Please bear with my lack of experience and knowledge in this area. I want to do live video streaming broadcasts once each week. I have set up QuickTime Broadcaster and Darwin Streaming Server on my quad G-5 at home to test this system out. I have confirmed that I am able to do live streaming on my LAN as well as over the internet. Now I will want to be able to do this from my church where the video streaming will take place.
My main questions relate to the camera options for capturing the audio and video. I have done my testing at home using my Panasonic AG-DVC30 camera. But I would like to know about other camera options since I may not want to dedicate this camera for this purpose.
Is there any way to use a camera without Firewire with QTB and DSS? Are only cameras with Firewire input supported? Are there any cameras with good quality video that do not have recording capabilities but only streaming abilities? That is, can I buy a camera specifically made for streaming without the expense of the recording mechanism and yet still get good video quality?
Video streaming will be done with the camera in a fixed position. Currently I do not plan to do any panning or zooming. I would like to consider permanent mounting of the camera but this is not essential.
Any suggestions or input will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
John
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According to the documents I've read (did a quick Google search), QTSS will work with a USB camera but do remember that the quality of the video will never be better than what the camera is capable of capturing. We're talking "web-cam" so the better the hardware (and double-check its compatibility to your Mac), the better it will work.
Why not just set up a Mac with a FireWire iSight (you can still find them on eBay)? -
I have an iSight camera (and just about everything else Apple has made). But the iSight image is dismally poor compared with my Panasonic. And I would hope to place the camera 30- 50 feet from the subject. Thus a fairly sophisticated camera lens system will be necessary, far beyond the capabilities of the iSight.
On the Apple sites QuickTime Broadcaster site it states:
Supported Video Inputs:
FireWire-based digital camcorders and analog to DV converters
iSight camera
PCI video capture cards*
This seems to preclude use of a camera with USB connection? I'm not sure how a PCI video capture card would figure into this equation.
John -
The "PCI video capture card" is referring to an analog video-in card. Based upon your requirements, you might just be best off buying a left-over or used Canon ZR-series camcorder (new=<$200) and connecting it with the usual FireWire cable.
Hmmm...a church...how are the light levels there? I did some taping in a church once and the ZR's low light performance wasn't too great. There are other brands that work better in low light (but if your lighting is fine, the ZR will do the job). -
Start here for general how to setup:
Setting up a QTSS environment
then I would listen up on how this guy
did his.
As far as your questions:
1. Yes to other than FW if you are using QTSS.
you would have to setup as they reccommend in the last post here.
then you could use a cheaper analog I/O based camera,
which means ANY camera from as far back as 1993!
lol
Crazily though, is that even though the camera at this point
can be analog, the breakout box's input into the mac will be FW.
2. You mean FW I/O ( In Out, its is bidirectional, you can pull from the camera,
as well as print to the camera from most FW based NLE apps).
again see #1
3. Not that I have seen, but you aren't limited to a type of camera,
only in what (1) your budget allows, and (2) what your needs are.
For instance you may need to only stream the service now, but
what if you have a guest Speaker or a Guest Worship Choir?
Wouldn't selling a DVD of their performance at your church be
a great fund raiser? And what about the sick and shutin, or
the elderly who still get their info through TV rather than the internet?
(like my 84 yr old grandmother?). She enjoys having mp3s of the
Sunday sermons on CD that she can listen to over and over,
espcially in bad weather when driving to church is not an option.
If I could get her to let me setup a DVD player in her den, she
would enjoy DVD Sermons easily as she does the Mp3 audio CDs
i burn for her once a month.
Think long term, think growth, think scalable revenue.
Having a camcorder that records to mini dv tape or even DVD-R
means that while the camera is used for weekly sermons, the
footage can be offlined to another machine to be recreated in another format.
Not to mention, instant archiving of the material by recording it as it streams.
You may need to go back one day, and it would
be nice to have something."Everyone has to learn, so that they can one day teach."
------------------------------------------------------
When I'm not here, Where can I be found?
Urban Mac User -
MiniDV or Digital8 camcorders can be found even for under $100 on Ebay or Craigslist or for donation. Even the worst of these will rival the better webcams. DV Firewire import is the way to go.
Recommends: Kiva.org - Loans that change lives.
http://www.kiva.org/about -
Thank you all for your suggestions and comments. I always get good advice and useful information at this forum, whether I post a question or peruse the questions of others.
I believe I will look for an inexpensive MiniDV with Firewire. That should meet my needs reasonably well.
John
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