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View Full Version : If you chose something other than Wirecast....



cseeman
04-24-2014, 12:39 PM
If you chose something other than Wirecast....
Whether it's VidBlaster, vMix. Livestream Studio, xSplit, etc.
I'm curious why

Also if you are a Wirecast 4 user I'd be curious to know why you haven't upgraded to 5?

What did you purchase and why.
Was it price?
Was there a specific feature you wanted (please detail)?

AlBurr
04-24-2014, 03:40 PM
This doesn't exactly fit my situation but I thought I'd share my experience...

I did end up with Wirecast however I came within, literally, hours of choosing vMix.

My primary reasons for initially choosing vMix were, one I liked the developer. He seems genuinely interested in his customer base and providing features that they request. Two I found the workflow very easy to pick up. Three, in my initial experience with Wirecast I as unable to get 3 USB cameras to work simultaneously. Lastly price to value... vMix had for the features I wanted a lower price point.

So what changed... WireCast v5 was introduced and had a cheap introductory price that I couldn't pass up and stepped up some of the features I thought I might need. Wirecast also seemed to have a more active community which for a noob like me was important.

In the end I would probably have been just as happy with vMix and with the new Social module and other potential features I may live to semi-regret my decision :) Note I said semi as I always seem to have some kind of buyers remorse when it comes to tech...as there always seems to be some other new shiny object on the horizon...

My 2c...

cseeman
04-24-2014, 04:06 PM
Interesting story. So it seems price was a factor as well as community and the Social module is one feature you might miss. Thanks for that.

Podnutter
04-24-2014, 05:22 PM
I was a Vidblaster user for a few years and I finally saw the light to come to wirecast. The reason why I was using Vidblaster was due to its easy to understand interface.

cseeman
04-24-2014, 05:32 PM
I was a Vidblaster user for a few years and I finally saw the light to come to wirecast. The reason why I was using Vidblaster was due to its easy to understand interface.

What factors caused you to switch given how you felt about VB's interface?

MovieBuff
04-24-2014, 07:42 PM
I have been testing RecoLive and it is incredible. If you have iPod touches, use it with RecoLive. Truly incredible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi9UlToV1No

cseeman
04-25-2014, 08:39 AM
Interesting low price entry point if you have several iPod Touches or friends with iPhones. Dependency on Wifi limits its use. I don't think it's a competitor to the other software switchers for the most part. The Galileo Pan Tilt could reach a wider audience if it could handle small consumer cameras.

domineaux
04-25-2014, 11:41 AM
AlBurr said
So what changed... WireCast v5 was introduced and had a cheap introductory price that I couldn't pass up and stepped up some of the features I thought I might need. Wirecast also seemed to have a more active community which for a noob like me was important.

Checked out the wirecast site, and $500 isn't a cheap introductory price. Maybe, I missed something?

I'm Just starting with live streaming. I am not sure I want to keep pouring money at livestream hardware, and software tools for something that I may not be interested to continue to do.

Currently, after alot of research I am thinking more about doing audio podcasting.

I have bought quite a nice setup for video including capture cards, cameras, lighting, mixer, microphones, headsets, furniture, etc. setting up for live streaming. I have quite abit invested and thought I should at least give it a go after spending all the time, energy and money to do live streaming.

One big hurdle at this time is a PC solution to chromakey for live streaming. I have most of the chromakey things I need, except everything I have purchased works with post production editing *not live streaming.

cseeman
04-25-2014, 11:49 AM
Checked out the wirecast site, and $500 isn't a cheap introductory price. Maybe, I missed something?


Wirecast Play for YouTube is free. Producer (Wirecast) for Ustream is free. The paid versions for both CDNs are also heavily discounted.
Telestream is often running discounts for Wirecast. You just have to watch for them.
Wirecast Studio (paid version) does chromakeying, It's a built in feature.

cseeman
04-25-2014, 11:55 AM
Wirecast For YouTube
http://www.telestream.net/wirecastforyoutube/cb-landing.htm

Ustream Producer
http://www.ustream.tv/producer

AlBurr
04-25-2014, 12:25 PM
Agreed but when WC5 was introduced last year there was I believe a 30"%" discount that made it equal or a little lower in price to the vMix software. Still not "cheap" but everything is relative.


AlBurr said

Checked out the wirecast site, and $500 isn't a cheap introductory price. Maybe, I missed something?

I'm Just starting with live streaming. I am not sure I want to keep pouring money at livestream hardware, and software tools for something that I may not be interested to continue to do.

Currently, after alot of research I am thinking more about doing audio podcasting.

I have bought quite a nice setup for video including capture cards, cameras, lighting, mixer, microphones, headsets, furniture, etc. setting up for live streaming. I have quite abit invested and thought I should at least give it a go after spending all the time, energy and money to do live streaming.

One big hurdle at this time is a PC solution to chromakey for live streaming. I have most of the chromakey things I need, except everything I have purchased works with post production editing *not live streaming.

domineaux
04-25-2014, 05:10 PM
Hmmm

Best way to buy Wirecast. I am not sure I want to buy a wirecast proprietary version that works with youtube or ustream only. I think , it would be best if I had a wirecast studio version that would work with many streaming providers.

I mean the studio versions are still $200 and they appear to be dedicated to the streaming service. I would want studio version, because I need chromakey.

I should probably just hold off and wait for wirecast discount sale or something. I can do the testing I need to do with the dedicated free versions for a while.

cseeman
04-28-2014, 10:27 AM
You can use the Wirecast Studio trial version. All the features work although it's watermarked (video and audio).

AlBurr
04-28-2014, 10:35 AM
Domineaux have you tried xSplit (https://www.xsplit.com/) or Open Broadcaster (http://obsproject.com/). Not sure if they will meet all your needs but worth a look if you haven't already done so...

domineaux
04-28-2014, 12:01 PM
Domineaux have you tried xSplit (https://www.xsplit.com/) or Open Broadcaster (http://obsproject.com/). Not sure if they will meet all your needs but worth a look if you haven't already done so...

I have downloaded both. I'm currently exploring the various software and streaming providers.

I don't want to be locked into one or a few providers.
From all I've read things change with streaming providers.

The wirecast is probably a very good choice, but I'm thinking it is best to have the generic version provided by Wirecast. Youtube has the free version, which doesn't allow chromakey The producer 2 from ustream and then livestream has their free version as well. The Xsplit and OBS provide the chromakey.

I am sure you know that free usually means you are tied in to the provider of the free stuff. It may not be a place you want to be. Making videos, is work. So, I'm just trying to know as much as possible not to get involved in a bad situation for long term.

I'm pretty well convinced unless I can make something of the xsplit or OBS, wirecast is the best choice. So, I will be hanging on the boards and watching for promo pricing on the wirecast generic version.

Also, I want the flexibility to play video on my website as it is being recorded. In other words, I don't want to have to push viewers to a proprietary site of the service provider for viewing. I want to be able to upload to youtube and other video player sites as easily as possible.

example...livestream requires viewers must have account with livestream for viewing. In other words, I don't want to restrict or make it difficult for viewers in any fashion.

TommySulivan
04-30-2014, 02:11 PM
I am very impressed with OBS. I used it recently and really surprised how it has come along