Multiple live inputs, which possibilities?

[NLS6XX]

Hi!

We are trying to put a system together so we can ditch the edirol V8 mixer and work solely on the laptop. The system would be used mainly for presentations.
What we would like to do is have 2 or 4 live inputs (Sony ex-1 or alike) going into Resolume on a Macbook Pro, mix everything and send out to the projector/screens.

First question: is this even possible, latency wise? I mean with a V8 you have a little latency but it is still very workable. How does that turn out when capturing with a laptop?

I assume we need an external video capture and playback card. However there seems to be so much different brands and models that I can't figure out which one we need to do what we want. I've searched around on this forum and on the net but still don't know what to get.

So if you guys have any advise please let me know.

- price range should be max 2000€
- has to be able to capture at least two HD live feeds and thus in resolume we should get two live feeds (4 would be ideal)
- should accept hd sdi, component & composite and send out hd sdi and hdmi
- has as little latency as possible
- the Macbook Pro will be a new model so it has Thunderbolt, if there are better options using an expresscard, then we could buy a 17" model.

Thank you for your time,
Nils - Belgium

[Stickygreen]

Multiple live inputs is best done with a full size (tower/rack) computer. Especially if you want to cap 2 full HD streams.

Sorry to break the bad news to you, but even the most expensive laptop isn't up to this yet.

[HerrNieDa]

best option would be a mac pro with multiple blackmagic cards...
on my pc i can use my intensity usb3 shuttle, or i can use my other capture cards (Aver Media, Pinnacle...), but they don't work together with the blackmagic...
also someone wrote on this forum that multiple blackmagic-card-setups also just work on a mac pro (maybe osx/hackintosh also!?)
i also got 2 Aver Media Capture HD (with HDMI/Composite/S-Video/Video inputs)....
resolume 4 recognized both cards (r3 doesn't), but i was only able to use one card at a time on windows (don't tested all kinds of input combinations but it seems not to work).

with a laptop, especially mac, i don't see any chance.... (only elgato usb-tv sticks available and they don't work with resolume... with a express card 2.0 with nec usb adapter or thunderbolt you should be able to use the bm intensity shuttle... )
maybe a windows laptop with external avermedia/pinnacle cards should do the work, but more than 2 card's also would be a wonder if they work... and i think it should be different ones
also for example my pinnacle usb 500 card works everywhere expect on my laptop (older c2d laptop).

the lowest latency you get with blackmagic-cards!
matrox also has a express card solution (mxo2 mini or so).... but i don't know if it's supported yet.

[NLS6XX]

Hmm, now that's a bummer. But anyway thank you guys for replying!

So since a Mac Pro is not an option price wise, I can guess I can forget mixing 2 camera's in Resolume.

Maybe I should limit myself to only 1 full HD stream in. I was wondering if the Blackmagic cards (i.e. Intensity Shuttle for Thunderbolt) would work with a Macbook Pro for that purpose? At least this would give me the opportunity to mix/switch in resolume one live camera with movies and overlays.

Would that work?

Greetz,
Nils

[fruitygreen]

Hmm, now that's a bummer. But anyway thank you guys for replying!

So since a Mac Pro is not an option price wise, I can guess I can forget mixing 2 camera's in Resolume.

Maybe I should limit myself to only 1 full HD stream in. I was wondering if the Blackmagic cards (i.e. Intensity Shuttle for Thunderbolt) would work with a Macbook Pro for that purpose? At least this would give me the opportunity to mix/switch in resolume one live camera with movies and overlays.

Would that work?

Greetz,
Nils

Do not be discouraged.
I got up to 8 BMD Intensity on Win 7
and 6 via Mac.

Your motherboard is the key to what you can do.
There might be some quirks with the drivers, but you can absolutely mix multi HD in both platforms

[Stickygreen]

if a Tower/Rack computer is out of the question, then absolutely make sure to get a laptop with USB3, or an expresscard slot, either of these interfaces are the only ones that can currently be used as HD capture.

Thunderbolt is possible in theory, but the rest of the hardware that you need to make it a reality does not exist yet.

Consider making yourself a Tower PC, like fruity says, it's all in the research, MOBO is key, build from there. I've got a nice rack mount PC started with a Asus Sabertooth X58, i've got 2 HD capture streams (BM intensity, and Matrox MXO2), and it runs nice.

[bildwerk]

we used bm intensity pro and shuttle together at the same time in our tower with arena, 1 hdmi 1080p input and one edirol v8.
worked smoothly...

[NLS6XX]

Thanks again for the info, guys.

After more searching and reading, apparently the "Intensity Shuttle for Thunderbolt" way wouldn't work because Thunderbolt (at the moment) doesn't allow simultaneous use of the input and output.

Soooooo, is this only a thunderbolt problem? If I would use a Intensity Shuttle USB3 connected to an USB3 expresscard on a Macbook Pro 17", would this work? One live stream in + Resolume output out?

About going the Windows way, this is a no go for me since I have too much Mac based software that I want to keep using. But thanks for the heads up!

[isikyakar]

Hey Nils, I'm wondering if you were able to successfully put a system together? I also am trying to bring multiple live streams into Resolume software since i'll then try and sync midi or osc to it. Haven't been able to figure out how to do this effectively and inexpensively any input would be welcome.

Thnaks.

[Stickygreen]

new Macbook pro's have multiple thunderbolt ports....