Streaming with Mevo cameras at DVinfo.net

Chris Harding · November 2nd, 2016, 01:06 AM

Just wondering if anyone has used these to do an event? They seem to be pretty wide angle (like 150 degrees!) so closeups are out of the question but I like the idea of using a un-attended camera or two and then concentrate your efforts on the switching and graphics from a laptop or switching units which makes a multicam setup feasible for a solo operator. Using conventional cams you really need an operator for each camera and then a vision mixer person which rules out small events that are low budget with 3 people to be paid.

I tried a "dummy" event with two of my really cheap action cams (SJ4000's) which are sub $100 units and the result id quite reasonable!! SJCam make a unit like the Mevo but cheaper and they have features like HDMI out and record at the same time plus you can also charge the battery while recording too. Plus they have 3 FOV angles (166, 90 and 70 degrees) Any comments ??

Roger Gunkel · November 2nd, 2016, 04:54 AM

Hi Chris,

I frequently use a pair of my SJ cams on clamps at weddings while I am using the main cameras. The results are usually very good and can be dropped in as alternative cutaways. I power them with a portable power pack to avoid using the onboard batteries and although I don't live monitor them, they will certainly send an HDMI output while recording.

I don't see any reason why they shouldn't work well with a video switcher/mixer for live streaming.

Roger

Chris Harding · November 2nd, 2016, 07:00 AM

Thanks Roger

the newer M-20 has a much better sensor. It's a bit scary using sub $100 cameras but I must admit they are good. Just for interest how you do power your action cams since they don't have a DC input ..Do you have a dummy battery hooked up to a power supply? I just need something where I have two cameras feeding wirelessly into the laptop with the switcher software so I can switch angles and add stuff like lower third graphics without having to need another 2 pairs of hands to adjust external cameras!

Because the stream is live I can feed the audio from my XLR adapter and wireless mics directly into the audio input of the studio software and bypass the internal mics of the action cams as they are really poor and you have no audio in on the cameras anyway!!

Seth Bloombaum · November 2nd, 2016, 08:59 AM

150 degrees seems crazy wide. If it really is that, it's an effects shot, into the distortion that's in fisheye territory. FWIW!

But looking at the Mevo demo footage it doesn't look 150-deg wide to me, though I see that spec on their page. It looks more like 90-deg, in ultra wide angle territory. Some UWA distortion.

An unmanned cam that's locked off can be great as a 2nd camera to cut to during transitions between speakers or sections And why not a 3rd facing the audience?

In addition to a manned primary cam capable of a head and shoulders shot.

In the demos, I see a lot of use of Mevo as a two-shot, supplemented by closeups from conventional cams. They seem to be about 5' away for most of those two-shots... and to get that shot out of an UWA you need really good control of camera height, and may have a lot of headroom in the shot, depending.

Roger Gunkel · November 2nd, 2016, 01:43 PM

Hi Chris,

I use a simple battery powerpack, the sort that you can charge a phone from, and just plug it into the SJ Cam usb charge port via a usb cable. I've recorded 4 hours of footage with only a small part of the power supply used, so just taking an hdmi out should be no problem.

Roger

Chris Harding · November 2nd, 2016, 11:27 PM

Thanks guys

Much appreciated! Yeah one still needs a decent cam for head and shoulders shots ..a buddy of mine uses a high end webcam for audience and cutaway shots and it looks pretty decent. The only advantage the MEVO has it that you can send the signal via wifi to your mixer so it needs no cabling but a wide camera (like a web cam) cam just plug into the computer I currently use my FZ Lumix with a LiveStream broadcaster to send the video to the computer wirelessly

Roger? Thanks for that I forgot about using a simple USB connect to run off an external pack or even a 5v PSU running off mains to keep the battery topped up!

Roger Gunkel · November 3rd, 2016, 03:56 AM

Hi Chris,

I bought one of these a couple of months back to try out as it was a good price. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It seems to be identical in quality to the SJ cams, but with a much bigger back screen and more importantly WIFI. There is also an app available, a bit like the LUMIX one for remote control. Might be worth looking at for your live streaming.

Roger

Chris Harding · November 3rd, 2016, 06:54 AM

Hi Roger

I was looking at the SJCAM M20 as it has 3 x FOV settings which can be remotely controlled but then I found out that my Livestream Studio has an amazing crop/pan facility where you can not only change the FOV but also position it right from the computer and you can set it up as a slow transition too so it would smoothly follow someone on a stage with the crop you choose so I can probably get away with a fixed FOV (like 150 degrees) and zoom/pan/position to suit ...the FOV settings on the camera do a digital zoom but it degrades a lot worse in the camera than if I do it in the software. Try a full "zoom" with the SJ4000 and you can see the image break up quickly!! What I need to look at is a static cam that has HDMI or even USB out like a webcam if I'm fairly close to the action. I'll look at that camera though but something like a 1" 20mp sensor would be the answer I think? The M20 from SJCAM comes close with a Sony 16mp chip which is why I looked at it ..Dunno what the SJ4000 has inside or the camera you suggested??

The link is appreciated but I don't really need all the accessories that comes with it and I'm also recording into a laptop so maybe something really simple like the Logitech 920 or 930 cams might be just as good ... I can easily extend the USB connection using Cat5E cables if I need the cams away from the laptop .. I have an older Logitech 720P webcam sitting on a spare monitor and it seems to give a better image than the SJ4000 and that's an older model ..the newer 920/933 units have Carl Zeiss optics and a LOT better audio so maybe that's the way to go for now!!

Chris Harding · November 4th, 2016, 06:53 PM

Just for interest..I grabbed one of the new C930e "business/conference" web cams and with a 15mp sensor they work very well indeed and mounted on a 360 pan head they are quite usable and unlike a conventional webcam that sits on your monitor and has a very narrow FOV these have a 90 degree FOV which is about right for events I would think! An action cam at anything between 150 and 170 degrees is definately too wide where you have people on stage or similar. Audio is not bad but like any on board camera not really worth using so a mix going in is essential.

November 2nd, 2016, 01:06 AM	#1
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Streaming with Mevo cameras Just wondering if anyone has used these to do an event? They seem to be pretty wide angle (like 150 degrees!) so closeups are out of the question but I like the idea of using a un-attended camera or two and then concentrate your efforts on the switching and graphics from a laptop or switching units which makes a multicam setup feasible for a solo operator. Using conventional cams you really need an operator for each camera and then a vision mixer person which rules out small events that are low budget with 3 people to be paid. I tried a "dummy" event with two of my really cheap action cams (SJ4000's) which are sub $100 units and the result id quite reasonable!! SJCam make a unit like the Mevo but cheaper and they have features like HDMI out and record at the same time plus you can also charge the battery while recording too. Plus they have 3 FOV angles (166, 90 and 70 degrees) Any comments ??

November 2nd, 2016, 04:54 AM	#2
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Hi Chris, I frequently use a pair of my SJ cams on clamps at weddings while I am using the main cameras. The results are usually very good and can be dropped in as alternative cutaways. I power them with a portable power pack to avoid using the onboard batteries and although I don't live monitor them, they will certainly send an HDMI output while recording. I don't see any reason why they shouldn't work well with a video switcher/mixer for live streaming. Roger

November 2nd, 2016, 07:00 AM	#3
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Thanks Roger the newer M-20 has a much better sensor. It's a bit scary using sub $100 cameras but I must admit they are good. Just for interest how you do power your action cams since they don't have a DC input ..Do you have a dummy battery hooked up to a power supply? I just need something where I have two cameras feeding wirelessly into the laptop with the switcher software so I can switch angles and add stuff like lower third graphics without having to need another 2 pairs of hands to adjust external cameras! Because the stream is live I can feed the audio from my XLR adapter and wireless mics directly into the audio input of the studio software and bypass the internal mics of the action cams as they are really poor and you have no audio in on the cameras anyway!!

November 2nd, 2016, 08:59 AM	#4
Seth Bloombaum Inner Circle Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Portland, Oregon Posts: 3,420	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras 150 degrees seems crazy wide. If it really is that, it's an effects shot, into the distortion that's in fisheye territory. FWIW! But looking at the Mevo demo footage it doesn't look 150-deg wide to me, though I see that spec on their page. It looks more like 90-deg, in ultra wide angle territory. Some UWA distortion. An unmanned cam that's locked off can be great as a 2nd camera to cut to during transitions between speakers or sections And why not a 3rd facing the audience? In addition to a manned primary cam capable of a head and shoulders shot. In the demos, I see a lot of use of Mevo as a two-shot, supplemented by closeups from conventional cams. They seem to be about 5' away for most of those two-shots... and to get that shot out of an UWA you need really good control of camera height, and may have a lot of headroom in the shot, depending. __________________ 30 years of pro media production. Vegas user since 1.0. Webcaster since 1997. Freelancer since 2000. College instructor since 2001.

November 2nd, 2016, 01:43 PM	#5
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Hi Chris, I use a simple battery powerpack, the sort that you can charge a phone from, and just plug it into the SJ Cam usb charge port via a usb cable. I've recorded 4 hours of footage with only a small part of the power supply used, so just taking an hdmi out should be no problem. Roger

November 2nd, 2016, 11:27 PM	#6
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Thanks guys Much appreciated! Yeah one still needs a decent cam for head and shoulders shots ..a buddy of mine uses a high end webcam for audience and cutaway shots and it looks pretty decent. The only advantage the MEVO has it that you can send the signal via wifi to your mixer so it needs no cabling but a wide camera (like a web cam) cam just plug into the computer I currently use my FZ Lumix with a LiveStream broadcaster to send the video to the computer wirelessly Roger? Thanks for that I forgot about using a simple USB connect to run off an external pack or even a 5v PSU running off mains to keep the battery topped up!

November 3rd, 2016, 03:56 AM	#7
Roger Gunkel Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: LIncolnshire, UK Posts: 2,213	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Hi Chris, I bought one of these a couple of months back to try out as it was a good price. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It seems to be identical in quality to the SJ cams, but with a much bigger back screen and more importantly WIFI. There is also an app available, a bit like the LUMIX one for remote control. Might be worth looking at for your live streaming. Roger

November 3rd, 2016, 06:54 AM	#8
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Hi Roger I was looking at the SJCAM M20 as it has 3 x FOV settings which can be remotely controlled but then I found out that my Livestream Studio has an amazing crop/pan facility where you can not only change the FOV but also position it right from the computer and you can set it up as a slow transition too so it would smoothly follow someone on a stage with the crop you choose so I can probably get away with a fixed FOV (like 150 degrees) and zoom/pan/position to suit ...the FOV settings on the camera do a digital zoom but it degrades a lot worse in the camera than if I do it in the software. Try a full "zoom" with the SJ4000 and you can see the image break up quickly!! What I need to look at is a static cam that has HDMI or even USB out like a webcam if I'm fairly close to the action. I'll look at that camera though but something like a 1" 20mp sensor would be the answer I think? The M20 from SJCAM comes close with a Sony 16mp chip which is why I looked at it ..Dunno what the SJ4000 has inside or the camera you suggested?? The link is appreciated but I don't really need all the accessories that comes with it and I'm also recording into a laptop so maybe something really simple like the Logitech 920 or 930 cams might be just as good ... I can easily extend the USB connection using Cat5E cables if I need the cams away from the laptop .. I have an older Logitech 720P webcam sitting on a spare monitor and it seems to give a better image than the SJ4000 and that's an older model ..the newer 920/933 units have Carl Zeiss optics and a LOT better audio so maybe that's the way to go for now!! Last edited by Chris Harding; November 3rd, 2016 at 08:16 AM.

November 4th, 2016, 06:53 PM	#9
Chris Harding Inner Circle Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Perth, Western Australia Posts: 8,441	Re: Streaming with Mevo cameras Just for interest..I grabbed one of the new C930e "business/conference" web cams and with a 15mp sensor they work very well indeed and mounted on a 360 pan head they are quite usable and unlike a conventional webcam that sits on your monitor and has a very narrow FOV these have a 90 degree FOV which is about right for events I would think! An action cam at anything between 150 and 170 degrees is definately too wide where you have people on stage or similar. Audio is not bad but like any on board camera not really worth using so a mix going in is essential.