# OBS for VIPKid Classroom



## murky024 (Mar 26, 2019)

So does anyone have experience using OBS for a VIPKid Classroom? I am trying to setup a computer for my wife and using the virtual-cam, so I was able to get that visible.... What I am not sure how to do is get the other scenes and items setup allow her to switch to other media and go picture in picture with the camera. The virtual camera only ever shows the camera feed itself...

I know other VIPKid teachers use Manycam and Sparkocam but I wanted to try OBS first...


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## cyphermod (Mar 29, 2019)

I teach with VIPKid and was using ManyCam for months before I switched to OBS. I switched from ManyCam because my video feed began messing up and students told me I would "freeze" on screen for a minute sometimes. This was annoying since it was easier to use ManyCam by a good margin. Your mileage may vary and I still love ManyCam when it wants to work.

That said, to use OBS with VIPKid you will need to use OBS-VirtualCam or a similar OBS addon to create the "virtual camera" that VIPKid will be able to use ( https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-virtualcam.71741/  ). There are instructions for installing and running the VirtualCam add-on once you click on the link, but I can try and help you more if you run into any issues. 

As to picture-in-picture, you would need to add a second video source and then choose what item she wants to display. If that is a website then you would select your browser as a source and if it is an image then you select the image option. You will have to move and scale the objects around on the screen which can be frustrating (This is where ManyCam shines, but again may cause issues during her classes). If she doesn't want the second object (website, picture, etc) to always be on the screen, you can click the small "eye" icon which will make it disappear off of the screen until you click on the icon again. This will allow her to have multiple feeds already set-up prior to class and will only be a single click away. As a warning, watch out for the order that they are listed in the Sources column as the highest slotted one will be present over the one below it...

If she intends to use a green-screen I can help with that as well, just let me know. I am sure I have been confusing in some way but I literally just set my OBS up for VIPKid this week so I happen to still remember everything I did to have it ready. Please feel free to reply with any questions!


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## murky024 (Apr 5, 2019)

cyphermod said:


> I teach with VIPKid and was using ManyCam for months before I switched to OBS. I switched from ManyCam because my video feed began messing up and students told me I would "freeze" on screen for a minute sometimes. This was annoying since it was easier to use ManyCam by a good margin. Your mileage may vary and I still love ManyCam when it wants to work.
> 
> That said, to use OBS with VIPKid you will need to use OBS-VirtualCam or a similar OBS addon to create the "virtual camera" that VIPKid will be able to use ( https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-virtualcam.71741/  ). There are instructions for installing and running the VirtualCam add-on once you click on the link, but I can try and help you more if you run into any issues.
> 
> ...



So I was able to get picture in picture setup with multiple video sources. I think my issue was that my setting for virtual cam was not set to Auto Start and when I closed OBS it was no longer streaming to the virtual cam. Thanks for the comments back, I think I am now on my way of getting the classroom setup for her.

Have you been able to use any of the VIPKid Google Slides as sources? I tried as a browser but that doesn't work correctly from what I can get.


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## c00lnerd (May 25, 2019)

I have been using OBS with VIPKID now for a couple of months. It works well and I have been able to use the Google slides and/or Powerpoint (even 3D animations). To use the slides I use my second computer screen to play the powerpoint. Add a display capture to the second screen and viola! I can disable the second screen when I want to use a different powerpoint and turn it back on when I get it running.

An additional thought. I can set a green background to an object in powerpoint and set the filter in the screen capture to get rid of it and I can put objects from Powerpoint in front of me or anything else. I used this to have a dinosaur run in front of me, for example.


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## Skipperd (May 29, 2019)

Hi, I have a problem with the OBS camera showing up as just a gray screen in VIPkid.  I have installed the OBS virtual cam and I have sized it down to fit the VIPkid size.  The OBS camera is activated.  When I go to VIPkid.  The OBS cam is selected and it says the camera is working however it is just a gray screen.  The only way I can teach is to deactivate the OBS cam and use my laptops camera.  
What am I doing wrong.
Thanks


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## Allabat (Aug 26, 2019)

Skipperd said:


> Hi, I have a problem with the OBS camera showing up as just a gray screen in VIPkid.  I have installed the OBS virtual cam and I have sized it down to fit the VIPkid size.  The OBS camera is activated.  When I go to VIPkid.  The OBS cam is selected and it says the camera is working however it is just a gray screen.  The only way I can teach is to deactivate the OBS cam and use my laptops camera.
> What am I doing wrong.
> Thanks


I’m having a similar issue with the grey screen and what’s worse is sometimes obs is not a camera option in VIPKid. I’ve tried un and reinstalling among other things. I’ve also noticed in tutorials that some people have different drop down options in their obs tools which don’t appear for me. Does anyone know what can be done to fix this ? I’ve added my video and google slides to obs and would really like to take advantage of this platform


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## c00lnerd (Sep 24, 2019)

I saw someone who was having problems like you describe who is using version 24 and found that some drivers were missing in the build.  Maybe if you go back to 23, it might work. It is worth a try.


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## mscandia (Sep 24, 2019)

c00lnerd said:


> I have been using OBS with VIPKID now for a couple of months. It works well and I have been able to use the Google slides and/or Powerpoint (even 3D animations). To use the slides I use my second computer screen to play the powerpoint. Add a display capture to the second screen and viola! I can disable the second screen when I want to use a different powerpoint and turn it back on when I get it running.
> 
> An additional thought. I can set a green background to an object in powerpoint and set the filter in the screen capture to get rid of it and I can put objects from Powerpoint in front of me or anything else. I used this to have a dinosaur run in front of me, for example.


Would this work on my Mac even though OBS doesn't have a virtual camera plugin that works with Mac Mojave?


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## Terrance88 (Nov 14, 2019)

cyphermod said:


> I teach with VIPKid and was using ManyCam for months before I switched to OBS. I switched from ManyCam because my video feed began messing up and students told me I would "freeze" on screen for a minute sometimes. This was annoying since it was easier to use ManyCam by a good margin. Your mileage may vary and I still love ManyCam when it wants to work.
> 
> That said, to use OBS with VIPKid you will need to use OBS-VirtualCam or a similar OBS addon to create the "virtual camera" that VIPKid will be able to use ( https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-virtualcam.71741/  ). There are instructions for installing and running the VirtualCam add-on once you click on the link, but I can try and help you more if you run into any issues.
> 
> ...


I’ve tried un and reinstalling among other things. I’ve also noticed in tutorials that some people have different drop down options in their obs tools which don’t appear for me. Does anyone know what can be done to fix this ? I’ve added my video and google slides to obs and would really like to take advantage of this platform


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## c00lnerd (Nov 25, 2019)

There is a facebook OBS group for VIPKid called OBSessed: Vipkid + OBS


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## bodinatorry (Nov 30, 2019)

murky024 said:


> So does anyone have experience using OBS for a VIPKid Classroom? I am trying to setup a computer for my wife and using the virtual-cam, so I was able to get that visible.... What I am not sure how to do is get the other scenes and items setup allow her to switch to other media and go picture in picture with the camera. The virtual camera only ever shows the camera feed itself...
> 
> I know other VIPKid teachers use Manycam and Sparkocam but I wanted to try OBS first...


If she intends to use a green-screen I can help with that as well, just let me know. I am sure I have been confusing in some way but I literally just set my OBS up for VIPKid this week so I happen to still remember everything I did to have it ready. Please feel free to reply with any questions!


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## CorroC (Mar 28, 2020)

What OBS video settings do you configure for virtual webcam that outputs to VIPKids? Specifically resolution: I think within the VIPKids platform, the Teacher camera resolution is 852x480. So I've set my OBS Scaled Output resolution to 852x480 while keeping canvas resolution at 1280x720.


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## AmandaS (Jun 1, 2020)

I have been working with OBS for a month or so and could get it to stream to VIPKid, Qkids and Zebra English as long as I had the Virtual Cam add-on. The problem I ran into is that add-on crashes my computer every time I try to use it. Has anyone found a way around this?


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