What I do is have a second computer set up as a master control switcher, running XSplit. In XSplit, I have a video playlist set up to run reruns, a test slide, a technical difficulties slide, and a source in XSplit that takes what I'm broadcasting on a VGA monitor on my switching machine (running Wirecast), converted to Svideo with a VGA scan converter, and then input into the machine using an Ezcap 116 capture card. It's not a perfect solution since I get interlace lines on the live stream video when we're live, but it works. This way, if Wirecast crashes, I can switch to the technical difficulties slide by clicking on one button until I can get the machine rebooted. Also, by offloading the live stream rendering to another machine, I've reduced the CPU usage in Wirecast on my switching computer down to less than 50 percent.
One solution I'm going to try soon to improve the live stream quality is the
Avermedia Game Broadcaster HD PCIe card so I can input the VGA signal directly and not have to convert it into an interlaced format. It also has an HDMI input as well so I plan on using that eventually when I upgrade the switching computer.
Bookmarks