Decklink or H.264 Pro Recorder for Streaming

Hello together

We upgrade our setup for live-streaming with a new ATEM 2/ME and a new PC for streaming.
The new PC is an i7-6700K, SSD, 2 GB GPU and will use Livestream Producer Software from livestream.com.
On the older PC which we will use for Recording we have a H.264 Pro Recorder which works fine!

I'm now not sure if we should also buy an H.264 Pro Recorder for the new PC used for streaming, or if we should go with a Decklink Capture Card.

I don't know what the advantages or disadvantages are using a Decklink Card compared to the an H.264 Pro Recorder. So i'm hoping someone can help me make the decision...

Thanks
Jonathan

Here is what we do and I suggest the same for you: Use your new computer and your existing pro recorder to both stream and record. Kick the old computer to the curb. The H.264 will do the heavy lifting by doing the MP4 encoding, and Livestream Producer automatically puts a 720p MP4 recording on your hard drive as you stream. Don't try to record at the same time with the BM software or you will get a conflict. Use it only to set up your pro recorder settings first time. We use a year old Dell XPS 8700 desk top with a SSD, i7 chip but we have 8 gb of memory. Also we use a cheap 3 tb USB external drive for archiving. We also run the switching software for the ATEM in the same computer and have had no problems.

But keep your computer clean, minimal internet searching, no games.

Sorry I can't comment on the decklink, but with this setup it is a moot point.

Jonathan : Im working as stream engineer about 5 years .. H264 encoder is funny box , but with original software is not usable for streaming .. Its crazy , that its built in ATEM TV STUDIO for doubled price , but with lot of features U can need in live productions .. H264 encoder is usable with high bitrates .. for archiving etc .. Im recording small live productions with ATEM TVS in 15 mbps .. This works great .. For internet streaming and small bitrate streams its not wery good .. U can use http://www.mxlight.co.uk and recompress input from H264 with X264 codec (TOP QUALITY) , but it need CPU power .. In this scenario is better to buy Decklink card and U can use software encoder U like .. FMLE , Wirecast , etc ... In critical operations Im using "homemade" encoder .. PC in Peli Case with Decklink card and linux .. its rock stable , top quality encoding (x264) .. U can see it on photo in left .. Last year i was bought an Teradek Vidiu (http://teradek.com/pages/vidiu) and i really love it .. Especially for small clients , when we are streaming to youtube .. Really good value for money .. Small , easy to operate .. I love it .. I will buy another one in near future ..

H.264 will work with livestream only. I'd really go with the deck link as it is more flexible and you are going to get better quality. (I'm Not thrilled with the h.264 encoder except for high bitrates.) Livestream producer will then do a multi-bitrate stream out on that. After saying all that, if you aren't doing multi bitrate, I would ditch this computer and get a teradek vidiu.

Keep the older computer for your h.264 encoding at full quality. Great master backup and a great file to upload.

I've had good success using the H.264 encoder for live streaming to YouTube using MXLight. To my view, looks great. MXLight also allows you to save your compressed stream locally should there be any problem with your network connection during the event -- upload it later.

I will say that the MXLight UI can be a bit offputting, but spend some time with it and all is well.

The button that can get overlooked is the "Use Hardware" one that forces the video to be compressed using the device rather than your host's CPU.

That's not to say that a computer, card and software encoder is or is not a better solution, but for me, the small footprint of the laptop/H264 device wins for me.

Good luck.