Technical Specifications
Wirecast Hardware & Tech Specs
From capture cards and IP cameras to hardware encoders and streaming destinations, explore the complete ecosystem of supported devices for Wirecast on Mac and Windows.
Get Wirecast
Compatible with Mac & Windows!
Wirecast Comparison Chart
See which software version has the right tools to power your productions.
Capture Professional Audio/Video
Studio
Pro
Support for multiple simultaneous video capture & live inputs (e.g. USB, Capture Card, NDI, Wirecast Go, Webstream IP sources)
Studio
No limit
Pro
No limit
Works natively with UVC, DirectShow, and AVFoundation capture devices (e.g. Epiphan)
Studio
Pro
Advanced internal integration support for capture hardware from Blackmagic Design, Magewell, and AJA
Studio
Pro
Native NDI™ stream protocol input source ingestion (Mac/PC)
Studio
Pro
Local Network Wi-Fi iOS camera integration via Wirecast Go app
Studio
Pro
Web stream pipeline ingestion across RTMP, MMS, HTTP, RTSP, HLS, MPEG-Dash, and UDP target protocols
Studio
Pro
Desktop screen capture and Remote Desktop Presenter interface integration
Studio
Pro
ASIO and WASAPI professional multi-channel audio capture device mapping (Windows Only)
Studio
Pro
Wirecast Rendezvous Remote Guest peer-to-peer conferencing capacity limits
Studio
2 Live Guests
Pro
7 Live Guests
Produce Engaging Broadcasts
Studio
Pro
Advanced visual layout compositing limits per scene container
Studio
50 Sources / Shot
Pro
50 Sources / Shot
Shot Templates, Placeholders, and independent Audio/Video hardware sync delay mapping
Studio
Pro
Real-time GPU-accelerated Chroma Key, Luma Key, and Color Key green screen extraction engines
Studio
Pro
Integrated live Social Media Comment Moderation overlays (Facebook, YouTube) & Polling integration
Studio
Pro
Unlocked Stock Media Library access (Over 1,000,000 royalty-free videos, music tracks, and graphic layers) *1st year Stock Media Library subscription included with purchase
Studio
Pro
Advanced Audio Mixer mapping layouts and level balancers
Studio
Pro
External hardware controller surface support (e.g. X-Keys USB configurations)
Studio
Sold Separately
Pro
Sold Separately
PTZ Camera Control interface integration (VISCA over IP control logic)
Studio
Pro
Professional Audio FX toolkits, multi-channel track mapping, and dynamic image layer filters (Mattes)
Studio
Pro
Built-in customizable real-time scoreboards, sports game clocks, and automated countdown timers
Studio
Pro
3D Virtual TV Studio presentation set parameters
Studio
Pro
Stream Live & Output Destinations
Studio
Pro
Simultaneous output broadcasts and local hard drive recordings
Studio
Unlimited
Pro
Unlimited
Native API streaming destinations (e.g. YouTube, Facebook Live, Twitch, Vimeo, Wowza, LinkedIn, Custom RTMP/SRT)
Studio
Pro
Hardware-accelerated encoding pipelines (Intel QuickSync, nVidia NVENC, Apple H.264)
Studio
Pro
Virtual camera and virtual microphone outputs
Studio
Pro
Multi-viewer output monitor configuration limits
Studio
1-4 Slot Layout
Pro
1-17 Slot Layout
Secondary Display Live Output
Studio
Pro
ISO (Isolated) Recording controls across individual source feeds
Studio
Pro
Physical program output distribution via supported baseband hardware cards (e.g. AJA, Blackmagic Design SDI)
Studio
Pro
Native NDI™ program output broadcasting directly across local subnets
Studio
Pro
Multi-Track audio channel mixing output routing
Studio
Pro
The Wirecast Workflow
A high-level overview of how audio, video, and network sources flow through your hardware, into Wirecast, and out to your audience.
Audio/Video Sources
Devices:
- Cameras: SD/HD SDI, HDMI, USB, USB-C, and Thunderbolt
- iOS / Wirecast Go
- Microphones: USB, Line In, XLR
- Audio interfaces, mixers, and ASIO devices
- Web streams: RTMP, RTSP, MMS, HTTP
- Screen Capture and Remote Desktop Presenters
- IP Cameras & Web Display
- NDI™ Integration
- PTZ control (VISCA)
- System Audio Capture & Media Files
Hardware Capture
Computers:
- Mac (Apple Silicon & Intel)
- Windows PC
- Wirecast Gear (Win10)
- Note: Quad-core processor recommended.
- PCIe, Thunderbolt, USB 3.0/3.1
- AJA
- Blackmagic Design
- Magewell and more…
Encoding
Software Encoding:
- X264, H.264
- RTMP, SRT
- ProRes, MJPEG
- AAC, and WMV
- Intel QuickSync
- nVidia NVENC
- Apple H.264
Destinations
Deliver to:
- YouTube, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and more
- CDNs & Streaming servers
- Record to disk via ISO Recording
- Virtual camera and microphone out
- HD-SDI output
- Multi-viewer
- Live program out via hardware
- NDI output (Pro feature)
- Secondary Live Display ouput
Detailed Technical Specifications & System Scaling
Supported Operating Systems
macOS Compatibility
macOS Sequoia 15 or macOS 26 Tahoe.
Windows Compatibility
Windows 10 (version 1809 or higher), Windows 11 (21H2, 24H2 natively supported).
Hardware Capability Baseline
Minimum Baseline
Processor (CPU):
Intel® 6th Generation or newer CPU – or AMD Ryzen™ 1000 Series or newer CPU; Apple M1 or newer. Note: May be insufficient for 1080p+ or 60 fps workflows.
Memory (RAM):
8 GB of standard RAM.
Graphics Engine (GPU):
Intel HD Graphics, 2 GB video memory, DirectX 11 capable; Apple Silicon: 8 GB of unified memory. Note: Insufficient for advanced Multi-Viewer workflows.
Storage / Hard Drive:
7200 RPM Hard Drive (HDD) required for local record-to-disk pipelines.
Recommended (Pro)
Optimal Target
Processor (CPU):
Intel® 7th Generation or newer CPU – or AMD Ryzen™ 3000 Series or newer; Apple M1 or newer.
Memory (RAM):
16+ GB of RAM; Apple silicon: 16 GB of unified memory.
Graphics Engine (GPU):
Dedicated Nvidia GeForce, 4GB+ video memory, DirectX 12 capable; Apple silicon: 16 GB of unified memory.
Storage / Hard Drive:
High-speed Solid State Drive (SSD) or fast RAID array for flawless local multi-track ISO capture and Replay functionality.
Network Stack & Best Practices
Required Ports & Bandwidth
Bandwidth Baseline: Total bitrate needed x 2 = Required upload bandwidth. Upload speed can be tested at websites such as TestMy.net/upload.
Ensure these network ports are open for traffic:
- 53 (DNS), 80 (HTTP/HTTPS), 443 (SSL)
- 1935 (RTMP), 2935 (RTMPS)
- 3478 / 5349 (STUN/Rendezvous peer-to-peer)
- 5353 (mDNS for local NDI source discovery)
- 5960-59xx (NDI port range, 1 port per active source)
- 7272 (Remote Desktop Presenter)
- 49152-65535 (WebRTC Media/Rendezvous – selected dynamically)
Hardware Acceleration Requirements
- Intel Quick Sync Video: Requires an Intel CPU with an active Intel® QuickSync Video core.
- NVIDIA NVENC: Requires a dedicated NVidia GPU featuring Kepler architecture or newer.
- Apple Hardware H.264: Natively utilizes modern Apple Silicon unified pipelines or designated Mac processing arrays.
Rendezvous & Encoding Guidelines
Rendezvous utilizes WebRTC streams which scale system compute targets. Based on single simultaneous 720p30 streams @ 4.0Mbps:
- Studio (2 Guests): Allocate +4 Mbps bandwidth | i5 quad-core CPU baseline.
- Pro (7 Guests): Allocate +5+ Mbps bandwidth | i7 quad-core CPU baseline.
High Frame-Rate (60fps) & CPU Stack: Maintained system CPU usage exceeding 60% increases dropped frame likelihood. Consider lowering target canvas resolutions if resource saturation occurs.
System Scaling Note: Pushing complex multi-camera arrays, 60 FPS output arrays, active ISO recordings, or extensive multi-viewer output targets demands robust system rendering capabilities. Ensure local host processing arrays map to suggested professional hardware setups.
Supported Languages
Wirecast interface controls, menus, and production toolkits are fully unlocked and available across 12 distinct localized languages:
English
Brazilian Portuguese
Simplified Chinese
Czech
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Dutch
Spanish
Swedish
Need Help Configuring Your Gear?
Explore our detailed setup documentation, or connect directly with our technical support team for specialized hardware assistance.
Hardware FAQ
Common questions about system requirements and capture devices.
Yes! Wirecast is natively supported and highly optimized for modern Apple Silicon processors as well as older Intel-based Macs.
Wirecast supports a massive array of PCIe, Thunderbolt, and USB capture cards. We officially recommend hardware from industry leaders like Blackmagic Design, AJA, and Magewell.
Yes. To save your computer’s CPU, Wirecast supports hardware-accelerated encoding using Intel QuickSync, nVidia NVENC, and Apple H.264 built-in graphics processing.
Connect Your Gear
Wirecast is built to interface perfectly with the professional hardware you already own. Start broadcasting today.