Question / Help How could I run a live, multi-stream show..?

[That_Steve]

Hi there, apologies if this isn't the right place for this, but here's my dilemma:

I run live events -cabarets, variety shows, comedy nights etc. and the current world situation has largely killed the live entertainment industry.

So I would like to run shows online. My ideal would be to run them on something like Zoom, with different performers running streaming their acts from their own homes.

What i would like to achieve is to be able to switch between different live streams within one stream/window for each act. In other words, I have the performers streaming to me (in a separate Zoom/Skype/whatever) then I switch the broadcast source to the relevant performer when it's their time. That way the audience don't need to switch between windows, it's all done for them.

I hope that kind of makes sense?

Is that something that can be done through OBS??

Many thanks for your time!

 

[Narcogen]

Yes, that is the kind of thing that can be done with OBS.

If you'll be isolating performers in separate Zoom sessions, you'll have to be careful about audio-- while you'll be able to have separate window captures for each Zoom session, all Zoom sessions would be sending audio to the same device, so you'll have to mute the Zoom windows for non-active performers (or have them mute themselves until they're going live).

 

[That_Steve]

Excellent news - thanks for the reply (and the word of caution)

I couldn't see a Zoom streaming option in setup. Is it relatively easy to stream out to Zoom?

 

[Narcogen]

You can't stream to Zoom, Zoom is a videoconferencing platform and not a streaming platform.You can use Zoom to receive individual feeds from people to then broadcast out to your audience, but that audience would have to be on a different platform (YouTube, Twitch, Mixer, what have you, not Zoom itself).

That said, you can get video content from OBS into a Zoom session using NDI and the Virtual Input program (part of NDI Tools).

DistroAV - Network Audio/Video in OBS-Studio using NDI® technology

This plugin adds simple audio/video input and output over IP using NDI® technology. Three integrations are currently available: - NDI Source: add NDI Sources into OBS like any traditional source - NDI Output: transmit the main program view over...

obsproject.com

 

[That_Steve]

Brilliant, thank you for your help, I'll take a look!

 

[FerretBomb]

If you're already going with NDI, I'd also mention Skype for Creators; it provides separate NDI feeds for each person in a given call, which can make organization quite a bit easier.

You can also use the OBS-VirtualCam plugin to have OBS provide a fake webcam to output to services that only accept webcams as input (Google Hangouts, Discord, etc).
I'd advise caution as far as Zoom goes though. They have an alarming and egregious data-collection policy in place that allows them to data-mine every computer on the call; grabbing all running processes among other data. It's kind of a digital privacy nightmare.

 

[CorralesArtStudio]

If you're already going with NDI, I'd also mention Skype for Creators; it provides separate NDI feeds for each person in a given call, which can make organization quite a bit easier.

You can also use the OBS-VirtualCam plugin to have OBS provide a fake webcam to output to services that only accept webcams as input (Google Hangouts, Discord, etc).
I'd advise caution as far as Zoom goes though. They have an alarming and egregious data-collection policy in place that allows them to data-mine every computer on the call; grabbing all running processes among other data. It's kind of a digital privacy nightmare.

THANKS! for this info!

 

[Narcogen]

I'll echo @FerretBomb and his concern about Zoom, it's not to be taken lightly.

On the other hand, the latest client now also supports RTMP output directly from the meeting client, meaning a lot of people looking at OBS for broadcasting a Zoom meeting can now bypass the added complexity if they want to.

 

[LeBlackHawaiian]

HI there, I'm doing a webminar using zoom, is there a way to isolate the zoom audio to a specific audio capture device So I can integrate music and other media to our program without broadcasting the zoom conversation?

I'll echo @FerretBomb and his concern about Zoom, it's not to be taken lightly.

On the other hand, the latest client now also supports RTMP output directly from the meeting client, meaning a lot of people looking at OBS for broadcasting a Zoom meeting can now bypass the added complexity if they want to.

 

[pillarsoffranch]

Yes, it is possible. I use Zoom for my guests and I use Google Voice to connect up to Blogtalkradio. Both are on their own audio circuit in Voicemeeter Potato. I also have my mic as a third circuit in Voicemeeter Potato. Each channel in Potato shows up in OBS as its own Mic/Aux source so everyone can hear everything.