Well, I went into it with the best of intentions, but intentions alone were just not enough Saturday night. I was highly confident considering the last show was flawless for a solid 4 hours. With no changes to software or settings, OBS just decided to throw a fit, initially after the first hour but much more frequently after that. I could only reinitialize the ATEM input or restart OBS so many times before frustrations got the better of me. What’s worse is that these technical problems throw me off, so my attention suffers, the mix suffers, and song selection is hurried. I cannot stress enough how important quality software and hardware is to the creative process!
This seems to be a common experience for me while using OBS. I have been met with a variety of issues over the years. Audio failing and ATEM input freezing can be quite common for me. I find myself in this constant loop of troubleshooting, adjusting settings, testing yet still experiencing random failures. Updating OBS comes with its own risks too! The result is a less than 40% success rate with my shows as I will not publish streams with so many issues.
I have been on the hunt for a solution to replace OBS. I had been patiently waiting for the release of Gramrphone for Windows. They have a Mac version which looks good and has a feature-set that will allow me to take the stream to the next level. Unfortunately, according to them, Microsoft has yet to approve the app for distribution in their store. This has gone on now for eight months or so. This seems a bit suspect, and I can’t wait much longer. Sorry Gramrphone.
Luckily, I heard about vMix last week. Knowing nothing about it, I decided to give it a test yesterday, one day after the debacle. I was not disappointed. Like OBS, vMix can be a fully featured video switching, capture and streaming solution with lower tiers for simpler productions like mine. I simply need to capture from the Blackmagic Design ATEM Mini Pro to a solution that will facilitate streaming to Mixcloud. The ATEM and accompanying Software Control meets my needs for audio input, camera switching, effects, overlays and keying. vMix has some nice steaming options, including multicasting to 3 platforms, HD video and 320k audio. Soon we will be on Twitch as well as Mixcloud! What I believe will be the feature that the production benefits the most from will be its ability to adapt the stream to changing internet conditions. My issue is likely that OBS cannot do this, and its buffer fills to the point of unreliability.
I performed a test with vMix yesterday afternoon. I started with an unlisted stream to Mixcloud so the return video can be inspected. The stream was stable for over an hour. Realizing that others may not be able to help test, I opened it up to a listed stream. What started as a test quickly became its own mini event! Thanks to those who visited and special thanks to those who provided technical feedback. I went for a solid 6 hours in total. There was one drop of the camera feed to vMix but it was easily recoverable and did not happen again. I did lose Virtual DJ to a crash, which is extremely rare, but as I said in the stream, “This is why we test”.
After a full afternoon of Yacht Rock, Punk and other mixed genres, I now have logs to inspect, settings to tweak and some proper planning for the next event. I hope to officially launch Beanpot Radio with myself, DJ Leah and some guest curators. If my tests continue as they have, Black Friday might be the day! Stay tuned for future announcements!
- Mike
Beanpot Radio 