Add a smartphone camera to OBS Studio 30
Undoubtedly, an overwhelming majority of Linux enthusiasts (Free Software, Open Source, and GNU/Linux) , especially those who create cross-platform multimedia content (videos/live streams) on YouTube, Twitch, and similar platforms, are familiar with and use OBS Studio. OBS (Open Broadcaster Software), besides being a fantastic and useful free and open-source application, is one of the best free alternatives available for recording and streaming video online.
However, in my personal experience, as a long-time Linux blogger , I've always used Vokoscreen and SimpleScreenRecorder to record simple videos of my GNU/Linux desktop activity (screencasting) for my YouTube channel . But after several days of testing various mobile webcam apps to integrate my phone's camera video into my desktop videos, I've settled on this latest solution: using the latest version of OBS Studio 30 to add my smartphone's camera to my Linux desktop recordings. Therefore, today I'm offering this short tutorial so you can do it too, if needed.
OBS Studio 30.0: A new version available for 2023
But before we begin this short tutorial on how to " add your smartphone camera to OBS Studio ," we recommend exploring a previous post related to this app. At the end of this post:
Add a smartphone camera to OBS Studio 30
Steps to add the camera of our smartphone to OBS Studio 30
To achieve this goal easily and quickly, these are the following steps to follow:
- Make sure you are using OBS Studio 30.0.X or higher, since, in previous versions, said functionality (add video source type: Browsers) is not supported.
- Once we have OBS Studio 30 running on our computer, we must go to the website of VDO Ninja.
- Already within this free web platform, the first thing we must do is, Click on the Create a room icon. Then, give the Room a name and password, and then press the green button located immediately below, to enter the Control Center of the created room.
- Within said control center we must copy and safeguard the 2 web links that are offered to us. The first we must send to the smartphone or any other from where we will capture the remote video. And the second, we will use it in the OBS Studio that we will use to record.
- When opening the first link on the smartphone to be used, we must insert the password configured for said room, and then click on the Enter Room with Camera button. Once this is done, we must select the front or rear camera of the mobile phone and press the Start button so that we can see the mobile camera, activate it on the smartphone and on the VDO.Ninja website on our computer.
- Once the above is finished, we must run our OBS Studio, go to the Add video sources section to select the Browser option. Once this is done, in the new pop-up window that opens, we must give it a name and then click on the Accept button. And then we must add the second link in the URL field in the next open pop-up window, to finish by pressing the Ok button.
- Once this entire process is complete, we will see the webcam in OBS Studio and we will be able to record our Desktop video successfully, after a few optimization adjustments and recording tests. As shown in the following screenshots:
VDO.Ninja is a 100% free web platform, that does not require any download, and does not collect any type of personal data. Furthermore, it allows anyone and without login on it, the power transfer live videos from a smartphone, remote computer or friends directly to OBS Studio program or other similar multimedia studio (editing) software. And all this is possible, thanks to the fact that youuses cutting-edge point-to-point forwarding technology that offers privacy and ultra-low latency. What is VDO.Ninja?
What's new in the current version OBS Studio 30.1 Beta 2
And now that you know a little more about the current stable version of OBS Studio 30 (30.0.2) released in December 2023, we invite you to learn about some of the latest features of the current development version, called OBS Studio 30.1 Beta 2 , released in February 2024:
- Fixes for crashes detected in Beta 1: Related to the new Image Slideshow source when clicking the Randomize button without files loaded, and Lua scripts when switching scene collections.
- Solutions to errors related to the virtual camera in Windows: Specifically, when applications were consuming it as YUY2.
- Solutions to problems detected in Beta 1: Associated with Twitch VOD track not working in Advanced Output, and AMF encoded videos not working correctly in DaVinci Resolve.
- Implementation of new functions/capabilities: Such as AV1 support for VA-API, AV1 support for WebRTC/WHIP output, and new video capture device source type (PipeWire)
- Implementation of new changes/improvements:Such as support for Python 3.11 for Windows and macOS, updating Obs-websocket to version 5.4.0 and improvements to Simple Mode Playback Buffer Settings.
Summary
In short, if you're an IT video content creator, Linux user or not , with or without a good quality webcam on your computer, by following these few steps in this helpful and simple tutorial, you can reap all the advantages and benefits of " adding your smartphone camera to OBS Studio 30" to create better videos. You'll be able to show your face in better image quality or capture locations other than your actual position while recording your computer's desktop activity, among other things. However, if you implement other practical and innovative IT solutions, please let us know in the comments so our growing and loyal community of readers can learn from and implement them.
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