2 Laptops linked in one OBS program. Is it possible?
- Thread starter JNS
- Start date
qhobbes
Active Member
For scene switching you can use https://github.com/Niek/obs-web . I think for the other stuff you'll need to remote in.
Lawrence_SoCal
Active Member
General tech overview - issue is having 2 keyboards and mice functional on same Desktop at same time without causing conflicts... not really a thing (probably, but not applicable to this scenario. I could see such a custom setup existing in some expensive enterprise or military type setups, but I'm not aware of a consumer solution... Windows isn't designed for this... Try using Zoom/Teams, etc with Remote control enable and be humored by competing mouse movements.)
So, what then?
web-socket is one way (and the common, typically recommended approach) to communicate to OBS Studio directly from another computer or program. However, unless you are controlling PPTx slideshow from within OBS Studio (I don't), web-socket won't help you.
In my setup, I use a dual-monitor, with OBS Studio, Stream preview/control browser window/page, PowerPoint slide (partially covered by previous browser window), and misc other small windows
In monitor #2 I have PTZ camera control software (stand-alone, by PTZ camera vendor, not integrated into OBS Studio). I'm hoping to add some audio mixer (DAW) controls to Monitor#2 at some point... but windows...so we'll see, a nice to have, not pressing need to have/high priority item
1 person can run all of this.
Putting mouse over visible portion of PPTx slideshow and using scroll wheel works to advance slides. No need to make PPTx the 'active' window/application. A nice to have, would be incorporating the PPTx macros in the slideshow which would control OBS Studio (would be nice to advance slide, and have that trigger a scene change in OBS Studio... but new MS Office security paradigm complicates matters.. doable, but I haven't put effort into this in last couple of years and made due without)
- In part, my reason for not aggressively pursuing some fancier/more sophisticated approaches ... basically KISS {keep it simple.. }... allow others without extensive tech training to be able to operate livestream with some training. With both screens, it isn't easy, and does take some time to come up to speed, but entirely doable for those that can mentally track multiple things at once.
but it depends on your situation
For camera controls, are you referring to PTZ camera controls? or simply selecting camera source in OBS Studio (amongst multiple cameras)?
For PTZ, depends on what technology you are using. For example NDI cameras, VISCA-over-IP, have one set of considerations, vs cameras controlled by a serial interface, etc. For PTZ camera controls, I'd be inclined to pursue, if possible, the direct 2nd PC-to_camera control connection, vs #2PC talking to #1PC to trigger camera action
For PPT, another option would be to run PPT on #2 PC, and capture that video output (HDMI? NDI?) and use that as source on OBS Studio?
In the getting more sophisticated/complicated realm, I believe Advanced Scene Switcher (AdvSS) plugin now has web-socket communication abilities so you can have PC#2 sending commands to OBS Studio on PC#1.
Without knowing more, I'd advise to look to simplify/automate on PC#1, before adding a 2nd PC to the mix, unless you have an ongoing pool of trained folks who work well together.
So, what then?
web-socket is one way (and the common, typically recommended approach) to communicate to OBS Studio directly from another computer or program. However, unless you are controlling PPTx slideshow from within OBS Studio (I don't), web-socket won't help you.
In my setup, I use a dual-monitor, with OBS Studio, Stream preview/control browser window/page, PowerPoint slide (partially covered by previous browser window), and misc other small windows
In monitor #2 I have PTZ camera control software (stand-alone, by PTZ camera vendor, not integrated into OBS Studio). I'm hoping to add some audio mixer (DAW) controls to Monitor#2 at some point... but windows...so we'll see, a nice to have, not pressing need to have/high priority item
1 person can run all of this.
Putting mouse over visible portion of PPTx slideshow and using scroll wheel works to advance slides. No need to make PPTx the 'active' window/application. A nice to have, would be incorporating the PPTx macros in the slideshow which would control OBS Studio (would be nice to advance slide, and have that trigger a scene change in OBS Studio... but new MS Office security paradigm complicates matters.. doable, but I haven't put effort into this in last couple of years and made due without)
- In part, my reason for not aggressively pursuing some fancier/more sophisticated approaches ... basically KISS {keep it simple.. }... allow others without extensive tech training to be able to operate livestream with some training. With both screens, it isn't easy, and does take some time to come up to speed, but entirely doable for those that can mentally track multiple things at once.
but it depends on your situation
For camera controls, are you referring to PTZ camera controls? or simply selecting camera source in OBS Studio (amongst multiple cameras)?
For PTZ, depends on what technology you are using. For example NDI cameras, VISCA-over-IP, have one set of considerations, vs cameras controlled by a serial interface, etc. For PTZ camera controls, I'd be inclined to pursue, if possible, the direct 2nd PC-to_camera control connection, vs #2PC talking to #1PC to trigger camera action
For PPT, another option would be to run PPT on #2 PC, and capture that video output (HDMI? NDI?) and use that as source on OBS Studio?
In the getting more sophisticated/complicated realm, I believe Advanced Scene Switcher (AdvSS) plugin now has web-socket communication abilities so you can have PC#2 sending commands to OBS Studio on PC#1.
Without knowing more, I'd advise to look to simplify/automate on PC#1, before adding a 2nd PC to the mix, unless you have an ongoing pool of trained folks who work well together.