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Common Law Wife
03-27-2012, 04:13 PM
Do you use a Mac or PC to run your broadcast ?

andrewzarian
03-27-2012, 04:38 PM
I am using PC Exclusively for my broadcasts. If you want power you have to go with a PC

Spencer Kobren
03-27-2012, 04:54 PM
Do you use a Mac or PC to run your broadcast ?

I was using a Mac Pro 8 core and still couldn’t get my broadcasts up to snuff. Zarian convinced me to switch to a PC...I hate him for that, but he was right!:) My broadcast has never looked better.

JakeKettle
03-28-2012, 01:09 PM
Do you use a Mac or PC to run your broadcast ?

PC all the way, has better software, and is much more powerful. I use mac for personal stuff, but not for broadcasting.

Common Law Wife
03-28-2012, 04:33 PM
Thanks for the replies guys!

When I stare at a PC computer I find myself staring in one spot for an extremely long period of time. It's so extremely foreign to me, I don't know where to click or where anything is. When I'm confronted with a PC I wanted to run fast in the other direction and scream "NOOOOOOO.":p I know Mac, I love Mac -- I think Mac loves me too, but I guess apparently it can't hack it for the big stuff. Is that due to lack of software to run the broadcasts? Or the Machine power itself? or both?

andrewzarian
03-29-2012, 10:53 AM
I think its a combination of a few things a mac Pro is a great machine to do heavy duty video editing ( final Cut is amazing) . When it comes to live streaming I still feel that a PC has the advantage due to more hardware being on the market for it. Also pricing plays a huge factor.

RyeBreadRadio
04-02-2012, 08:54 PM
So much PC lovin' in here!

I personally use a Mac, and have been since 2009. I record my broadcasts using Protools and then edit with another audio program to clean things up. You can do just the same amount of audio production on a Mac as you can on a PC, it just depends on the software and hardware. I've upgraded my pretty lil' MAC to 1TB and I have another external harddrive that's 1TB, and i pretty much use my MAC for everything (to developing and designing our website, to editing and producing shows, spec spots, and movies).

..I know I can't be the only one here who uses a MAC - it's simple, clean, and sexy!

Spencer Kobren
04-03-2012, 04:13 PM
So much PC lovin' in here!

I personally use a Mac, and have been since 2009. I record my broadcasts using Protools and then edit with another audio program to clean things up. You can do just the same amount of audio production on a Mac as you can on a PC, it just depends on the software and hardware. I've upgraded my pretty lil' MAC to 1TB and I have another external harddrive that's 1TB, and i pretty much use my MAC for everything (to developing and designing our website, to editing and producing shows, spec spots, and movies).

..I know I can't be the only one here who uses a MAC - it's simple, clean, and sexy!

Welcome to the IAIB!

I’ve gotta tell you that I am a hardcore Mac guy, but my broadcast was suffering because I was so resistant to the idea of switching to a PC. As much as it kills me, Zarian was right, and at a least for now, there's no turning back!

By the way, I’m posting this from my MacBook Pro.:)

joedemax
04-15-2012, 06:02 AM
Mac. It has to be Mac. Quartz extreme and Core Image really help when doing stuff like real time video switching. Wirecast for Mac is a great switcher.

I run my broadcasts on an i7 2600K Hackintosh, and it runs flawlessly.

andrewzarian
04-15-2012, 07:14 AM
See thats the issue, Most people wont be running a hackintosh. If you are looking for a powerhouse machine you go with a PC.

erictimmer
04-25-2012, 05:32 AM
I use both and would agree that a PC is best for streaming and if at all possible an i7 or better with lots of RAM and a good video card.

cseeman
04-25-2012, 07:36 AM
I use both Mac and Windows but I'll layout some of the advantages of Mac.
I'll mention that I use Wirecast which is cross platform.
I have a number of things to say so I think it's best to make separate posts.

Mac

AIC and ProRes
In Wirecast I can record to hard drive using Apple Pro Res (if FCP is installed) or Apple Intermediate Codec.
These codecs are high quality for post production workflow. This is mission critical to me when I need to edit of course.

The edit can range from clean up to breaking down a program. If you follow analytics (you can if you upload your shows VOD to Youtube) you'll find shortly that the viewer fall off is radical if you're uploading a typically long stream. I can break down a show so each guest or segment can be a separate upload. Viewers can watch just what they're interested in and, in fact, I can know what they're interested in based on both views and fall off.

Editing
Editing a GOP based recording, whether H264 or WMV followed by and export encode followed by YouTube (or any other OVP) encode is going to result in significant quality loss compared to AIC and ProRes. AIC and ProRes hold up in the Post process better than GOP based recordings.

Recording
Recording a high quality IFrame codec such as AIC or ProRes uses less CPU resources than recording a GOP based codec.

Playback
If you're using recording segments to play back on a future stream, playing an AIC or ProRes source (and you can use the latter on Windows as well) is much lighter on the CPU.

cseeman
04-25-2012, 08:00 AM
Thunderbolt
It will start to roll out on Windows this year but for the time being it's a major Mac advantage.

Blackmagic have 4 video i/o devices, two of which are already shipping.
Matrox MXO2 has adaptors for PCIe, Express Port, Thunderbolt. These allow for connectivity to desktops and a variety of laptops.
AJA IO XT is the only Video I/O with Thunderbolt daisy chaining.

Uncompressed Video
With Thunderbolt I can use uncompressed video in most any 2011 Mac including MacMini, MacBookAir, MacBookPro, iMac. This works with HD-SDI and HDMI. This allows use of inexpensive consumer cameras with spectacular uncompressed quality.

Great Analog Conversion
Additionally most of these devices also allow analog Composite or Component connections with much higher quality results than converting to Firewire or USB2.

Flexible
Unlike a PCIe card, I can move the box from computer to computer easily. MXO2 allows use with desktop as well since it has direct PCIe. Blackmagic devices are powered from the Thunderbolt port so there's no extra power cord needed. That's a big plus when you need to be mobile.

Recording to external hard drive
When not using a "Tower" you need to record to an external hard drive (not good to record to system disks running the OS and Apps). Thunderbolt leaves your firewire 800 port available for connecting to fast hard drives in a variety of configuration. Also most Thunderbolt hard drives have pass through, allowing you to put the drive in the middle of the chain and the Video I/O at the end unless you have AJA IO XT which also has passthrough. Keep in mind a Thunderbolt port is like a daisy chain capable 4x PCIe slot. iMacs have two Thunderbolt ports as well.

cseeman
04-25-2012, 08:13 AM
Bootcamp
All modern Macs run Windows. One computer and I can use the operating system of my choice. When booting into Windows you can use any Windows only software and hardware you'd like. Yes you can even use Windows only video cards and GPUs. Yes there are some Windows advantages so, depending on your needs, you can choose. Want to take advantage of the better webcam drivers Windows offers. You have that option. Want to record to ProRes or AIC, you can use Mac. Wirecast runs on both. Macs runs both OSs. Chose what you want when you want.

Virtualized OS
Different than Bootcamp Virtual Windows (Parallels or Fusion although I prefer the former). There are times when I want to run a Windows program while using Wirecast Mac to record in AIC or ProRes. One example is using the often more capable Windows version of Skype. With Desktop Presenter (and I can run one on EACH virtual OS in addition to the native OS on the same computer) I can grab the Skype call and the Mac OS will get the video and audio. There's also a variety of other Windows programs I might use or show while streaming. BTW this isn't limited to Windows. I can run any number of other OSs as well such as Linux/Ubuntu. Chrome, etc. All without losing the Mac specific features I like which including recording to AIC or ProRes or using Thunderbolt peripherals.

cseeman
04-25-2012, 08:26 AM
CamTwist is Mac Only
It gets a special mention. Sure there are many screengrabbers on Windows but nothing I know of that's as feature rich as CamTwist. It's free. Wirecast sees it as another source just like Desktop Presenter (and you can use both at the same time). CamTwist includes RSS Feed Ticker, Text Scrolls, various clock timers that count up and down in various ways, weather bug, Twitter, IRC, iTunes song and many other unique elements. All can be brought in and can be keyed over any number of shots in Wirecast. Granted I'd love to see some of these incorporated into Wirecast directly though.

Quicktime filters
Wirecast can access Quicktime filters in the Mac version. Of course most are artsy/silly but there are useful ones that allow you to adjust Hue, Saturation, Luminance, Gamma. This is great if you need to color correct a shot and can't easily access the camera and especially good if you're trying to match shots.

cseeman
04-25-2012, 10:03 AM
Thunderbolt on Windows with Mac
Magama PCIe Thunderbolt Expansion
http://www.magma.com/thunderbolt.asp
So your Thunderbolt Macs can use PCIe cards but the kicker is Magama is reporting on how their box is working with Windows. They're using Bootcamped Macs. It seems that the Windows Thunderbolt rollout may be hitting Ultrabooks first (Asus, Acer, Lenovo). On the other hand you may be able to use Thunderbolt on higher powered Windows systems sooner by using a Mac. Consider a Quad Core i7 MacBookPro or iMac (which has two Thunderbolt ports).

Blackmagic Digital Cinema Camera?
Admittedly not tested yet as it's not shipping yet (July)
http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/blackmagiccinemacamera/
The camera appears to have LIVE Thunderbolt output. Imagine using this almost micro 4/3 sensor camera with Live Thunderbolt out without using a Video I/O box at all. The shallow Depth of Field capable camera can blur out the backgrounds when you're streaming from less then stellar locations.

Linuxcooldude
07-12-2012, 03:14 PM
If you want more power on the Mac side you need a Mac Pro. Mac Pro 8 core with two HDMI capture cards for camera inputs into Wirecast. Video editing done with Final Cut Pro X and occasionally iMovie. IMO and talking with other people I think Wirecast works better on Mac's then the PC side. I think because it originally started on Mac and crossing over any software on a new platform has its problems. It could of changed since then too.

joedemax
07-12-2012, 03:17 PM
If you want more power on the Mac side you need a Mac Pro. Mac Pro 8 core with two HDMI capture cards for camera inputs into Wirecast. Video editing done with Final Cut Pro X and occasionally iMovie. IMO and talking with other people I think Wirecast works better on Mac's then the PC side. I think because it originally started on Mac and crossing over any software on a new platform has its problems. It could of changed since then too.

I am running my production on a Hackintosh. This is for the very reason that I believe Wirecast runs much better on OS X. I went down the Hackintosh route because no Mac has enough PCI-e slots

robistech
07-13-2012, 10:22 AM
I own an 8 core Mac Pro that would be more than sufficient to run my broadcasts, but I find that I have a lot of PCs laying around, and PC parts, and this ended up making me go the PC route for broadcasting. Now I still incorporate both a Mac Pro and Macbook Pro into the mix (desktop presenter, and great encoding machines!) but my broadcast machines are all windows.

JaseRossi
07-13-2012, 11:23 AM
I am using all PC's for Skype and for using Wirecast. You can't beat the power VS price.

Podnutter
10-15-2012, 07:43 PM
I am using a mac but I am finding some limitations with finding specific software

Linuxcooldude
11-22-2012, 08:49 AM
I am using a mac but I am finding some limitations with finding specific software

What specific software are you looking for?

andrewzarian
11-23-2012, 04:18 PM
I think it comes down to what your needs are. If you are only looking to do audio then you are fine using a dual core machine. If you are getting into Video then you would need something with a little bit more power