I have been using OBS on my windows laptop to record 4 1080p video inputs via NDI from a birddog 4k QUAD into a 3840x2160 canvas. My purpose for this record is to then use premiere pro to send NDI back into my disguise media server.
Im now wanting to use touch designer to record this and make a movie file out. Trouble is I get a random dropout or glitch in all my signals very often. Even when I open OBS on my Mac it glitches there too. Is there something I should know about NDI on Mac? Should I give up on using my Mac to do this? Kinda got this new MacBook to do this task.
In that case, start with your switch and network cables. Don’t try this over wifi, it is asking for pain even when wifi theoretically should have high enough bandwidth. Gigabit ethernet should be able to handle 4 1080p streams without issue. Are there stream settings on the Birddog? Pixel formats, bandwidth, etc. Sorry we haven’t had access to those devices yet.
All good. Yes there are bandwidth settings on the birddog device. Ive tried cranking them but still no luck. Im using 10g nics on my Mac and also when I use the PC. Again the PC shows the streams as smooth as silk. The birddog is currently going through a nether gigabit POE switch which is how it’s being powered. I can use the DC power instead and put it through my 10G switch and try that but I don’t see how it would help much as it works great with the PC. Ive also tried two different 10g network adapters with it
Fully 10G now with switches and NICs. Seems to be running 3 streams fine even in obs. Whenever I invite the 4th stream it seems to start glitching again
This is all great info, thanks. What build of TD are you using?
When Dante is off does the Mac look better as well?
NDI is notoriously difficult to control which nic it uses, have you been able to confirm the NDI streams are running on the expected mic and not switching to the Dante or non-10g nic? How are you doing this on the Mac, with multiple Ethernet adaptors or dongles? What Mac are we dealing with here? I can try to reproduce (without birddog) and see what I get here.
Also does the NDI viewer from NDI Tools show the same problem as TD and OBS?
When I unplug my Dante NIC I thought it was running better but its hard to tell after more playing with it
Good to know about NDI being weird about which NICs they choose. Ive not been able to confirm but I do know that the 10G nic used for NDI is the only nic that has the bird dog on it. Not sure if TD or NDI tools is looking on the Dante nic from time to time
My setup it a single OWC thunderbolt pro dock that has a 10G nic built in. Im using a USB nic plugged into the dock for Dante so it all comes to my MacBook as one thunderbolt. But I also grabbed another 10G thunderbolt sonnet nic and tried to separate the NDI to that instead of the dock and still had the same issues.
This was all while I manually jacked up the bandwidth in the NDI in device. Now I’ve set them back to “NDI Managed” and its somewhat better but still not perfect
Yes, NDI Viewer/Studio Monitor shows the same lag/glitches
I was going to suggest swapping each piece out starting with the dongles/adapters, then the switch. Let us know if you find which settings solve the issue.