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Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

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Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#471

Post by nunez »

dexterdog wrote: post #387
tomxor wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. However one thing I have noticed is mic quality matters... up to a point. I'm not even talking mic booms and super expensive setups, the difference between some omnidirectional mic on the bottom of a laptop or the side of one of those bluetooth headphones and pretty much any headset with a mic pointed at your actual face is night and day. It doesn't need to be expensive, but it does need to be within reasonab…

I find the macbook pro onboard mic to be superior to every headphone mic and every group room mic I have tested and I have tested many. If you have one and you are using headpones made for music do everyone a favor and set your defaults so that it always uses the mac's mic. With many Bluetooth heaphones you also get vastly better sound quality in your ears if the mic is not in use.

agreed. the macbook pro mic is really, really good. it's easy to take for granted.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#472

Post by nunez »

scyzoryk_xyz wrote: post #334
nunez wrote: post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He was probably using software, like Canon's Webcam Utility, to stream his camera's HDMI OUT to his computer instead of using a capture card. He likely did this because of his camera not having "clean" HDMI output (i.e. you'd see icons if he were to capture what was on his camera's screen). Software like this is extremely unreliable by comparison and consumes CPU cycles like crazy, both on the camera and on your comp…

I’m starting to suspect something is wrong with our Elgato card because it has been a hit and miss experience for a long time now. We also have a knock off chinese 4k stream box (not the total dirt cheap ones) and that has sometimes been better than the elgato.

You need to make sure that you're not connecting it to an overloaded USB hub and that it's connected to a USB 3.0 port. I get framerate drops when those conditions aren't satisfied.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#473

Post by rahimnathwani »

Tomte wrote: post #438
osener wrote: post #303

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the LogiTune software good enough for managing my Brio webcam. Certainly less buggy and frustrating on Mac than some other official software I tried previously. https://www.logitech.com/en-us/video-collaboration/software/...

Unfortunately, the C920s resets all its setting when losing power. I'm using it on my home computer and my work laptop, but don't want to install the software on the work laptop. So I must live with the extremely wide FOV there.

I have a script which runs after login and after resume from sleep. It runs guvcview (Linux tool for managing webcams) and loads a saved profile that has my preferred zoom and focus settings.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#474

Post by EricE »

looshch wrote: post #428
dexterdog wrote: post #387

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find the macbook pro onboard mic to be superior to every headphone mic and every group room mic I have tested and I have tested many. If you have one and you are using headpones made for music do everyone a favor and set your defaults so that it always uses the mac's mic. With many Bluetooth heaphones you also get vastly better sound quality in your ears if the mic is not in use.

I agree with your statement about quality, but everything is good only until you start typing. Everyone on a meeting will hear it as if their ears were inside your laptop. And when you’re talking while typing, oh god

Out of curiosity, I picked up a Konftel Ego portable blutooth speakerphone for some testing. An integrator turned us on to Konftel as a cost effective alternative to polycomm speakerphones, and they were indeed quite good.

I've been very happy with it! Indeed, I started typing without thinking during a meeting, apologized to the group and they said they didn't hear the typing at all. I was shocked because I am in a temporary setup and am using my mechanical keyboard - which I try to avoid during the day for obvious reasons.

Pretty amazing quality. I ended up getting one for my parents to use on their calls and they love it - works with the computer, their cell phones or their house phone. Provantage has 'em for $80 too.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#475

Post by EricE »

Acen wrote: post #336
NamTaf wrote: post #160

Protip: if your goal is to use your smartphone as a webcam, check out this: https://vdo.ninja Written by some guy named Steve, it’s an incredible piece of web software that uses WebRTC to stream phone audio and video as an OBS input. OBS then features a virtual webcam capability to take that stream and make it a webcam. I can then also use OBS to do whatever processing I want, e.g. making my webcam also contain a scr…

> https://vdo.ninja An alternative for a local network is running NDI. That's how for events we stream a bunch of remote cameras (and even computers on the network) into visual displays. https://www.ndi.tv/ There are NDI apps for most phones etc.

Also NDI native cameras are slowly becoming a thing. I'm really in love with the Logitech Meevo. It's targeted for use with phones, but it works great with computers and OBS too. Drop dead simple to use, and with the POE kit very, very stable. I'd go something like it over a mirrorless camera hack any day.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#476

Post by EricE »

dekhn wrote: post #238
NamTaf wrote: post #160

Protip: if your goal is to use your smartphone as a webcam, check out this: https://vdo.ninja Written by some guy named Steve, it’s an incredible piece of web software that uses WebRTC to stream phone audio and video as an OBS input. OBS then features a virtual webcam capability to take that stream and make it a webcam. I can then also use OBS to do whatever processing I want, e.g. making my webcam also contain a scr…

Does anybody know how to source a WebRTC stream for OBS inputs? In particular, I have a python program and want something that looks like: rtc = open_stream_to_obs(address) while True: rtc.send_frame(my_numpy_array)

Was trying to use OBS's built in RTMP support but found it a buggy mess that would freeze/drift over time. Ended up using the free version of StreamBridge https://tricube.net/products/stream-bridge/ to convert the RTMP from IP cameras I had to NDI - and from there it worked flawlessly with OBS.

It doesn't look like StreamBridge supports WebRTC, but maybe someone else has a WebRTC to NDI converter that would be similar to StreamBridge? I really hate having the intermediate step, but I like having stable video even more :)

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#477

Post by EricE »

klodolph wrote: post #214

For video, I think this is a waste of time and money. Audio is a different story. The quality of your audio has an impact both on the intelligibility of what you're saying and on listener's subconscious evaluations of you. Audio software and hardware is also cheaper and much, much easier to deal with than video--I've had no problems with essentially the same setup across Mac, Linux, and Windows. The cost of entry is…

Love my Konftel Ego portable bluetooth speakerphone. It stays plugged into USB power 99% of the time on my desk but the audio quality for myself as well as how others hear me is leaps and bounds better than any other solution I have found, including headsets.

Obviously if there are others in the room/house then a speakerphone may not be the best solution; but if you aren't going to annoy others I find a speaker phone far less fatiguing than dealing with headsets all day.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#478

Post by EricE »

aphit wrote: post #260
klodolph wrote: post #214

For video, I think this is a waste of time and money. Audio is a different story. The quality of your audio has an impact both on the intelligibility of what you're saying and on listener's subconscious evaluations of you. Audio software and hardware is also cheaper and much, much easier to deal with than video--I've had no problems with essentially the same setup across Mac, Linux, and Windows. The cost of entry is…

I would love to upgrade my audio game but don't know where to start. Any similar guides like the OP but for audio?

Might want to just try a high quality conference speakerphone. They have advanced audio processing, directional microphones, noise cancellation, etc. built in - since they are designed for this kind of audio from the ground up.

You can find the Konftel Ego for $80 at Provantage.com (around $120 everywhere else). Konftel makes amazing speakerphones that rival polycomm, for a lot less. Indeed, I actually prefer their sound to polycomm.

The Ego will be a dramatic upgrade from whatever is built into your other gear. If you still aren't happy with it, then you can start going down the USB/XLR microphone rathole if you still prefer. But it's probably unnecessary.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#479

Post by EricE »

gernb wrote: post #114
cr3ative wrote: post #8

I'll put Reincubate Camo here as an option too - turns your iPhone in to a webcam. I was so impressed I bought a used iPhone to use solely as a webcam; the whole setup was cheaper than the Logitech C920 he mentions. The picture quality is great.

what stand/mount do you use and where is it on your setup? (right now I have crappy logitech hanging on to top of monitor)

I use this: https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=602507

Changed out the mount to work with my USB webcam and it works a treat. Obviously it won't work with a heavy mirrorless camera - but there are tons of mini tripods out there - the Joby Gorillapod's and their numerous clones are among my favorites due to their flexibility.

Re: Using a "proper" camera as a webcam

#480

Post by EricE »

waddlesworth wrote: post #246

I have a pretty full on setup, with a condenser microphone on a boom, studio lights and softboxes pointed at me, with a full frame mirrorless camera and a high frame rate capture card. I tried doing meetings with it, but ended up getting a lot of inane comments about it, particularly as the microphone is in frame. Personally, I don't want to draw attention to myself in a meeting, so I've ended up going back to using…

I love my Konftel Ego bluetooth speakerphone. $80 at Provantage.com and has really good built in noise cancelation too. Can easily be kept out of frame and sounds great - and you will sound great too.

Way easier than fussing with a shtogun mic and way more forgiving if you move around too.

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