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vMix - Live Production & Streaming Software

Ideal for webcasting using "broadcast TV production" techniques, but without a broadcast-level budget

vMix is based on the Gold Coast of Australia, and their video switching software is the creation of founder Martin Sinclair. It has undergone extensive development over the past decade and is now at version 25.

vMix - a video production control room in software

vMix is a comprehensive software vision control system for Windows PCs that emulates many of the functions found in a TV studio or OB production control room video mixer. It allows a wide variety and number of video sources to be combined together. The program output can be encoded directly and streamed to various on-line services like YouTube or Facebook, made available as SRT or NDI streams, and/or archived to disk. As such, it is an ideal production tool for streaming live video for webcasts, webinars, product launches, sports and live events in general.

vMix screen shot The input options include Camera sources connected to capture cards like those from Magewell, or via USB video converters. Input from IP video cameras is also supported, as well as being able to screen grab from any defined area of the PC's own display. NewTek's NDI is fully supported for both input and output, adding to the versatility. With multiple display monitors or PCs connected to a LAN, it is possible to include any sort of PC content in the output, including web pages, presentation graphics & slides, or the user interface of other software. Stored images, audio or video files can also be played and used as sources.

Video transitions & effects can be incorporated in the production, including ChromaKey and overlays for title graphics, plus there's an instant Replay facility on the higher-end editions. Multiple instances of all the input source types can be used (up to the limit of the particular vMix edition and the processing power of the host PC), allowing any number of permutations of cameras, video players, effects and overlays to be created.

As such, it is advisable to use a fairly high-spec PC or laptop with an i7 CPU and Nvidia GPU, which we can help to configure for the purpose, if required (although we no longer build or sell computers as such).

vMix feature comparison - by edition	HD	4K	Pro
Total number of inputs allowed	1000	1000	1000
Maximum Resolution	1920x1080	4096x2160	4096x2160
Overlay channels	4	4	4
Recording, streaming, full-screen & external output, video (play)list	Y	Y	Y
MultiCorder, two external & full-screen outputs	N	Y	Y
Instant Replay camera channels	0	1	8
Scripting, PTZ Control	N	Y	Y
Number of simultaneous vMix Call inputs	1	4	8

Note - all prices quoted on this site are UK pounds - ex VAT & delivery

vMix software licences	Price
vMix HD switching/streaming/recording software for PC	259.00
vMix 4K switching/streaming/recording software for PC	518.00
vMix Pro (as 4K plus 8-channel SloMo/Replay system)	887.00
vMix upgrades and accessories NOTE: All vMix products are subject to Ł:$ exchange rate fluctuations, so please request a current price - it might be higher or lower than those shown above (but always lower than on the main vMix store). To buy vMix, please send an email with your details (address at top of page)	POA
More info on Capture cards and accessories for vMix here

Rack-mount PC systems for vMix - available directly from G2 Digital

This 2U rack-mount unit supplied previously broadly follows the vMix Ruby spec, and includes a hex-core i7-8600K CPU on a Z370 M/B with dual network ports (for NDI usage), 6GB GTX1060 GPU, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, 2TB HD, DVD & Win 10 64bit. Could be fitted with a M.2 and 1-2 PCIe (capture) cards, although none installed in this example.

Sample price, as pictured (with a vMix Pro licence) - was ~Ł3K, but current prices may be higher/lower.

2U Rackmount PC with vMix video switching & streaming software
2U Nano Rack-mount PC for vMix video production switching, streaming & recording

Custom system integration, installation & training

We can help you put together complete video production facilities based around vMix, from advising on a suitable PC spec, installing the video input (capture) devices to setting up the external audio mixing and routing connections. We have experience of both studio and OB environments, and help configure the system for your specific video production requirements, and then provide training in its use. Should you wish to see a vMix system in a "real-world" test before purchase, we have a demo system at our Salford base, and you can also download a 60-day trial version.

Download a "Ruby-inspired" sample PC spec for vMix or an X299 Obsidian version.

vMix ShowStarter software

This stand-alone remote control app for Windows is designed to handle the setting up and cueing of video and audio, initiating playback of the title sequence, leading into the opening shot of the presenter, and is especially designed to help "self-op" presenters of one-man web shows.

Download ShowStarter v1.0.0.6 here (from Jul-18)

If ShowStarter is of interest, you may also like the NDI NoAudio Meter & NDI Gradient Background Generator, also designed to help self-op/low-crew productions.

What we're about . . . ZEN is not a traditional Audio-Visual dealer who started selling computers, nor is it a computer shop that also sells video products. You won't get any salesmen giving you the "hard-sell" when you call, just straightforward advice and information - which for some callers is the knowledge that they don't need to buy whatever it is they thought they needed! Above all you'll be dealing with someone with a wide range of experience and knowledge of both PCs and video production. We're not the biggest, nor necessarily the cheapest, but we are one of the longest established computer/video specialists in the UK.

Company history . . . ZEN was started in the 1980s by Martin Kay, then working for ITV at Granada's Manchester studios, who built his first 6502-based computer in 1979 from an Ohio Scientific kit, bought in the USA whilst working as a Sound Recordist on a film shoot for World In Action. With the advent of the Amiga, which could be gen-locked to a video source, Martin started writing a variety of video-related software. This included subtitling & tele-prompting, ident clocks, scoring software for sports & gameshows, and specialist software to mimic other computer displays for use in TV film dramas like Cracker, Prime Suspect and A Touch of Frost. Martin left Granada in 1993 to concentrate on his computer-video activities with ZEN, following a natural path into non-linear editing systems, for many years the main business activity, although he still maintains an active interest in video production.