Portable, Non-Proprietary Streaming Hardware?

bandini asks: "My job occasionally has me running encoders for live webcasts in locations that demand a high degree of portability and flexibility. It's usually required that we provide redundant encoders, so my current setup consists of two rack-mounted WinXP machines and a KVM tray/switch in a very large, heavy, awkward case. In this age of powerful, small-form-factor computers, what kind of new configuration can I seek to relieve myself of some of the headaches of hauling around this giant case?" "I would use a pair of laptops but we want to keep using the Osprey capture cards that we've invested in, which will take multiple A/V inputs, including XLR balanced audio. We want to keep the setup as modular as possible so that the input devices, monitor, KVM switch, either computer or either card can fail without causing a catastrophe. We want to avoid the highly integrated and very expensive dedicated machines on the market. Ideally, the whole setup would break down into a couple of carry-on sized bags, and any one component could be replaced with readily available parts. Also, I've been looking for a good online community dedicated to live streaming issues, but haven't found anything yet. Any constructive input will be deeply appreciated."

Comments

Re:On-camera high-end mics and DV/USB - encoder

[vertinox]

Yeah... What the parent said.

My suggestion (and I've seen a relative who does DV do this) is to get an SKB rackmount case with wheels ( you know the ones you see the roadees use at concerts) and put your rackmounts in there. That way you can wheel it around if need be and it won't get too banged up when you travel with it.

Laptops won't really do well for ecoding on the fly.

Huh?

[SlamMan]

You're not going to get all that much better than what you have. You'll probably be stuck with 2 2U boxes for your computer, since AFAIK, anything 1U that will take a PCI card is gonna be way bigger than your standard portable audio rack. Since you want to keep using your Osprey cards (good choice, btw), you're kind of out of luck for anything much smaller. I'm kind of fuzzy on what you're looking for. It sounds like your setup works. Maybe you just need to look at a case with better handles or casters.

Some good hardware is out there

[Evil Dave Letterman]

There are two devices I recommend for this: The first one is the Edje series encoders, made by http://www.adtecinc.com/Adtec. They offer good quality, and use MPEG-2 streams. If you're going the cheap route, I believe it's under $500 these days. The second is the http://www.vbrick.com/VBrick series of streaming encoders. I've only tested their MPEG2 models, but they have a wide range of MPEG4 available as well. These can also record locally to a HD. They're a bit more expensive than the Adtecs, but quite reliable. While I wouldn't really call either of these machines "open" per se, I am under the impression they both use linux kernels under the hood. They can be controlled either by RS-232 or ethernet with their simple client software (Adtec lets you play directly with the settings in a terminal too.) VBricks also include a remote control. Hope this helps.

Support the Open Graphics Project

[Theovon]

If you want to know about REAL non-proprietary hardware, you might want to look into the Open Graphics Project. Right now they're working on a graphics card (video output only), but the topic of video capture is often brought up on their mailing list, and they have an interest in doing that once their graphics cards get going.

If you like this sort of thing, you might consider getting involved with the project.

vBricks work, but expensive- see also StarValley

[edremy]

We've got the MPEG4 model for a vBrick. Rock solid, easily portable and fairly easy to setup with one huge caveat. There's a web based interface to control almost everything, or you can do it by remote control. You don't even really need that-once the IPs are set and box configured, all you have to do is plug in the cables and turn it on.

The big problem was getting systems on the other side of our firewall to see the stream properly. The best MPEG4 player is Quicktime, and it couldn't find the stream. Real Player could run with the QT plug in and find it, but that was clunky and forced people to actually use Real Player (spit)

The solution was to use Powerstream as a reflector. They are fairly cheap, and if you are broadcasting to a ton of people off site you want to do this anyway to save your bandwidth. All you do is download a config program, click some buttons and you get a URL that works in every browser I can find- IE, Firefox, Safari, Opera, etc. Haven't tested Linux since I only use that on the server side.

If you're looking for a cheaper solution, try StarValley They sell some dirt cheap MPEG2 and 4 encoders and decoders. We have an MPEG2 encoder that's the size of a paperback book- the decoders are even smaller. We use it for a sign system around campus since running cable would have been really expensive. We do get occasional crashes with this (~1/week while running 24/7), but I'm not entirely sure it's Starvalley's fault- the signage system has been a real nightmare. I've got an auto-reboot script to reset it if it dies- a reboot takes about ten seconds, so it's not a big deal.