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4K PC Video Camera/Capture Software Rig

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Weatherlite

Member
Joined
Jan 10, 2012
Location
Idaho
I know there is probably a better place to ask, but I did some searching and didn't quite find what I was looking for, so I'm hoping you guys might have a suggestion or three.

I have been tasked with helping a friend choose some hardware. He's got a school for budding artists and one of the things he wants to do is have a 4K camera focused in on the work he is doing, with the image appearing on large screen on the wall, so they don't have to all cram around him while he works. Also, he wants to be able to capture the video so he can use it for classes at a later date as well. Additionally, he will sometimes want to have the image going to three screens at once.

I've got some feelers out there for help with the 4K camera and the capture/editing software (though if you have any suggestions, I'm all ears), but it has been quite some time since I've actually looked into building a computer, so I'm rather lost. Normally, I would research, investigate, read, etc, for 6 or so months before making a decision. I don't have that kind of time. He needs this soon. So, I was hoping you guys might be able to help. I was already figuring on an i7, but I don't know the damn difference between Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, and so on. I would have thought Coffee was better since it's newer, but the price was less for comparable processors, so now I don't know. Is 32GB of ram enough, or does he want to go higher? Definitely plan on an M2 SSD, with about 4TB of WD Black HDD for storage (everything in RAID configuration of course). Motherboards? Well, I'm an AMD guy, so I don't know the first thing about Intel boards either. As for video cards....ugh. I know he needs 4 HDMI ports, and I've seen quite a few which seem like they will do the job, but then I worry about if I'm choosing one way overpowered or under powered. Just so much crap, and I don't have a lot of time.

So, if anyone has any experience in this at all, I would GREATLY appreciate your assistance!!!

Thanks!
 
While I don't doubt you could do what you want with a computer, I don't think it's required. Camera switching and routing equipment exists as does HD recording gear. You might check Markertek, Provantage and BSW for the proper equipment.
GPUs for PCs would be a lot of wasted horsepower just to route video signals. Just a thought - an off the shelf 4k camcorder would cover two bases along with a 4k distribution amp that would drive the monitors. A good i7 laptop could handle 4k editing - I have a friend who does that regularly.
 
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If he just wants to repeat the same image across 3 screens, a HDMI splitter will do the trick.
 
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