Behind the scenes: Compositing setup
Added 2025-01-31 20:37:23 +0000 UTCWas setting up for a video yesterday and realized folks might be intrigued by how I do my on-set preview setup - I'm sure I've mentioned some of this before, but I don't think in this much detail. I need to actually make a public video at some point explaining how I do this, since I think a lot of people would benefit from it, but for the moment here's freebird
Comments
For capturing multiple streams at once: I'm not sure whether there is a better solution. I would guess that the biggest issue is the encoding, since there should be no reason why multiple programs couldn't pull real-time video from different USB devices at the same time. Writing to disk also wouldn't be an issue, since the combined video should have a similar bitrate as the two videos combined. However, the encoding step would likely run on the GPU, and if two instances of OBS (or other capture software) are fighting over the GPU encoding cores, you likely lose enough performance to start dropping frames or similar. (Seek time on an HDD could also be an issue, but I assume you're saving to SSDs). I suspect that a purpose built program could solve this issue, but he OBS solution has some other fringe benefits (you get automatic sync between the two streams, etc) and the development cost is way more than any additional benefits you could get from a dedicated solution. I do wonder if a multi-GPU rig could do multiple streams, as long as each is assigned to use a different GPU.
Loading_M_
2025-02-13 04:00:15 +0000 UTCHey if you ever want a more "professional" capture setup for various things you should check out DataPath Vision line. Tech Tangents uses the VisionAV-HD for Hydro Thunder. I have one for various retro and modern PC stuff. It does almost anything up to 1080p 60.
Hayden Neumeyer
2025-02-08 11:13:15 +0000 UTCYour USB rant makes me miss the days of Firewire breakouts with the realtime serial bus being able to take 2-3 non HD streams simultaneously with few issues. I think that Firewire dealt well with an asynchronous bus where even today USB tends to choke in that situation.
Ben Parkhurst
2025-02-02 02:57:40 +0000 UTCMe: oh, it looks just like the Blackmagic Camera app for Android... Me later: oh, right, Blackmagic cameras
Cysioland
2025-02-01 11:32:06 +0000 UTCMy (very limited) experience with A/V told me that if you try to do something slightly different than the examples you find on the Internet, you will encounter crashes, hangs, audio/video desync, inscrutable error messages, etc. This was a while ago and I think the development of OBS improved things, but still. So I’m not surprised that you need a complex setup to do the complex things you need. In fact I’m more surprised that you found a way to make it work at all!
VinDuv
2025-02-01 09:03:07 +0000 UTCPFsense router, I haven't had a chance to find a proper home for it.
Cathode Ray Dude
2025-02-01 04:19:31 +0000 UTCWhat's that little guy doing blinking away on the desk?
Matthew Cooper
2025-02-01 00:03:24 +0000 UTCMan, the dyslexia hut hard. I was desperately trying to figure out what this has to do with food waste.
Burrito Vampire
2025-01-31 22:56:05 +0000 UTCSick!
william fordon
2025-01-31 22:50:31 +0000 UTC"keep your stick on the ice" is so good. I'm not a native english speaker and I love learning random idioms from you
tendstofortytwo
2025-01-31 22:17:02 +0000 UTCIt's a bit like the Disney VR rides; a bit nausiating due to the movements, but so much worth the ride! Thanks for sharing behind the scenes.
xtinus
2025-01-31 22:00:33 +0000 UTCThis is one the coolest things I’ve ever seen. I LOOOOOOVE seeing behind the scenes like this.
HeyStevenRay
2025-01-31 21:30:17 +0000 UTC
