get FAR better mileage out of upgrading your webcam than diving into the world of video-capture cards.
For instance, like filming your guitar playing, good light sources and high FPS will trump ‘colour’ trueness or whatever every time! You could do a lot worse than going with something that has the capacity to do 60fps and get a good nicely lit space.
This one does 1080p 60fps
https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07TYWPM67?tag=georiot-ca-default-20&ascsubtag=pcg-us-1453239579086478000-20&geniuslink=true
This one does 1080p 30fps but also 720p 60fps
https://www.amazon.ca/Razer-Kiyo-Adjustable-Autofocus-Streaming/dp/B075N1BYWB/ref=sr_1_1?ascsubtag=pcg-us-1427482735020611000-20&dchild=1&geniuslink=true&keywords=razer+kiyo+full+hd+1080p+30fps+720p+60fps+built+in+adjustable+ring+light+advanced+autofocus+feature+streaming+web+camera&qid=1615213318&sr=8-1
Then there’s the Big Kahuna that does 4k 30fps and 60fps++ for the rest
That would be the avenue I’d recommend looking into. If you’re on Twitch at all, most streamers have the specs of what gear they use in their description so if you run across someone’s stream who has super good quality picture/sound etc, chances are the gear they use would be listed.
This is something I’ve been thinking about for a bit too. Right now I have to sync up my phone’s down the neck footage, with some crap 720p 30fps feed from my 8 year old Canon DSLR that only does 1280x720 video and doesn’t stream it to my PC, same with if I use my ‘no-pro’ action cam, so I juggle memory cards and usb cables and… yeah it’s a nightmare.
2 Likes
And in a HILARIOUS do as I SAY not as I DO scenario (because I am nothing if not a CHEAP mothertrucker) I just bought this guy for similar reasons as everything listed above.
It should be here in a day or two, so when it arrives, I will try and set it up and play some bad guitar on stream for ya’ll.
1 Like
This!
I’d also really recommend 60 fps over 30, because it doesn’t get as blurry when shooting picking technique - even if it’s “only” for streaming purposes. 60 is easier to look at when you’re actually trying to make something out of the image.
1 Like
This got much more traction than I expected!
According to YouTube, my internet upload speed should be enough to stream 1080p 60fps.
https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en
I have a pretty nice Sony mirrorless with a great lens! I figured the capture card would yield a better quality.
I heard some people say 30fps should be good enough, so I’m definitely going to experiment! I think all my stuff on instagram do far is 30fps and it’s good enough?
Edit: this is what I ended up getting.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08PYN2PW2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_A472JZM0FZN3GZF5S4AV
We use the Magewell USB devices:
https://www.magewell.com/tech-specs/usb-capture-hdmi-gen-2
https://www.magewell.com/products/usb-capture-hdmi-plus
If you watched our Andy Wood or Batio live interviews, this is what you were seeing. They’re not cards they’re USB devices that take an HDMI input.
What I like about them over more “pro” gear like BlackMagic is that they are idiot proof. No settings to make just plug it in. You can feed it just about anything your camera can output and it will convert to whatever, just choose from a pull down menu in whatever software you are using. All the conversion, if any, is handled internally and does not stress the host computer at all. The computer just sees the Magewell as a plugged in USB camera.
3 Likes
You should check the Sony website, in the past year a LOT of camera manufacturers have updated their software suite to include a streaming driver for many relatively new cameras. Even my older EOS Rebel T3 got that treatment. So I can actually use it for streaming now.
Can’t imagine what prompted this change of policy… what a weird coincidence…
Here’s the Sony link
https://support.d-imaging.sony.co.jp/app/webcam/en/download/
1 Like
@JB_Winnipeg actually that’s what I’ve been using! The frame rate is horrible though, it could be that I need to change the settings to a much lower resolution (I was under the impression that the software would downscale it, but that might not be the case).
Ah shitty, yeah mine’s limited to 30fps only as well so I wanted to try something that allows for 60fps.
1 Like
Thinking about it some more, how is your ‘scene’ lit?
Because giving it a massive light source might lessen the burden on the camera/software for trying to brighten the image. Might be worth just pointing a couple spotlights at you/your hands/guitar and see if that helps.
1 Like
@JB_Winnipeg I have low light, almost off to be honest, but it shouldn’t be a problem since my lens is 1.4f (awesome for night shots).
Right, but that is a camera yes? Built for stills.
The LENS should have no problem, but that’s a mechanical thing. Moving pictures and light compensation takes a HELLUVA lot of overhead from the camera/software if you’re streaming video, you want as much light as possible. Give it a try, direct a big light at you and see if the frame rate doesn’t dramatically improve.
1 Like