# Virtual Camera Turned On By Default?



## UrbaneBoffin (Sep 29, 2020)

I love that there is a Virtual Camera built into OBS now. This is a feature I use a lot for online teaching.  One of the features I liked about the VirtualCam plugin was that I could set it so as soon as OBS was started, the VirtualCam was running. Can that be done with the new built-in version?


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## dodgepong (Sep 29, 2020)

The virtualcam can automatically be started through the command line option --startvirtualcam

Right click your OBS shortcut > Properties > Append "--startvirtualcam" to the end of the text in the Target box


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## TonyMayo (Jan 29, 2021)

dodgepong said:


> The virtualcam can automatically be started through the command line option --startvirtualcam
> 
> Right click your OBS shortcut > Properties > Append "--startvirtualcam" to the end of the text in the Target box


Thanks. That helped. Two additions that may be helpful to others.
1.  Here are the other inline options https://obsproject.com/wiki/Launch-Parameters
2. If you are using a Stream Deck, the options go outside the quotation marks. This is exactly what to type into "App/File" box of the "System: Open" action. 
     "C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe"--startvirtualcam


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## mirjafar (Feb 25, 2021)

TonyMayo said:


> Thanks. That helped. Two additions that may be helpful to others.
> 1.  Here are the other inline options https://obsproject.com/wiki/Launch-Parameters
> 2. If you are using a Stream Deck, the options go outside the quotation marks. This is exactly what to type into "App/File" box of the "System: Open" action.
> "C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe"--startvirtualcam





TonyMayo said:


> Thanks. That helped. Two additions that may be helpful to others.
> 1.  Here are the other inline options https://obsproject.com/wiki/Launch-Parameters
> 2. If you are using a Stream Deck, the options go outside the quotation marks. This is exactly what to type into "App/File" box of the "System: Open" action.
> "C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe"--startvirtualcam



Hi, On a MAC where should we Append --startvirtualcam?


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## Jonathanl (Mar 31, 2021)

When using a Mac, in coordination with OBS and a Stream Deck, what is the short cut key code for: Start Virtual Camera to insert into my stream deck hotkey button?  Kindly explin the steps, clearly and simply as I am not a tech savvy person. Thank you.


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## spkane (May 4, 2021)

On a Mac something like this SHOULD work.

*/Applications/OBS.app/Contents/MacOS/obs --startvirtualcam*

In my testing however I found that it would fail once you added the command line argument, eben though this works from a terminal just fine. This is likely a problem with the *System - Open* plugin provided by Stream Deck. A plugin like this one (assuming that it works on the Mac) might solve the problem.

https://github.com/BarRaider/streamdeck-advancedlauncher


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## hks (Jun 2, 2021)

Hi All, I was following the instructions above, and it kept on failing on a windows 10 PC. It took me weeks to figure this out. To clarify for any future newcomers, the --startvirtualcam needs to be placed OUTSIDE of the quotations, AND you need to put a SPACE between the last quotation mark (") and the --startvirtualcam   parameter.

e.g.:

"C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe" --startvirtualcam

^^ see the space inserted BEFORE the --startvirtualcam

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I also added:

"C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe" --startvirtualcam --scene "Camera1"

where "Camera1" is the default scene that I want to boot into every morning.

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I hope that helps for any future newbies like me :P


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## bradtem (Apr 26, 2022)

I use --startvirtualcam.    I would like it if OBS, when I use this option, would not pop up a dialog box when I close it to confirm I really want to close with the virtual cam running.     This is the same warning if you have streaming or recording running, which make more sense in that case.   In fact, I would be fine if there were no warning at all about the virtual camera running, but at the very least the warning is not a good idea if one deliberately starts it from the command line.


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