View Full Version : The new encoder settings
kinkydirtybitch
06-11-2012, 10:27 AM
While I am a Mac girl all the way, I will only use a PC for camming
Me too! I just LOVE LOVE LOVE my mac more than anything in the world but sometimes a PC is just a better fit
I would NEVER buy an "out of the box" PC!!!
I was lucky & got EXACTLY what I wanted off the shelf, after first deciding what I wanted from the thing
My husband builds mine to get me exactly what I need to have a top notch camming computer and it is SOOO much cheaper to buy the parts and put it together yourself
That is so awesome! Lucky lucky you!!
if you know how, or can learn!
Or have the inclination to so do! A bit like painting or other tedious tasks, I'd rather pay someone to do it while I do something else (and not have to teach myself how to electrocute myself & fry the expensive parts with a badly chucked together bunch of incompatible components!
The PC we just built cost just over $800 when it was said and done
That is truly eye watering! Beyond amazing - you must be chuffed to bits (no pun intended)!
You don't have to have an "i7" which is an intel.... any quad core processor is going to be sufficient
The self indulgent nerdy obsessive part was having none of this & overrode the logical side that totally agreed with you
I have an AMD quad core processor and I run TWO encoders, one at the new SM settings and one at the standard cams.com settings
My brain read this a few times before blue screening for a bit then reinstalled
I also run Skype and do screen sharing with my husband WHILE camming, and yahoo messenger
That's so hott in a geeky sort of way
Never had an issue, everything runs flawless
With a PC tech for a bloke & a bastard of a machine, I would expect it would be, BIYATCH!
So, yah you don't have to go run out and buy an "i7".
Lalalalalalalaaaaa can't hear you....!
Seriously though, the more fiscally sane amongst us will be over the moon about that.
Thanks for your input. Nerd speak gets me all a bit unnecessary!
Melonie
06-11-2012, 11:50 AM
In reality, it's not a lot different than dancers at 'upscale' strip clubs being forced to invest in 'high class' gowns and costumes, plastic surgery etc
In my view, it is a lot different. At least if you were in a single city then all you would need is money to be able to invest to compete with others because you all have access to the same resources.
Not really. 'Upscale' strip clubs charge dancers a house fee ( sometimes a BIG house fee like $200+ per night ) for the privelege of working in the upscale club AFTER the dancer has invested in 'high class' gowns & costumes, plastic surgery, or whatever, in order to get hired at the 'upscale' club. If that dancer lacks the 'sales skills' to convert a fair percentage of her club customer contacts into paid sales, and only 'earns' $100 for the night as a result, she STILL has to pay the club the $200 house fee to cover the club's costs of providing her with a place to work and access to 'upscale' club customers.
So point #1 'upscale' strip clubs are free to refuse to hire dancers who don't meet the club's minimum standards. Webcam hosts should have the same freedom. Webcam hosts forcing dancers to become HD capable is a step in the same direction.
and point #2 'upscale' strip clubs charge dancers directly in order to cover the club's costs of operation and advertising, with dancers 'losing money' if they aren't able to make enough paid sales to cover the club's costs of providing them with access to 'upscale' club customers. An exact analogy for camgirls would be for webcam hosts to start charging every camgirl $5 per hour for every hour she is logged on, and if the camgirl isn't able to earn $5 via paid webcam customer sales during that hour she actually 'loses' money.
There are two fundamental recent changes that need to be acknowledged. The first is that HD video streams cost the webcam host 4-5 times as much to host as a standard video stream in terms of internet backbone bandwidth costs and streaming server cost. Before the advent of HD, webcam hosts could easily 'take the chance' that a $1.50 per hour operating cost per camgirl wouldn't involve a whole lot of situations where marginal camgirls would be creating financial losses for the webcam host. However, with the advent of HD and the webcam hosts operating costs increasing to $6.00 per hour, a growing number of marginal camgirls do create financial losses for the webcam host.
The second is that webcam hosts ( at least SM ) are no longer able to 'trade' recorded videos of their camgirls to free XXX tube sites in exchange for those tube sites sending new traffic ( i.e. new webcam customers ) back to the webcam host site. The webcam host sites must now pay cash money for this traffic. Given that marginal camgirls are more dependent on traffic provided by the webcam host ( as opposed to porn stars whose notoriety draws customers directly, or top shelf camgirls whose regulars and independent websites funnel their own traffic to their webcams ), this is a new expense for the webcam hosts which further increases the probability that marginal camgirls will create financial losses for the webcam host.
kinkydirtybitch
06-11-2012, 02:10 PM
The strip club analogy is spot on and as an ex stripper i love it!
I'm like Melonie's star struck little fan going round "thanking" her for every blimmin thing she posts! #stalkery
Mlle_Mystere
06-11-2012, 03:04 PM
Let's see...
This setup will cost you around $718USD from Newegg. Add a monitor, keyboard and mouse and you'll pay around $200 more maybe less if you know what to pick. Add a Windows 7 Home Premium license if you want to pay for original software (Although we all know we can get it "for free" ;) especially if we're college students through Microsoft DreamSpark).
I love, love, love you for posting that complete list! And just to enhance the resources, here's a step-by-step video guide to building your own computer. http://lifehacker.com/5828747/how-to-build-a-computer-from-scratch-the-complete-guide
I haven't built my own PC, but I've used their other tutorials to figure out what's inside mine and how to work with it :)
LaurenAus
06-11-2012, 03:32 PM
I have a Lenovo PC dual processor. Mine works fine except that I can't open pandora or youtube anymore while streaming anymore ):
Fridays
06-11-2012, 04:40 PM
I cant keep up with this thread..............
I wish I could.
justanothercamgirl
06-11-2012, 04:46 PM
Not really. 'Upscale' strip clubs charge dancers a house fee ( sometimes a BIG house fee like $200+ per night ) for the privelege of working in the upscale club AFTER the dancer has invested in 'high class' gowns & costumes, plastic surgery, or whatever, in order to get hired at the 'upscale' club. If that dancer lacks the 'sales skills' to convert a fair percentage of her club customer contacts into paid sales, and only 'earns' $100 for the night as a result, she STILL has to pay the club the $200 house fee to cover the club's costs of providing her with a place to work and access to 'upscale' club customers.
So point #1 'upscale' strip clubs are free to refuse to hire dancers who don't meet the club's minimum standards. Webcam hosts should have the same freedom. Webcam hosts forcing dancers to become HD capable is a step in the same direction.
and point #2 'upscale' strip clubs charge dancers directly in order to cover the club's costs of operation and advertising, with dancers 'losing money' if they aren't able to make enough paid sales to cover the club's costs of providing them with access to 'upscale' club customers. An exact analogy for camgirls would be for webcam hosts to start charging every camgirl $5 per hour for every hour she is logged on, and if the camgirl isn't able to earn $5 via paid webcam customer sales during that hour she actually 'loses' money.
There are two fundamental recent changes that need to be acknowledged. The first is that HD video streams cost the webcam host 4-5 times as much to host as a standard video stream in terms of internet backbone bandwidth costs and streaming server cost. Before the advent of HD, webcam hosts could easily 'take the chance' that a $1.50 per hour operating cost per camgirl wouldn't involve a whole lot of situations where marginal camgirls would be creating financial losses for the webcam host. However, with the advent of HD and the webcam hosts operating costs increasing to $6.00 per hour, a growing number of marginal camgirls do create financial losses for the webcam host.
The second is that webcam hosts ( at least SM ) are no longer able to 'trade' recorded videos of their camgirls to free XXX tube sites in exchange for those tube sites sending new traffic ( i.e. new webcam customers ) back to the webcam host site. The webcam host sites must now pay cash money for this traffic. Given that marginal camgirls are more dependent on traffic provided by the webcam host ( as opposed to porn stars whose notoriety draws customers directly, or top shelf camgirls whose regulars and independent websites funnel their own traffic to their webcams ), this is a new expense for the webcam hosts which further increases the probability that marginal camgirls will create financial losses for the webcam host.
My point still is, if a stripper has enough money than she will be able to work at the 'Upscale' strip clubs. They aren't going to charge some strippers $2000 and other strippers $200 for a 'house fee' depending on what part of the city they live in.
KarinaGiselle
06-11-2012, 07:47 PM
Girls, in this industry we CANNOT afford to NOT be tech saavy. We HAVE to know how those things work or at least know where to look for help. The reason why I suggest that forum for tech support (overclock.net) is because I've been participating there for 5 years and I know those guys pretty well. Enough to know they are masters in computers and high performance parts.
But seriously, girls, it's easy to build your own PC's and give them maintenance. Be tech saavy, learn how to invest your money in technology to make more money.
Melonie
06-12-2012, 01:23 AM
My point still is, if a stripper has enough money than she will be able to work at the 'Upscale' strip clubs. They aren't going to charge some strippers $2000 and other strippers $200 for a 'house fee' depending on what part of the city they live in.
And my point still is that, even if a dancer has enough money to 'equip' herself to potentially be hired and able to work at an 'upscale' strip club, if she doesn't also have the skills to achieve a high percentage of paid sales conversions from the club customer exposure she is going to lose money ... and thus be 'driven out' of the 'upscale' club. The underlying reason for this, of course, is that in order for any dancer to have access to 'upscale' strip club customers at all, it costs the club owner a huge amount of money to set up and maintain the club, for the club to do paid advertising in order to attract customers etc. In the absence of a large house fee, 'upscale' strip club owners would lose money on every dancer they allowed to 'use' their stage and access their customers who was unable to achieve a certain rate of paid sales conversions. 'Upscale' club owners take a first step in protecting themselves from potential losses via an auditioning process, which prevents would be dancers from being allowed to work in the 'upscale' club, and prevents would be dancers from accessing the 'upscale' customers the clubowner has spent so much money to attract, based on the club owners snap judgement as to whether or not that dancer is likely to actually achieve a high paid sales conversion rate. A dancer spending money on high class gowns and costumes, on plastic surgery etc. will only get her an audition ... not an actual 'slot' in the club's stage rotation or access to the club's 'upscale' customers and their money. Or, to put it bluntly, while LOOKING GOOD is a necessary first step toward an audition, it's not enough for a would be dancer at an 'upscale' club to simply LOOK GOOD on stage. She also needs the knowledge / skills / ability to use that stage exposure and exposure to the club's 'upscale' customers to achieve a high rate of customer paid sales conversions i.e. private dance sales / VIP room sales etc.
The exotic dancer / strip club versus camgirl / webcam host analogy really didn't apply in the past because, for a webcam host, the amount of actual cash money required to set up a low-res server farm, to pay for a low-res internet backbone connection etc. was comparatively low, and new 'customers' could be attracted by the webcam host's non-cash barter exchange of camgirl videos to tube sites in exchange for 'free' link traffic. Thus a low-res webcam host had little risk of financial loss by allowing every girl who wanted to sign up the opportunity to be 'on stage'.
However, now that HD is causing the webcam hosts' costs of a hi-res capable server farm and hi-res capable internet backbone bandwidth capacity to increase by an order of magnitude, and now that webcam hosts must pay cash money for link traffic, the 'upscale' strip club versus HD webcam host analogy increasingly applies. The reason for this is that the costs to a HD webcam host to allow a camgirl the opportunity to be 'on stage', like the costs to an 'upscale' clubowner to allow a dancer the opportunity to be 'on stage', have become substantial. So in order to avoid losing money, HD webcam hosts must 'drive out' camgirls who are unable to achieve a certain rate of paid sales conversions. To that end, HD webcam hosts now establishing de-facto minimum standards for camgirl computer and camera hardware is merely a first step !!!
They aren't going to charge some strippers $2000 and other strippers $200 for a 'house fee' depending on what part of the city they live in
This is the wildest of 'apples and oranges' comparisons since it's not the same city, not even the same country. To make an 'apples to apples' comparison you need to consider the following realities ...
The Canadian gov't essentially imposes 100% regulation on telecom companies. The Canadian gov't chooses to impose a de-facto 'stealth tax' on its citizens via setting very high rates for internet and cell phone service. In turn, the Canadian gov't chooses to spend a portion of the proceeds from that 'stealth tax' on such things as National Health Care benefits. So in real world terms, what we're really talking about is a particular Canadian camgirl having to spend $2000 per month on fast internet service plus public health care insurance, where a particular camgirl in the USA has to spend $200 per month on fast internet service plus $1000 per month for private health care insurance. A full comparison obviously goes way beyond this simple example. The basic point is that there are many more cost components embedded in high monthly rates for internet and cell phone service in Canada than in most other countries ... many of them totally unrelated to the actual 'cost of service' for the internet / cell phone service provider.
However, the underlying point does apply to camgirl economics in a more fundamental way. In the past, investment in internet backbone capacity has often been gov't subsidized ... meaning that the retail cost of internet service in many locations was / is actually priced below the actual cost of providing that service. This is also changing. Thus between an order of magnitude increase in the cost of providing HD video streams, and increasing retail costs to camgirls for high speed internet access / high bandwidth usage, the economic viability of camming for marginal camgirls is under increasing negative pressure from this different 'angle'.
Decalyn
06-12-2012, 08:38 AM
As much as I hate to say it, Just, Mel has a point.
Besides. Anyone outside of the situation would just tell you to move. I know it sucks, but that's what you'll get. Especially since in your case, I don't think you physically have the wiring to your building for a better connection, if I remember correctly?
KarinaGiselle
06-12-2012, 08:45 AM
If anyone has Verizon FiOS coverage, take a look at this
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/06/verizon-reveals-prices-behind-300mbps-fios-upgrades/
justanothercamgirl
06-12-2012, 10:02 AM
As much as I hate to say it, Just, Mel has a point.
Besides. Anyone outside of the situation would just tell you to move. I know it sucks, but that's what you'll get. Especially since in your case, I don't think you physically have the wiring to your building for a better connection, if I remember correctly?
You have seemed to have missed my point entirely. My point is, if Canada has this shitty of internet upload -- what about all the other countries that have worse than we do and end up getting left behind.
justanothercamgirl
06-12-2012, 10:04 AM
And my point still is that, even if a dancer has enough money to 'equip' herself to potentially be hired and able to work at an 'upscale' strip club, if she doesn't also have the skills to achieve a high percentage of paid sales conversions from the club customer exposure she is going to lose money ... and thus be 'driven out' of the 'upscale' club.
I completely understand you point, but you seem to be missing mine. My point is that having skills at this point is going to be a mute point. It is going to be all about where you live.
Charlotteslut
06-12-2012, 12:31 PM
Going back to the building a pc discussion, this is an amazing resource if you do want to assemble your own:
http://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc
Pretty much walks you through it. And you can get build suggestions as well, or copy someone else's build.
CourtneyRaine
06-12-2012, 12:48 PM
So... I stopped working on SM towards the end of April and today is only my second morning back. I'm totally freaking lost as far as encoder/HD/placement. Before the changes to the encoder settings I didn't have huge problems. Fast forward to yesterday, I updated my encoder settings to their specifications and cammed for one hour. I was laggy, choppy, my sound kept cutting in and out, and even though I was #1-2 in my category during the time I was online I made $6.14. Ouch.
This morning I tried an experiment of broadcasting in "HD Highest" from the in browser drop down and didn't use the encoder at all. My feed was SO much better! In fact it was perfect. When I first logged on I was in the last row of the first page of my category (I have NEVER been that low before), and I didn't have the HD icon. Then I did a show, checked my placement again maybe 10 minutes later, and I was in the #4 spot in my category with the HD icon. Getting bumped down 2-3 spots didn't matter, as I made 4x what I did yesterday in less time.
So I guess my question is, okay, not using the encoder is going to drop your placement. But, is it really going to hurt as bad as we think it will? After reading this thread I was terrified that I am going to be "forced out" of SM over the next few weeks but maybe it's a lot of hype for only a small change that won't impact us as severly as we think it will?
(I have great internet- 8 mbps- but my laptop can't handle the new encoder settings and my cpu skyrockets to 100% when I try to use it. Since I've been living off of savings for the past month and a half and will be moving cross country in another two months, I really can't afford to buy a new computer with the required specs at the moment. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic because I don't want to take the hit on SM that everyone seems to be predicting).
nemcis
06-12-2012, 01:25 PM
So I guess my question is, okay, not using the encoder is going to drop your placement. But, is it really going to hurt as bad as we think it will? After reading this thread I was terrified that I am going to be "forced out" of SM over the next few weeks but maybe it's a lot of hype for only a small change that won't impact us as severly as we think it will?
.
Chances are ofcourse that the custies will be avoiding the HD girls because their PC's cannot handle that.
Glasses
06-12-2012, 01:55 PM
Chances are ofcourse that the custies will be avoiding the HD girls because their PC's cannot handle that.
And even if everyone is using HD, i7 whatever, someone still must be on the last page.
justanothercamgirl
06-12-2012, 02:00 PM
So... I stopped working on SM towards the end of April and today is only my second morning back. I'm totally freaking lost as far as encoder/HD/placement. Before the changes to the encoder settings I didn't have huge problems. Fast forward to yesterday, I updated my encoder settings to their specifications and cammed for one hour. I was laggy, choppy, my sound kept cutting in and out, and even though I was #1-2 in my category during the time I was online I made $6.14. Ouch.
This morning I tried an experiment of broadcasting in "HD Highest" from the in browser drop down and didn't use the encoder at all. My feed was SO much better! In fact it was perfect. When I first logged on I was in the last row of the first page of my category (I have NEVER been that low before), and I didn't have the HD icon. Then I did a show, checked my placement again maybe 10 minutes later, and I was in the #4 spot in my category with the HD icon. Getting bumped down 2-3 spots didn't matter, as I made 4x what I did yesterday in less time.
So I guess my question is, okay, not using the encoder is going to drop your placement. But, is it really going to hurt as bad as we think it will? After reading this thread I was terrified that I am going to be "forced out" of SM over the next few weeks but maybe it's a lot of hype for only a small change that won't impact us as severly as we think it will?
(I have great internet- 8 mbps- but my laptop can't handle the new encoder settings and my cpu skyrockets to 100% when I try to use it. Since I've been living off of savings for the past month and a half and will be moving cross country in another two months, I really can't afford to buy a new computer with the required specs at the moment. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic because I don't want to take the hit on SM that everyone seems to be predicting).
They did say that the new settings won't be kicking in for a couple of weeks. I *so* hope you are right though. :(
Melonie
06-12-2012, 02:04 PM
Chances are ofcourse that the custies will be avoiding the HD girls because their PC's cannot handle that.
It's probably true that the 80% of webcam customers who cannot afford to invest in their own HD capable computers will indeed avoid HD camgirls. But it is also probably true that the 80% of webcam customers who cannot afford to upgrade their own computer equipment for HD capability also can't afford to spend much money on non-HD camgirls. From a purely cold hard financial standpoint, I would guesstimate that the 20% of HD capable webcam customers actually provide 50% of the total webcam customer dollars spent. If a similar 80% of camgirls cannot / do not upgrade to HD, that will potentially leave them competing for just 50% of total webcam customer dollars ( thus a decrease in potential earnings ). And the flip side of course is that the 20% of camgirls who can / do upgrade to HD will be competing for the other 50% of total webcam customer dollars ( thus an increase in potential earnings ) !!!
Coincidentally, this also follows the strip club analogy. The HD capable camgirls and webcam customers are analogous to dancers and big spending customers in 'upscale' strip clubs. The non-HD capable camgirls and webcam customers are analogous to dancers and financially challenged customers in 'neighborhood' strip clubs. While there are far more customers and dancers in 'neighborhood' strip clubs than in 'upscale' strip clubs, the dancers in 'neighborhood' strip clubs generally have to put up with far more customer bulls#!t in exchange for lower earnings.
CinnimonKiss
06-12-2012, 03:31 PM
(I have great internet- 8 mbps- but my laptop can't handle the new encoder settings and my cpu skyrockets to 100% when I try to use it. Since I've been living off of savings for the past month and a half and will be moving cross country in another two months, I really can't afford to buy a new computer with the required specs at the moment. Maybe I'm just being overly optimistic because I don't want to take the hit on SM that everyone seems to be predicting).
EXACTLY what I have been dealing with! My internet speed it great, but my comp is a piece of CRAP, I have been looking into buying a new one and I guess i really need to now. My comp seems like it cannot handle the new settings the encoder needs for SM. Its laggy and my cam freezes up ( I loose $$$!!!) Last night I said fuk it and went back to the old encoder settings, my cam looked slighty blurry-er then when i was trying to use the new encoder settings but at least i could CAM with the old way. I made good money and im worried if i dont get a new comp soon im gunna be screwed !
Mlle_Mystere
06-12-2012, 05:06 PM
I live in a village and run a 5yr old laptop. I tried to watch myself tonight and realized that I provide the shittiest stream ever!!!! Booked a switch over to a different internet company with higher internet speeds so I can get 2Mbps up instead of a fraction of one. Now perusing TigerDirect for computer parts to build a desktop. It's upgrade tiiiiimmme!!
CourtneyRaine
06-12-2012, 11:15 PM
EXACTLY what I have been dealing with! My internet speed it great, but my comp is a piece of CRAP, I have been looking into buying a new one and I guess i really need to now. My comp seems like it cannot handle the new settings the encoder needs for SM. Its laggy and my cam freezes up ( I loose $$$!!!) Last night I said fuk it and went back to the old encoder settings, my cam looked slighty blurry-er then when i was trying to use the new encoder settings but at least i could CAM with the old way. I made good money and im worried if i dont get a new comp soon im gunna be screwed !
Thank you! SO glad I'm not the only one in this predicament! I also feel like even before this encoder drama, SM was kind of starting to suck for me. You know, less paying traffic, more annoying freeloaders, and generally needing to put in more hours to make less money. I was still doing okay on there but was hoping to eventually phase SM from my main site to just a back up site. I wonder, if I didn't have this move coming up and could invest the type of money required in a new computer, would I really want to? Just to work on a site that hasn't even been my primary money maker since the beginning of March? Does anyone else who is thinking about buying a new computer with the required specs wonder if it's worth it just to cam on SM when there are other good sites out there?
Also, my dumb ass deleted my old encoder profile. Can someone post what the old settings were so I can try camming with them tomorrow? I checked for the old settings on SM this morning but they only had the most recent changes up. Thanks!
SweetPinkCupcake
06-12-2012, 11:44 PM
Ok, I think Streamate got better traffic then with these new settings or something, because I was busy as HELL this whole week and my prices are set at the highest they have ever been in my whole camming career. Also. . my paid chat online percentage was awesome. So. . yeah. . I say whatever SM is doing, keep it up.
My upload speed is average...usually around 3.58 or something. And I just cam from a MacBook. . it's not the fully loaded one, either....I use wireless, no ethernet cord. ...I don't understand where you girls are having problems? :/ My feed was kind of messed up the first night, one night last week, but ever since it's been fine
Cam_Model_Jess
06-12-2012, 11:51 PM
Thank you! SO glad I'm not the only one in this predicament! I also feel like even before this encoder drama, SM was kind of starting to suck for me. You know, less paying traffic, more annoying freeloaders, and generally needing to put in more hours to make less money. I was still doing okay on there but was hoping to eventually phase SM from my main site to just a back up site. I wonder, if I didn't have this move coming up and could invest the type of money required in a new computer, would I really want to? Just to work on a site that hasn't even been my primary money maker since the beginning of March? Does anyone else who is thinking about buying a new computer with the required specs wonder if it's worth it just to cam on SM when there are other good sites out there?
Also, my dumb ass deleted my old encoder profile. Can someone post what the old settings were so I can try camming with them tomorrow? I checked for the old settings on SM this morning but they only had the most recent changes up. Thanks!
Format: H.264 Format: Mp3
Frame Rate: 12.00 Channels: Mono
Input Size: 640x480 Sample Rate: 11025
Bit Rate 1: 650 640 480 Bit Rate: 20
Check: Deinterlace Set Volume to correct level
Preview: Check Output video
Panel options: Output
Check: Stream to Flash Media Server
Check: Auto Adjust & Drop Frame Rates
kinkydirtybitch
06-12-2012, 11:55 PM
Does anyone else who is thinking about buying a new computer with the required specs wonder if it's worth it just to cam on SM
I've done it myself - £2.5k worth of kit arrives tomorrow! (I'm notoriously OTT in everything I do!)
when there are other good sites out there?
I'm on those too - they too have their own upgraded machine on its own high speed internet connection, screen & rammed with ram & SSD!
Obsessive much? Yup! Unashamedly guilty as charged!
The way I see it is if I'm going to be wearing a pair of shoes all day they had better function well, be comfortable and generally be the best shoes I can get my hands on
DiamondCupcakes
06-13-2012, 12:30 AM
Hey streamate.......F YOU!
That is all
DiamondCupcakes
06-13-2012, 12:58 AM
Does anyone know the official date of the full change? I am hoping things will be better by then and it may be actin up because its the in between period.
Melonie
06-13-2012, 02:57 AM
^^^ still a couple of weeks of transition period
Also I'm with you Kinky on the SSD. I recently retrofitted one in my laptop. Faster than original hard drive plus don't have to worry about bumping it around.
CharlieDoyle
06-13-2012, 10:51 AM
OMG!! For the past week my cam has been EXTREMELY LAGGY!!!! No matter how many times I log off and on, it doesn't fix! I know I need to buy a new laptop because I'm on an older Compaq but still! Ever since they changed the settings on the Encoder I've lagged non stop. I HATE THIS. :(
HaydenBlue
06-13-2012, 11:56 AM
Since SM brought out the new settings I cannot get my HD to work on the encoder. So I've been using the browser. Ohhh it sucks :(
CourtneyRaine
06-13-2012, 12:03 PM
Since SM brought out the new settings I cannot get my HD to work on the encoder. So I've been using the browser. Ohhh it sucks :(
I'm sorry it sucks for you :( I've also been using only the browser for the last couple of days and I'm seeing the opposite, I'm actually doing much better because my cam looks awesome compared to how it looked with the encoder. Go figure. I cannot figure out SM for the life of me, I'm just trying me best to roll with it.
OJenni!
06-13-2012, 01:45 PM
Since SM brought out the new settings I cannot get my HD to work on the encoder. So I've been using the browser. Ohhh it sucks :(
So is your placement ok? I thought you said earlier you had it working?
trinabanks
06-13-2012, 08:53 PM
so best buy has flex pay now ladies, 300 down gets a nice laptop with a i7 and quadx2 which is essentially 8 cores!!! so excited. the computer is 729 and really nice! i topok my laptop to the doctor yesterday and was told nothing is wrong with it at all while the encoder is running, the problem occurs because sm updated the flash player on our streaming page and my computer cannot support that....so into best buy i go! o the payments are 166.00 a month after the initial down payment. i am the only one supporting me and my child and handle ALL the bills so this is a HUGE help for me! hope this helps anyone else who loves to stream but cant come out of pocket for 800 right off jump! xoxo
GlamourRouge
06-13-2012, 09:07 PM
So what was the final ruling? I know we are supposed to have an i7, but should it be Windows or Mac? Windows works best for me & everyone I know who cams right now, but didn't Streamate say Mac is the optimal machine now? Because... if we buy the wrong one, our placement will probably be affected because of the software settings.
Marina Starr
06-13-2012, 09:10 PM
I am using my Mac laptop that has a 2.26 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo with the new encoder setting and my video is very clear. Never had any problems. I still get the HD icon and my placement is high. Should I be concern? I don't want to get a new computer.
GlamourRouge
06-13-2012, 09:12 PM
^^^ Yes, you need to get an i7. They are still in transition. When it switches over in a couple weeks, your placement and HD icon will be affected.
Marina Starr
06-13-2012, 09:15 PM
WOW! I've seen tons of girls on SM with terrible feeds, does that mean they can't work? Fuck this! I'll just keep using what I have. I don't care for placement.
^^^ Yes, you need to get an i7. They are still in transition. When it switches over in a couple weeks, your placement and HD icon will be affected.
thatgirl2011
06-13-2012, 10:04 PM
I guess I better work as much as I can now bc there's no way I will be buying a new computer anytime soon. I just bought the one I have a little over a month ago and it's not in my budget to get another one right now. The one I have now is a AMD Quad Core and works great with the new settings. I had TONS of guys in my room when I logged on to work.
laurielegs
06-13-2012, 11:05 PM
I guess I better work as much as I can now bc there's no way I will be buying a new computer anytime soon. I just bought the one I have a little over a month ago and it's not in my budget to get another one right now. The one I have now is a AMD Quad Core and works great with the new settings. I had TONS of guys in my room when I logged on to work.
Time will tell, but I'm thinking that actually may be enough if you have a super fast upload.
HaydenBlue
06-13-2012, 11:41 PM
So is your placement ok? I thought you said earlier you had it working?
It worked that day. Now I haven't been able to get the HD with the encoder up since. I have gotten the HD to show up using the drop-down browser option but that leaves me at the top of page two. So, my placement has dropped off.
Melonie
06-14-2012, 02:42 AM
So what was the final ruling? I know we are supposed to have an i7, but should it be Windows or Mac? Windows works best for me & everyone I know who cams right now, but didn't Streamate say Mac is the optimal machine now?
The bottom line will really turn out to be whatever combination of processor / memory / camera / hardware video capture device ( if analog camera ) / internet upload speed, etc. is able to 'keep up with' whatever SM's final technical requirement changes and final ranking algorithm changes wind up being at the end of the month. In theory, meeting those technical requirements via a Windows machine versus Apple machine is irrelevant. And in theory, the choice of specific processor will also be more or less irrelevant ( i.e. my own AMD quad core is also easily able to keep up ) - all that matters is that CPU usage needs to remain well below 100%.
WOW! I've seen tons of girls on SM with terrible feeds, does that mean they can't work?
For the moment at least, SM still 'allows' camgirls to operate without using their encoder and without generating HD video resolution / frame rate. This, of course, could change at any future time based on SM's discretion. But, obviously, still being able to 'work', but no longer being able to earn 'minimum wage' thanks to lower rankings and reduced traffic, is a whole 'nother possibility.
In the way of wild guesswork, I'll speculate that SM will wait to see what 'percentage' of its camgirls successfully make the transition to full HD video / encoder compatibility before they take any further action beyond the ranking algorithm changes that are already 'in progress'.
Of course another change being made by SM / ManWin involves the fact that fewer 'new customers' will now be directed towards SM for 'free' by ManWin's tube sites. I suspect that SM will also sit back and see what happens as a result of lower rankings for camgirls who don't make the transition to full HD video / encoder capability ... in combination with fewer 'new customers' coming to SM's website as a result of ManWin's cutting off barter exchange of SM captured video content for tube site traffic links. If a significant fraction of SM's non HD / encoder capable camgirls find that their earnings are falling from say $10 an hour to $5 an hour, and as a result those non HD / encoder compatible camgirls decide on their own to leave SM in favor of a less technically 'demanding' webcam host that allows them to earn $8 an hour with their existing non HD / encoder capable hardware, then SM's objective will have been achieved with no further action required on SM's part.
I would also point out that the vast majority of webcam traffic links at ManWin owned tube sites are now pointed to LJ !
kinkydirtybitch
06-14-2012, 05:31 AM
so best buy has flex pay now ladies, 300 down gets a nice laptop with a i7 and quadx2 which is essentially 8 cores!!! so excited. the computer is 729 and really nice! i topok my laptop to the doctor yesterday and was told nothing is wrong with it at all while the encoder is running, the problem occurs because sm updated the flash player on our streaming page and my computer cannot support that....so into best buy i go! o the payments are 166.00 a month after the initial down payment. i am the only one supporting me and my child and handle ALL the bills so this is a HUGE help for me! hope this helps anyone else who loves to stream but cant come out of pocket for 800 right off jump! xoxo
That's BRILLIANT! I wish I was in Vegas ANYWAY & this is just another reason to wanna be there! Sounds like a right bargain!
kinkydirtybitch
06-14-2012, 05:32 AM
So what was the final ruling? I know we are supposed to have an i7, but should it be Windows or Mac? Windows works best for me & everyone I know who cams right now, but didn't Streamate say Mac is the optimal machine now? Because... if we buy the wrong one, our placement will probably be affected because of the software settings.
Mac? ANOTHER one?! Damn! Where does it say this?!
~Carmen~
06-14-2012, 06:01 AM
so best buy has flex pay now ladies, 300 down gets a nice laptop with a i7 and quadx2 which is essentially 8 cores!!! so excited. the computer is 729 and really nice! i topok my laptop to the doctor yesterday and was told nothing is wrong with it at all while the encoder is running, the problem occurs because sm updated the flash player on our streaming page and my computer cannot support that....so into best buy i go! o the payments are 166.00 a month after the initial down payment. i am the only one supporting me and my child and handle ALL the bills so this is a HUGE help for me! hope this helps anyone else who loves to stream but cant come out of pocket for 800 right off jump! xoxo
Do you have a link on the one you were looking at? Thanks Trina!
Marina Starr
06-14-2012, 08:19 AM
I contacted SM regarding my current Mac computer not having an i7 processor and will I be required to upgrade and this is what they told me:
"Hello,
You are not required to get new hardware, it was only a suggestion from our team about how to keep up to date with the technology. It is up to you if you want to upgrade.
Thank you."
I am happy to hear this but we shall see. I am NOT stressing over it!
Smurfette
06-14-2012, 08:41 AM
^^ Yeah, I don't think getting an i7 is an absolute requirement. It's just a recommendation.
I don't know whether or not my Acer quad core laptop will be able to keep up with the changes (so far everything seems to work okay) but I'm gonna save some money anyway to build a new computer if I have to.
I hate having to add yet another big expense to my budget, but in my mind it'll totally be worth it if it increases my income. I've completely taken Streamate for granted thus far and it's scary having to face the possibility that I may see a drastic decrease in earnings especially at this point in my life when I'm trying to save up a lot of money.
trinabanks
06-14-2012, 09:28 AM
^^ Yeah, I don't think getting an i7 is an absolute requirement. It's just a recommendation.
I don't know whether or not my Acer quad core laptop will be able to keep up with the changes (so far everything seems to work okay) but I'm gonna save some money anyway to build a new computer if I have to.
I hate having to add yet another big expense to my budget, but in my mind it'll totally be worth it if it increases my income. I've completely taken Streamate for granted thus far and it's scary having to face the possibility that I may see a drastic decrease in earnings especially at this point in my life when I'm trying to save up a lot of money.
actually it IS a requirement, it was in that email they sent...and as far as a link to the laptop, to be totally honest all i remember is it was a HP...as soon as i get it i will send all the info...promise! and ALL best buys offer this flex pay now....not just in vegas...all u need is ur ID, paystubs and an electric bill.....its THAT easy!
trinabanks
06-14-2012, 09:31 AM
Do you have a link on the one you were looking at? Thanks Trina!
i wasnt shopping online, i went in and looked and it was an HP and it was an i7 with quadcorex2....so 8 cores which i was told the more cores the faster ur computer will run. for 729....that to me is doable :)
Marina Starr
06-14-2012, 10:59 AM
I e-mailed them and I was told in my previous post that it's NOT a requirement right from the horse's mouth. At this point, I'm going to take everything I read here with a grain of salt. We'll see in the coming weeks.
actually it IS a requirement, it was in that email they sent...and as far as a link to the laptop, to be totally honest all i remember is it was a HP...as soon as i get it i will send all the info...promise! and ALL best buys offer this flex pay now....not just in vegas...all u need is ur ID, paystubs and an electric bill.....its THAT easy!
Smurfette
06-14-2012, 10:59 AM
actually it IS a requirement, it was in that email they sent...and as far as a link to the laptop, to be totally honest all i remember is it was a HP...as soon as i get it i will send all the info...promise! and ALL best buys offer this flex pay now....not just in vegas...all u need is ur ID, paystubs and an electric bill.....its THAT easy!
No, it's not.
If you are unable to support these settings, we suggest you consider upgrading your computer and/or your Internet. In the coming weeks, if these settings are not supported, your placement will be affected.
The new settings are designed for optimal results and having a computer that supports these settings (i7 minimum) is ideal.
If another setup besides an i7 can support the streaming then we shouldn't be penalized. it's not like SM can detect what kind of computer we're using and penalize us if we aren't using an i7.