Mobile Camera Rig: Plans and Materials

yeah I was just thinking about doing the same thing.

Before I do something stupid here I want to check with the folks on this thread. Has anyone run a 4x1 multiviewer in their rig with a single wireless TX/RX setup? Here’s an example of such a device, runs on 12V (USB-PD) too: https://www.amazon.com/Multi-Viewer-FHD1080P-Switcher-Different-Seamless/dp/B09NPRP1TY/

The idea is that you compose a single image with your cameras into one 1080p60 image that you then chop up in OBS/XSplit and orient each piece accordingly. The player and playfield camera will then have an effective resolution of 960x540, rotating that to 540x960 is not far from the 636x1080 which is the max res you can do with 9:16 AR rotated inside a 16:9 frame.

You probably would want to run cameras where you can mute the audio or simply get termination plugs for the mic jacks as you’re most likely interested in audio from just one of them. A fun bonus here is that you can hang in a b-cam for shits & giggles as there will be one quadrant available in the frame.

I’ve been eyeing up a pro RX/TX (Teradek) setup and they set you back $2K per TX/RX. :face_holding_back_tears:

Anyhow, food for thought.

I have been considering doing this using my pi4 for webcam, but I have not bothered yet. I didn’t know these existed.

I had looked into similar idea to reduce the number of transmitters, but power was always my concern. Things that need 12V scare me. Knowing how much latency it adds would be good.

I would consider using this just to reduce my number of usb capture devices I run

I think this is very clever, and potentially cheaper than buying multiple TX/RX pairs. I had thought about this with using a laptop locally on the rig to put the view together, which would also need only one hdmi transmitter, but this item is much simpler, and cheaper.

A potential issue I’m seeing is that this similar item from BH (a very reputable AV dealer) explicitly states 1080p30 video

This one from amazon says 1080p@60hz which i would hope means 60fps? https://www.amazon.com/J-Tech-Digital-Multi-Viewer-Seamless-JTECH-MV41V/dp/B07MTRGFPT/ref=sr_1_15?crid=3FIMHKLEUE6OB

Oh, that is great idea on how to use it too! (now I’m really stewing…)

USB-PD is the solution. I have lights and audio mixers running on USB-PD in my rigs. Works both on batteries and chargers.

I’ve gone down this path so many times but it all comes down to the power draw because you effectively need to render a full scene AND capture at the rig and it’s expensive as hell. A multiviewer that runs on 12V couldn’t have more power draw than single digit watts as it only downscale frames, which should be cheap.

ya, the laptop would need to be plugged into the wall, is the major weakness. The one I linked says under 6W draw max.

Had a similar thought a while back but dropped it for whatever reason! Please try and let us know how it works.

fyi, one of the amazon comments says it doesn’t transmit audio so the issue about mutable cameras may be moot.

Oh, thanks! Yeah, it needs proper research as there’s like 20-25 offbrands in this space, the one I linked was just an example. You can always use an HDMI audio inserter after the multiviewer if audio is not mixed in any of these devices. But then we need another box. :upside_down_face:

Long time lurker. Gathered up some great info for our rig . Thanks For the picture instructions @BigBrother ! Thanks to all on the thread . Soup to nuts in about two weeks. TNUTZ shipped right quick. Super happy with their product. Never worked with extrusion before . Interesting . I also opted for the bit longer base
I did have to run out and get 3/4 inch bolts for the base plate . Home Depot had them . Picked up some casters there as well. Can’t wait to hook the cameras up and put my new GoPro to work .


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I find the most obscure devices on my journeys and here’s one of those. It allows you to connect a standard USB UVC webcam and “convert” it to HDMI. So you can essentially take your all USB setup, get a bunch of these with HDMI TX/RX devices to make your USB setup wireless. :slight_smile:

I almost bought one of those, but looking at the price decided it wasn’t worth it. I ended up doing it with a Pi4 until I decide to buy another HDMI camera.

I looked at something kinda similar -

https://proav.co.uk/live-production/yololiv-yolobox-pro?gclid=Cj0KCQiAtvSdBhD0ARIsAPf8oNluKN5ukYlJreivqhncsjfM8DTDZmSqeftUj2njzyFFgqVfP5JBY4AaAn8JEALw_wcB

I managed to get one to try out last year but it lacked enough capability to position the frame correctly. This was to stream directly from the rig to the Internet. Your idea could be interesting but you are giving up a lot of resolution. I run a 4K canvas and bring stuff in at close to native 1080p. - score cams I’d be nervous about in this setup.

We use teradeck at BT Sport and in my view it’s not much improved from what I’m getting with Accsoon and their focus isn’t really HDMI.

Neat little thing for sure!

I hear, I hear. I also have a 4K canvas and the tradeoff might not look too bad on Twitch in 1080p but will look like crap on a local projection of the broadcast, for example a commentator 4K display, which I have.

Anyhow, I bought a multi-viewer now and I’m going to give it whirl and review in a couple of weeks. If your entire workflow is 1080p (canvas, local viewing etc) I think there’s tricks to make it look acceptable.

Interesting, thanks for that data point. Teradeck has a 3840p60 wireless TX/RX that set you back $6,500 (they have a cheaper 3840p30 but is anyone doing 30 fps?). If you bolt on a 4K multi-viewer on the rig, there’s no compromise as you can gobble 4 x 1080p60 natively on a 4K multi-viewer. Teradek has one 1080p60 HDMI only TX/RX now. But yeah, a lot of SDI in their portfolio.

I believe the focus of those higher systems is really 4K+HDR (HDR10) which sort of makes sense bandwidth wise. Few broadcasters will use wireless for places where you need a high frame rate (sports for example - as they have the time/capability to either use existing cabling or put down the cabling and from the early days of 4K which was a freaking nightmare to get a clean 10bit end to end play out most of that cabling in big sporting venues is there to use.

When we are using wireless it’s for interviews/no action type situation pre and post match.

The other issue is that for high bandwidth broadcast the movement is towards 6GHz but that isn’t universally available in all geographies - we cover the UEFA champions league which can be anywhere in Europe - so we are actually now running a private 5G standalone network with 5GNR to a large number of cameras “on the pitch” and finding it works really well and works in any geo.

The point of the device earlier was where you don’t have a space for a streaming PC setup - plug in a couple of wireless mics (Rode for example) stream from the camera rig. I have this working even using cellular for the broadcast I just need a rig based device that can create the scene I need without having to bold at PC to the rig.

Neil.

What’s wrong with bolting computers to the rig?! :grin: Not pictured, a Netgear MR6500.

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Which one did you buy? I ordered one from AliExpress (price was very right) to give some testing. fussing with multiple TX/RX gives me shpilkes

The 1080p60 box from Monoprice: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07594J1MQ

The 4K wording in the title alludes to it supporting 4K input, which of course will be downscaled. The output is 1080p60 and carry audio (audio source is supposed to be selectable).

this is what i purchased https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804205610406.html

Not clear whether it will do 1080p60 output

Received the multiviewer and tried it out with blu-ray and firestick, looks great, according to the “60fps test” videos on YouTube, it is doing 60fps (on the 1080p setting, my tv is not 4k).

Hopefully give it a try on the rig this weekend.

Ok, I fired up the multi-viewer to see what I’m dealing with here. Great form factor, comes with brackets so you can easily mount it on the 8020 with simple hardware. Audio patches through without issues and the audio is independent regardless of which “scene” you select. All but the fullscreen and quad view will stretch the input (like WTF?) and not crop it, which I had hoped. So, if the quad layout and fullscreen is what you’re gunning for, it does the job. Runs off 12V USB-PD just fine with a standard DC barrel to USB-PD cable. The fullscreen switcher is instant with no lag/frameskip etc. The only downside is that for each switch it displays the input res in the OSD for a few seconds (toggling the OSD button here didn’t help).

Now, as for the initial tire kicking of quality, what you’re actually losing, sits with the eye of the beholder. I’m contemplating running a full scale apples-to-apples comparison but just looking at these screenshots kind of speak for itself. My canvas is 4K but this is scaled down to 1080p to better represent of what’s actually leaving OBS. No image compression has been involved here. Is there a quality trade-off? Yes, there is.

Now, if I had known about this trick when I started streaming, I would probably still be running with it. A single HDMI cable coming off the rig. One capture source. Go wireless? ONE single RX/TX pair. Want better detail in your close-up player scene while chatting in fullscreen? Click the button on the remote. Done!

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