Multi-camera cutting from a recorded source - Playing back 3 videos in separate scenes at once

[Thistle]

Hello,
So this might be a big multi-step process and I am currently working on my own solutions but thought I would reach out as I am sure you know a lot more about OBS than I do.

So at a music venue, I used 3 synced up cameras to record a performance. I would like to use OBS Studio and the multi-viewer window to be able to produce the show as if it was live.
So I need to be able to play my 3 records back (starting the playbacks at the same time so they are in sync). I guess this has been my biggest problem. Is there a way to easily playback 3 videos at the same time.

What I done so far is I have created 3 scenes, each with their own video, and then used hot keys to cut between the scenes on my program. But having them be in sync and not restarting playback is the issue I suppose.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[tbmcqueen]

The first thing to set is "Visibility behavior." This is found in the properties of a VLC Video Source, and I think you'll want to set it to "Always play even when not visible." You can also right click in the Media Controls dock and choose "Show All Media Sources." This will give you the controls for all three in one spot.

As for starting them at the exact same time, I don't have a solution. A workaround I would consider is editing the videos to have progressively longer lead-ins and put some kind of visual cue in the first one so you can manually start the next at the right time so they all end up very-close-to in-sync. As a precaution, maybe have the audio play on only one of the videos, which is copied and pasted as a reference into the other sources, underneath them (so at least the audio won't skip or stutter when switching).

That's all I've got! Good luck!

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

This is outside my experience and I don't use VLC... so take the following for what it is worth
But how about having all 3 videos in same scene. When you switch to scene, with all 3 videos enabled (I use simple Media Source) they will all start at same time
Then use Studio mode to control which pre-recorded video playback is visible?
Obvious challenge is you being able to see all of the videos, but output in full resolution only one of them?
Or would you want something like showing all 3 videos at once with 1 full screen and the other 2 as small corner Picture-in-Picture ... for this, I think there are some plugins (StreamFX ? or https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/move-transition.913/ ? sorry haven't looked into these, only read side references) that could make transitions look fancy

 

[Babblingo]

Hi, I love stuff like this.. The suggestion above is good and gete is a riff onnthat...

I think you might have success with a 2-step process, starting with some Prep work: What if you could make a full-length UHD recording in a 3840x2160 scene where (somehow?) all three cameras are seen, like PiPs, scaled to 1920x1080, and are started in sync to one (best) stereo or dolby sound track. If you find that your (massive) recorded file, on playback, kept the 3 clips in sync throughout, then go to Step 2: try a new scene in HD or less, use your hotkeys to isolate one of each of the three cameras “on the fly” with a pre-cropped variation/view.

I don’t know how to do any of that hot-keying, but figure at least you (probably) will not have to worry about audio sync ever again. Best wishes and good luck!

 

[tbmcqueen]

^^ That makes a lot of sense. I would use another program to make the 4-up video, if possible, but once you have it, you could load it into three scenes (Paste Reference) and use Studio Mode as described in the original post. One video with three views.

 

[Babblingo]

Glad to hear that. I'm still on my steep OBS learning curve... there's so much to explore and try out. I have zero 'real project" experience with OBS, but have done many years of multi-cam editing, so your trying to do it LIVE instead of frame-accurately on an NLE strikes me as a fun, old-school approach & OBS challenge. I suppose there might be some micro audio "hiccups' in your recording as you change scenes (hopefully not) so I suggest to be on the look-out for a music duration change once you have a completed song or whole performance ... Best of luck on it and please let us know how it works out...