Cooler Master is releasing a new piece of tech called the StreamEnjin, which is an interesting little device that immediately caught my eye. I quickly realised that this machine would be perfect to help me live out my multi-camera TV production dreams right from the comfort of my home.
Before working full-time in the games industry, I specialised in TV production during my university degree. Over the course of three years I got to work in a TV studio doing all sorts, from presenting to vision mixing in the gallery. Multi-camera productions were my favourite things to work on, and ever since then I've always tried to bring that to the work I do in the gaming industry.
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Thankfully, these days we've got access to free software, such as OBS Studio, which lets us build scenes for multi-layered streams and adds a bit more production value to them. One year at a previous job, I wanted to fully utilise the tech that we had on hand and combine it with OBS to create a multi-cam E3 production that could be on par with big-budget outfits. With a little outside-the-box thinking, I turned a small streaming studio into a multi-cam set.
Needless to say, it was the perfect opportunity to bring my love for TV production into my full-time job in the games industry. Every show went down swimmingly, and it's still one of the productions I'm most proud of. The only thing that was missing was having an easy to use vision-mixing desk that was designed for streaming. But now it looks like that little missing piece of the puzzle has been found thanks to the StreamEnjin.
I got a chance to check out the StreamEnjin ahead of its release and tested it to see if this really could be the thing to help make multi-cam online shows that much easier. I got some cameras together, had one output reserved as a display for VT inserts, plugged everything in and voila, it was all good to go. The nice thing about the StreamEnjin is that you don't need a dedicated streaming PC, it all streams straight from this device. You do, however, need to have an iPad for it, which these days are around the same price as a streaming machine, but we'll talk more about that in a moment.
As for the usefulness of the StreamEnjin itself, it was perfect for creating multi-cam shows from the comfort of my bedroom. Similar to a vision mixing desk in a studio, there were several buttons for each scene, a transition lever, and even audio controls. On top of that, the scene buttons would light up to highlight which were in the preview window and which were currently live. As a TV production nerd, this was all just perfect.
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Unfortunately though, this isn't going to be a device that I'll rush out to buy anytime soon. While I absolutely love it, when it does go on sale it'll be priced at a whopping £899.99. On top of that, you'll need a decent enough iPad in order to be able to run everything. Cooler Master are planning to release an Android version as well shortly after its release, but that doesn't detract from the fact that you will need another device, which will be in the hundreds of pounds, too. When all of this adds up, you'll quickly see you can buy a proper dedicated streaming/gaming PC for around the same price.
It is honestly an incredible piece of tech and something that I'm sure would make so many streamers' lives out there much easier. In fact, if it was cheaper this would be the perfect thing to help bring in people from less-affluent means into the streaming scene. There's a lot of talent out there that could use the help with something like the StreamEnjin - but sadly, due to its high price point, many will likely miss out on this.
While the StreamEnjin let me live out my TV production dreams with ease, it sadly isn't something I'd recommend to folks due to its price point. Those who are able to afford it will probably be dishing out their money on various other things to deck out their streams. Those who can't, I guess, will continue to be left unsupported.
Featured Image Credit: Joshua Hanson via Unsplash / Cooler Master