Livestream main phone cameras to OBS via a local network

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Abstergo

New Member
Hi Community,
I am sorry if this has been asked already, but I need advice.
Our producer wants a few phones to stream live camera view to a machine running OBS. This machine needs to also project on a projector the output of these cameras.
I have tried numerous apps for iOS and Android, but OBS never finds them as input source (I have not found a way to point to the same device manually).
We have setup the network by using two TP-Link Deco S7to ensure enough coverage for the big hall and acceptable wireless speeds. Phones are Galaxy S23 Ultra and a lonely iPad from 2021.
What software would you recommend I use. We are also okay if we have to go through cable, although it would be a last resort.

Any suggestions I will try, you will be saving my back!
Thank you in advance
 
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Lawrence_SoCal

Active Member
Because we also use an NDI PTZ camera, and there is a benefit to not mixing different connection protocols, I'd use NDI from the mobile device

Make sure you have someone who knows the network well (any VLANs, ACLs, etc) and then the Operating System firewall as well
For all Audio and Video, my starting recommendation is to first make sure the Operating System is receiving the signal as expected/desired, and only then move onto adding Source into OBS
For NDI, there are free software tools to confirm video stream receipt.
And unless you have someone with intimate knowledge of exactly how WiFi works (and what can cause interference when you least want it), bandwidth, jitter and latency implications, etc - wired is the far more reliable approach

For example, if that 'big hall' will have other WiFi users on the network, then you can't count on a decent video image from a mobile device sharing the same spectrum (maybe, maybe not, works one minute and not the next). Unless you have real-time wireless network monitoring, issues will appear random (won't be, but will seam that way). If I had a large hall (say exhibit space) and wanted a video crew using mobile device, then I'd set up a separate WiFi network (different channels) dedicated to live video feeds, until one had a lot of operational experience and understanding of traffic patterns (video team and guests)
 
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AaronD

Active Member
Lawrence is spot-on about WiFi. You really need something *good* to make this work, and not congested, internally to the network itself or externally from other networks on the same radio channel.

Once you have that, I kinda like the IP Webcam app for Android:
play.google.com

IP Webcam - Apps on Google Play

Turn your phone into a wireless camera!
play.google.com play.google.com
OBS won't "just find" this one either, but the app does give you a URL to put into a web browser. Once you have that, and verified that you can indeed see the camera in the browser, full-screen in its own tab or window, you can copy/paste the URL from that tab/window into a browser source in OBS.

Keep in mind though, that if the phone gets a different IP address from a DHCP server, then that URL will break. If it's going to be anything beyond one-off, you should look into setting a static IP address in the phone for that network, or telling the DHCP server to always give the same reserved IP address to that MAC address. Either way works.
 
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