I cooked up a review and demo of the Blackbird Multi-Viewer.
This is the “reference” game with my regular gear.
A similar long-play game with the multi-viewer.
As I mentioned previously, it mounts pretty neat on the 8020 slots.
After more careful review of the production I’d say quality takes quite a hit. Although I’ve seen productions look far worse than this without a multi-viewer. I might consider adding this to my ultra-mobile kit or somewhere in between.
Thanks for the video. I think I will pick one up. For laptop streaming, reducing the number of usb capture devices is a huge benefit. I would probably run playfield on its own and everything else on the multiviewer. Heck, on location I might just do the playfield as well.
(PS: why am I buying more gear when I am currently not even streaming)
Thanks for watching! I apologize the loud ass sound in the multi-viewer gameplay but it seems OBS add more volume for each time a certain mic input appears in the scene (without actually reflecting this in the VU bumpers). I had no idea. Since the quad scene was added 4 times into the main overlay + already had the mics in the main scene, you hear a 5X amplification.
Then you can run FIVE cameras for even more fun!
My head is always at building/tinkering. This is how I work in general, more interested in the behind the scenes than actually being on stage or doing the thing.
Here is my 1 ball test comparing my playfield view between the multiviewer and my normal wireless playfield. I am not sure I can see a quality difference. It is running off battery. I am pretty happy with this. I think I would probably go 1 transmitter if I hadn’t already bought 3 
The setup is as follows:
Sound is captured from the zv-1.
I can see some difference, for example the shoot again text is crisper on the direct capture, but it is not a huge difference.
Small followup. Same setup, but using the 1 large 3 small layout. The playfield looks a bit sharper. So it is another option for tradeoff. Maybe not the best on a Spike2 screen, because clarity of score is important, but good on DMD.
There is basically no resolution loss in the playfield. It is 1080 pixels tall on the multiviewer and in the final output. It is passed through a couple scalers, so there is loss as it is scaled to whatever width it is on the multiviewer and then again to 608 for output.
And I wrote up the setup. Wireless Pinball streaming with a Monoprice Blackbird 4x1 Multiviewer
Nice find with the scaling there on the 1x3 layout, I was going to check that at one point. I’m not super concerned about the size of “3” stack as 1080/3 is 360 and with 16:9 AR that yields a 640x360 frame. I run my stream with a 782x440 frame for the score cam in the final 1080p60 output and never had a complaint. There surely is a certain amount of pixel estate lost but this is a compromise we can live with I think.
Next on my list of “look what I found” is a video wall controller. It effectively splice an HDMI source (camera) and sends it to two separate inputs. So, you can combine those in OBS for more pixels and effectively makes the 4 x multi-viewer a 3 x multi-viewer. Power draw, lag and other factors (the cropping of the source) might not make this an effective solution but I don’t like having that 4th port blank on the multi-viewer when there’s plenty of pixels we can take in at the rig. For this two make sense it has to be a 4K source camera. I don’t know, now it sounds like a dumb idea.
so if i’m understanding this, using the 1 large, 3 small, your playfield is being stretched by the multiviewer and then unstretched by OBS?
That is correct. The multiviewer scales the width from 1920 to 1280. OBS then scales the height from 1080 to 720. So you are basically doing a slightly worse scaling from 1080p to 720p. Then you rotate and scale down to 608x1080. I think obs collapses the transforms (hopefully even how I setup the scenes, hmmm)
I was browzing tnutz website yesterday but I couldn’t make out how they distinguish anchor and butt fasteners in the machining options for the extrusion. Do they only have one depth for the counterbores? I couldn’t find any black butt fasteners either so I was SOL getting an order in yesterday.
I have the order from the screenshot above (with 18" foot base instead of 24" since I want to be able to pack it), and everything except the base plate for the casters is available. What part could be used in substitution? I assume everything else was exactly like the order above?
edit1: I just spotted this in their “new” section but it looks like it’s for a corner:
edit2: finally found it in their “clearance” section. It would be nice if their search function worked, but after posting 2 links to these products it’s apparent I could have guessed the link =P
Hey guys we started streaming the beginning of our journey today.
This stream is of my son and I actually building the rig.
We bought scrape 45/45 knock-off 80/20 material off of FB Marketplace and all the t-nuts and brackets on Amazon for less than $200. All of the aluminum was $100 plus a 2hr trip down to Birmingham, AL. Total metal parts and hardware was $300.
https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1763660319
We just had the audio going straight into the computer, but needed it to go through some sort of device to keep it from peaking and different times.
If you are using OBS you can add a compressor (or limiter) audio filter to your audio source to help with the peaking. There are other useful audio filters that are often overlooked.
MONOPRICE is the way. I really wish they made low-cost heavy duty casters.
a few things I learned building the tnutz BOM out from this post:
an easy build even without any instructions, but the description of each piece in the post above from @BigBrother definitely helped get me started and @dri helped me with the alan wrench issue.
People’s ingenuity to get pinball streaming online never ceases to amaze me. I randomly walked into a Belles & Chimes tournament outside Phoenix this weekend. The 8020 streaming rig had three Logitech Mevo cameras on it and a battery. THAT’S IT, that was the rig! These sell in 3-packs for $999. I immediately started to investigate the capabilities.
Pros:
Cons:
(I could not find any evidence of 720p60 support)The 1080p30 limitation is the main deal breaker, but technology moves forward. If Logitech see success in this kit we can rest assured there will be a 1080p60 and 2160p30 versions around the corner.
Here’s the stream they produced: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1801010463 (I recommend fast forwarding a bit as the PF was upside down for quite a while). A lot can be done to improve quality here with some lights and better mount positions as all three cameras was clamped on the frame without an articulating arms etc.
Anyhow, these have been on the market for quite a while and I had no idea they existed, I thought I’d share.
First time poster - really liking the mobile rig and all the t-slot hardware… but a dumb question…
Recommendations for Mounts/Clamps to work with?
In a perfect world, we’d have stuff we could slot-in easily… but I’m not even sure where to begin finding mounts, arms, small shelves or whatever…
Thanks in advance,
–Micah
If you’re looking for fixed/permanent 8020 mounts, I use these depending on weight/angle.
1/4"-20 is the camera thread and 3/8"-16 is common for mic stands and good for heavier stuff.
If you need something that is easy to attach/detach and give you more freedom, I recommend the Camvate super crab clamp: https://www.amazon.com/CAMVATE-Adapter-Hand-Tight-Fastener-Butterfly. Do NOT get the SmallRig version of this clamp as it doesn’t have as many taps and the rubber grips fall off. These clamps “nip” perfectly into the T-slot and is very sturdy. I’ve seen streamers clamp the entire profile and it makes the attachment very wobbly. Just Nip It! (no pun intended).
Once you have “threads” on the frame, just use the magic arms for everything, available in two lengths and give you full 360° motion with great accuracy and sturdiness: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B076KDD8MY
Another hot tip when using threaded attachments is that your equipment needs to hang right or flat to ensure the weight doesn’t unscrew the arm. Have that in mind when planning for the mounts that you’ll have far less problems when the thread direction is vertical (on a horizontal surface).
Thanks so much for taking the time! I was using TNUTZ (I’m so gangsta) and they didn’t have the plate options there - at least not that I could see.
Those are awesome, I appreciate your time! Because the whole rig is ultimately to be portable, being able to leverage the plates and simple arms to get objects in place quickly is the goal.
Instead of the Camvate,I actually grabbed a couple of these - because you are 1000% right about the grip/pads not lasting.
Those are solid, and allow me to clamp/rotate wherever.
Of all things, this rig will travel between Pinball at home (I need to get brackets to reinforce it being a little wobbly) and Candlepin Bowling out and about.
Again, thanks so much!
–Micah
