Webcam has started disconnecting intermittently

[elpinko]

Hi all, having a weird new issue in Character Animator that I haven't had before. My webcam will intermitently disconnect from CA, at which point my puppet freezes and the preview window displays the message "Waiting for camera" -- If I then click the camera and microphone toggle it will sometimes come back immidiately, sometimes I have to toggle away and back to it. At the time the camera disconnects the LED on the camera goes out.

I am running the latest version of Character Animator (V22.2.1)

Webcam is an elgato Facecam

I have NDI Tech suite installed as I used to be able to send the puppet to OBS 

I have noticed the cam will stay semi-stable if I just leave Character Animator open and do nothing, but as soon as I begin clicking around or jumping to other apps it dies almost immidiatly. Pulling my hair out here, have run numerous software updates, updated the firmware on the cam. Tested the cam and in all other places it is stable (google chat, discord, OBS) - have also tried the cam in other USB ports still getting the same issue.

Anything I might be overlooking?

[Michael22255687udit]

I have over 15 hrs with Adobe tech support and have gone through 5 different cameras (at tech supports behest) including Logitech C920S, Logitech C270, Adesso CyberTrack H3, Adesso CyberTrack H2 (trying 640X480 SD for lower through put), a generic n6 and presently have a Logitech C525 (not tried yet) - all this with 32 gb RAM and now I am switching from a 4 core i5 chip set to an i9 12 core. I'll let you know if there is any joy in that. But so far no result.  This is all on the most updated version of Windows 10.  One of the latest advices from tech support was to use a lap top with built in camera (I'm using a desk top and not going to buy a lap top because of this). NOTE these cameras all work in Zoom, OBS and Windows 10 basic camers app with no problem and no lag. We've gone through or attemped to use the latest webcam drivers. I'm putting this out there to see if anyone has any input for a solution as I have a major project that heavily relies on CA (at least it will if I get this working).  If anyone has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated.

[alank99101739]

I have a Logitech Brio - it just plugged in and worked. I remember some threads talking about making sure the camera resolution was set correctly (wrong size causing problems), but I have not found any settings to change on my camera so cannot try it.  There have been a number of threads on cameras in the forums in the past, some with a happy ending - maybe search the forums for your camera models? I do recall some useful threads (but I did not bookmark them sorry)

I assume CH has permission to access the camera? (Its under Camera privacy settings.). I very much doubt the CPU chip set will make a difference. CH is a bit fussy about cameras it works with.

[elpinko]

I have an old cam I'm going to dig out and try, pretty sure that happens to be a logitec too.

Thing is I've had several hours of character animator usage without issue, both recording and exporting to AE and sending the live output to OBS. So the problem I think has come with an update. As you say I can't find a way to tinker with the camera settings in CA. 

[Michael22255687udit]

Let me know what happens. Also what camera you are using. Thank you for checking.

[Michael22255687udit]

I assum the Brio you're using has a 4K output. When I get the computer back up and running I'll add that to my list. The other threads you were talking about had success with the Logitech 270 (720P output). That one worked worse compared to the 920S with a 1080P output (I belive also noted on one of the threads).  I thought lower through put such as 640X480 SD would help but it was also worse. I will probably try a Logitech 920E because it has an H.264 with Scalable Video Coding (SVC) and UVC 1.1 encoding to minimize dependence on computer. We'll see as I find what doesn't work and mark them off the lislt. Unless someone from Adobe is reading this and jumps in with a solution (I would really appreciate that). I'll keep you guys updated as I run the tests.

[elpinko]

I plugged in an old cheap webcam (Ausdom - never heard of it) and it works a treat, so the problem is the elgato cam - probaby relates to it being too high qualighty as stateded above. Just very annoying for the problem to have appeared in an update!

[Michael22255687udit]

Good to hear the Audsom resolved the problem. I noted two models (AF 640 & AW651) I'll add that to the list if I get that far. I also went all the way back to CH ver 3 & 4 as well as the present beta version with no joy on the cameras mentioned above. So it was not the latest version I had a problem with, it was any version going all the way back to CH 3. As a note I stated above will try a Logitech C920E as it's output is H.264 but that is wrong. It is a Logitech C925E. Again, I'll have my upgraded computer next week and will start testing once it is back. Anyone else have any input, it is greatly appreciated.

[Michael22255687udit]

Okay. So this is what resolved the problem. NOT the camera. The solution DID end up being the faster CPU chipset. When I went to an i9 12 core with 32 GB ram (not cheap $2,000). Boom problem solved. I hooked up the Logitech C525 and had no problem. I then tested the cheep generic n6 webcam that I initially used and again, no problem. So speed is definitely an issue and an i5 4 core did not do it.  So if the video is stuttering then your computer has something that is slowing the video through put.  Yes all worked fine with OBS, Windows 10 camera and Zoom but NOT for CH. Unfortunately, in my case... faster (and more expensive) computer.

[Michael22255687udit]

I'm going to add one more thing to this in case someone else is looking. I did some more research and found the following that may make a difference in the camera being able to pass video without stuttering. If you open your Task Manager  (Ctrl + Alt + Del and click Task Manager) you will see Adobe Character Animator has a "Very High" Power Usage. If your Window's settings are set up as "Balanced", Windows 10 will "choke" the thru put. So open "Power & Sleep Settings" (use the search field in the lower left of your desk top to find this). Click "Additional Power Settings" and change from "Balanced" to "High Performance".  You may see a difference from this.

[gheller]

A few things you can try:

1) If you have an old Logitech camera driver installed try removing it.  The default Windows camera driver works great and often the manufacturer supplied drivers cause issues.

2) Make sure you camera is plugged into a USB port that can supply enough power.  Some cameras use a lot of power, and some USB ports can't supply much power at all.

3) Make sure you are using a USB 2.0 port or better.  If your machine has USB 3.0 ports then try plugging your webcam into those.

4) USB hubs often cause issues with webcams.  Suggest you skip the hub and plug webcams directly into your computer.

5) On Windows check to see if your camera is functioning properly in the built-in "Camera" app.  If your camera doesn't work with the Camera app then likely it won't work with Ch either.

6) I regularly use the Ausdom as well as the Logitech BRIO, and both have worked great with Ch.   We tested with the C920E and got good results.   Other Logitech cameras should work as well.

Hope that helps!

-G.

[Michael22255687udit]

See my notes below. Let me know if you think I missed anything. Still looking.

[Michael22255687udit]

I wrote this below but I'll put it as a repy here.  I did some research and found the following that may make a difference in the camera being able to pass video without stuttering (disconnecting, etc.). If you open your Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del and click Task Manager) you will see Adobe Character Animator has a "Very High" Power Usage. If your Window's settings are set up as "Balanced", Windows 10 will "choke" the thru put. So open "Power & Sleep Settings" (use the search field in the lower left of your desk top to find this). Click "Additional Power Settings" and change from "Balanced" to "High Performance". You may see a difference from this.