How to Encode my WebCam's Output

[babyboomer]

I have a Hewlett-Packard StreamCam connected via USB3 to my HP EliteBook. I'm trying to add the StreamCam as a "Video Capture Device" in OBS Studio – which is running on my Shadow PC. The problem arises when I activate the camera in OBS Studio, at which time the performance can be described as nothing short of abysmal. The delay in the response from the camera can be measured in seconds – assuming it responds at all. I'm guessing that USB over IP is not the ideal conduit for video signals. In the Shadow forum on Discord, someone suggested that I encode the video locally, or use a website to perform that function. I'm not familiar with either of those concepts. Is there such a thing as a website that I can point at my WebCam to perform the encoding in real time?

 

[AaronD]

A quick google of "Shadow PC" says that that's a terrible solution for live media. You don't know what its specs actually are, nor how reliable those specs are, or your connection to it. Such is the nature of *any* cloud-based thing: someone else manages it, without your knowledge.

Don't use the cloud thing at all for this. Do it all on the physical machine that you have with you. That's what "local" means.

Then the question is, "Is your Elitebook capable of doing everything?" A quick google of that, says that it's a fairly wide product line, not a specific thing. Some might work, others might not. So which one do you have, and what are its specs?

 

[Suslik V]

Running OBS on remote computer trying to catch uncompressed signal is bad idea. Usually, users run OBS on computer where the web camera actually connected to, so OBS doing all encoding/formatting/filtering etc.

Then you can use multicast translation (https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/stream-on-a-wired-network-without-internet.167034/#post-613826 or any alternatives such as NDI, Teleport OBS plugins) to catch compressed (by OBS) signal on other PC using either media player/browser/OBS:

NDI Output Filter

I am trying to create an Dedicated NDI Output filter but it is only showing an "audio only" Dedicated NDI output. (see image below) Any help appreciated.

obsproject.com

 

[koala]

OBS Studio is the software that encodes (compresses) video. So run OBS Studio not on your Shadow PC network PC but instead on your local machine.
Passing webcam video USB data through your internet connection will not work. Nobody has an internet connection fast enough to support that, except may be if you choose a very tiny resolution. If the Shadow PC supports USB passthrough from your local PC, it's for low bandwidth and non real time devices such as mouse, keyboard, printer, headset. Even a scanner will work, because that's not real time.

If your Laptop is too weak or too old to run OBS Studio, I don't see any solution. Video data is huge, and video processing is very hardware demanding. Real time video processing even more.