Need some Hardware help for brodcasting

[beco]

What hardware do you recommend i use to start running my feed IE..video capture and sound output ? My pc is not the greatest but my internet feed from Verizon is phenomenal i have 30,000kb down and 15,000kb up fiber connection. I just need to know what i need to broadcast my pc is a 2.8ghz duel core 8800GTOC gforce video card 4g ram xp pro. Running 3x games of wow with pwnboxer and would live some info on what i should use and i would love to show people how to multibox from level 1 to 80 with my 3 guys i will run. Any info would be great help for me and i will help you out to take up your downtime when you don't live feed i can pick up the slack for it.

I don't make a ton of cash but i really want to help broadcast with you on jtv just need to know the minimum i need in order for me to start doing this.

Thanks Tom

PS i would love to help with anything else you need help with.

[Tim]

The biggest thing here is that software capture of video gaming, at least for me, took up MORE cpu than running 5 World of Warcrafts at once.

Your 4gb RAM is great. Your Verizon FIOS is awesomeness to the max. The key is your CPU. Which do you have, and how many cores and Ghz, and can you overclock it?

[beco]

i have a 2.8ghz core 2 due so 2 cores and no i cant overclock this because its a crap dell. The motherboard on the dells wont let me overclock it so i plan on getting a new computer soon. So if you recommend something let me know i was planing on running the computer i am using for wow and make it for the video broadcasting and use the new one i make for wow do you think that will work? All the info i can get from everyone to make the best i can with little money to broadcast pwnboxer on wow please let me know.

Thanks

Tom

[Tim]

Okay so I'd give this a try.

#1 Thing to mention is Catreina is doing this right now, and shes is an amazing help with all things multiboxing, and I would actually say she knows more about VHScrCap than I do.

So google and download VHScrCap

Google and download Flash Media Encoder 3.0 aka FME

Run VHScrCap and set it up to do your multiboxing windows (this can be tricky, but you will need to play around and become confortable with it.

MAke an account on Justin.tv website, and google up "justin.tv FME" and download your FME XML.

Once you have that, run FME, load your XML, select the input as you VHScrCap, and then output something like 800x440 resolution @ 1500kbps and see how that goes.

[Catreina]

For hardware, you will need at least two PC's, a video capture device (that doesnt suck ass like the Dazzle does), and software.

I do not know much about the hardware route as yet, but the software route is, in my opinion, easier, less confusing, has the same (or better) quality, and takes less money to set up.

That said, do you still want info on the hardware route, or will you likely be trying the 100% software route first?

[Tim]

Unless you have money to blow, go the software route.

And if you do have money to blow, get a hugely fast i7 system, and then do the software route as well.

I'm even considering dumping my hardware route since the software route will allow me to WoW on a standard monitor VS using a HDMI monitor, and a standard monitor resolution is far, far better than what HDMI offers.

[Ruze]

Minimum Requirements I would say...
Your processor should be fine. It's a shame you can't overclock because it has great potential, reviews I've seen put it at upper 3.x-4.1
8800 GT OC is a great card and should serve your purpose of 3 WoWs easily. Just remember to keep the other 2 windows at low qualities and framerates. Also, because your card is GT OC I'm assuming it's the BFG brand. The card performs very well as it already is Overclocked.
Ram is great and it's pretty much the best you can get without a 64 bit OS. So don't bother buying more RAM until you get a 64bit pc setup.
Your internet connection is great, just make sure it's consistent.

Your system should fit minimal needs. Mind you, I'm not saying these are the minimum requirements for a high-quality stream like Tim and Catreina. But if your internet is as awesome as it sounds your quality won't suffer too much.

Anyway!
VHScrCap is pretty easy to setup. Download it and run the setup. Then just follow the guide on JTV: Desktop gaming, World of Warcraft Broadcasting - Justin.tv Community Help Forums
Just ignore the last part about streaming because JTV's tools are only good for webcam lifecasters.

Now for FME. Google 'Flash Media Live Encoder' and download the latest version (you'll need an Adobe ID but those are free and don't take long to setup). Setup and whatnot. Now open it up (you may get VH Multi Cam windows popping up just close them). Select VHScrCap as your Video Device. The rest is all up to you and will require quite a bit of experimentation to get it all setup to optimize quality and performance. Performance, for streaming, takes prominence. An awesome picture is nothing at 2 frames a second.

Now! Sound! A Mic is pretty much necessary if you want to keep people watching your stream, especially during the first weeks. There are many methods to have an optimal mix of Voice and Game sound.
The minimum is just using a mic and having game sounds play through a speaker at a certain volume. It's meh-quality but if you talk a lot then viewers will care very little about in-game sound quality.
Second (probably the most preferred) is using a Sound Mixer. This is Hardware that can take sound inputs and mixes them at certain volumes and such. What you would do is output the sound from the PC into the Mixer into 1 Input then plug your Mic into the second and adjust volumes accordingly. Plug the Mixer's output into your computers Sound Input and there ya go.

And of course you need a JTV account. Sign-up then get your channel setup (not required and you can do it whenever). Now just hit broadcast and grab the XML for the version of FME you have. Open FME, File->Open Profile and grab the XML you just picked up and then hit save profile so that it's in the directory.

I believe that's everything...
In Summary, your system should fit minimum needs. A lot of the work will just be in adjusting FME to get the right mix of Quality and Performance.

[Baldecaran]

This is great information and has been very helpful. Tim, can you elaborate a little more on the broadcasting system? Specifically:

1. What are it's broadcasting specific components (video/audio capture)?
2. What method are you using to output your gaming session to the broadcast PC?
3. How are you streaming the video from your broadcast pc to Justin.tv?