OBS Studio & Linux: does it play nice with Avkans 20x NDI Camera (or NDI at all)?

[istreamustream]

Hello all,

Newbie here. Scanned the forums and online, didn't see a whole lot that relates to my situation. I'm trying to get an Avkans 20x NDI camera (the $549 one found at a "large online retailer") to work in OBS Studio, through NDI on Linux, but...I have been flummoxed to this point. Here are the specs of the laptop/OBS version, etc. Details on what I've done to this point to follow.

Framework 12th Gen laptop running Intel i5, running 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-1240P × 16
16 GB memory
Intel Graphics (ADL GT2)
Endeavour OS, Gnome 44, Windowing System X11, Linux 6.3.4-arch1-1
OBS 29.1.1-2
obs-ndi 4.11.0-1
NDI 5.5.3 Runtime
PTZ Controls 0.15.4-2

Here's what's weird. I can "see" the camera through PTZ Controls. Meaning, if I use Visca/TCP, plus the IP address, then 5678, I can move the camera around to my heart's content. However, when I go to add this as an NDI Source, nothing shows up (meaning the camera itself) under Source Name in the drop down menu, so therefore I can't use this camera at the moment as an NDI Source. I've also updated this camera to latest firmware via a Windows laptop, and can "see" it (use the camera properly) with the Avkans CameraCMS software (Windows only software).

Some advice I've gotten is...go the Windows route if you want to do this. I'd rather not. This laptop works great without Windows, plus my Windows laptop gets rather hot and has horrendous battery life (the notorius MSI GF63).

Look forward to your thoughts. I feel like this thing is 90% ready to go, but...just needs to convert on this 4th and short. ;)

 

[AaronD]

You don't need Windoze. NDI is its own standard, separate from any OS, but has a license that forbids it from being directly included in free software. A free add-on is okay though.

Anyway, I have an up-to-date OBS-on-Linux rig that receives NDI from a Windows box. Installed the two relevant .deb's at the bottom of this page, and it "just works".

Release obs-ndi 4.11.0 · obs-ndi/obs-ndi

Requirements: OBS >=28 NDI 5 Runtime (optionally installed via NDI Tools) Install Download and install the below Linux, MacOS, or Windows version. Linux: sudo dpkg -i obs-ndi-4.11.0-linux-x86_6...

github.com

What seems to be the problem?

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

Sorry if this is obvious - Can you observe the NDI video feed in NDI tools?
Going to camera (ex, in a browser) doesn't mean NDI signal getting to computer

Though my expertise is Windows OS, the same troubleshooting concepts apply.
My approach is to get Video (and Audio) Sources working as inputs at OS layer first, if possible/practical (sometimes plugin direct in OBS means OS layer won't be able to 'see' (interpret) the Source)

Then again... getting NDI video into OBS is a known current 'challenge'
just food for thought/reference... On Windows 10, I bypass the OBS/NDI issue by using my NDI camera vendors free Virtual USB driver that receives the video feed from our NDI PTZ camera and presents it as locally attached USB webcam.. What I don't know is if some vendor has created a Lunix version of the same sort of driver, and if the Avkans output will work with another driver like that...

 

[istreamustream]

Hi AaronD. So, this camera is hooked up through a PoE switch, which is wired to my router. The pic below describes my problem best. In the NDI Source menu, in the drop down option for Source Name, the camera does not show up as an option to select.

Of note, I have installed the items you mentioned previously, just not in deb format. I used Add/Remove Software in Endeavour OS for the obs-ndi. For the NDI 5.5.3 Runtime, I downloaded "Install NDI SDI v5 Linux", which was a tar that I extracted, which became "Install_NDI_SDI_V5_Linux.sh", which I then installed NDI 5.5.3 from.

 

[AaronD]

In the NDI Source menu, in the drop down option for Source Name, the camera does not show up as an option to select.

Is there *anything* in the Source Name dropdown?

 

[istreamustream]

Sorry if this is obvious - Can you observe the NDI video feed in NDI tools?
Going to camera (ex, in a browser) doesn't mean NDI signal getting to computer

Though my expertise is Windows OS, the same troubleshooting concepts apply.
My approach is to get Video (and Audio) Sources working as inputs at OS layer first, if possible/practical (sometimes plugin direct in OBS means OS layer won't be able to 'see' (interpret) the Source)

Then again... getting NDI video into OBS is a known current 'challenge'
just food for thought/reference... On Windows 10, I bypass the OBS/NDI issue by using my NDI camera vendors free Virtual USB driver that receives the video feed from our NDI PTZ camera and presents it as locally attached USB webcam.. What I don't know is if some vendor has created a Lunix version of the same sort of driver, and if the Avkans output wi

Sorry if this is obvious - Can you observe the NDI video feed in NDI tools?
Going to camera (ex, in a browser) doesn't mean NDI signal getting to computer

Though my expertise is Windows OS, the same troubleshooting concepts apply.
My approach is to get Video (and Audio) Sources working as inputs at OS layer first, if possible/practical (sometimes plugin direct in OBS means OS layer won't be able to 'see' (interpret) the Source)

Then again... getting NDI video into OBS is a known current 'challenge'
just food for thought/reference... On Windows 10, I bypass the OBS/NDI issue by using my NDI camera vendors free Virtual USB driver that receives the video feed from our NDI PTZ camera and presents it as locally attached USB webcam.. What I don't know is if some vendor has created a Lunix version of the same sort of driver, and if the Avkans output will work with another driver like that...

Lawrence, not sure what you mean by "observe the NDI feed in NDI tools". The only options provided there are "NDI Output Settings." The only options there are "Main Output" and "Preview Output" with no options to select the camera.

To make this clear(er?), I'm wanting to be able to use this NDI camera with the PTZ Controls plugin so I can operate said camera remotely. I believe this camera will work brilliantly for sports streaming, using presets for various portions, of say...a baseball field, to cover the action shots necessary for a game.

 

[istreamustream]

Is there *anything* in the Source Name dropdown?

No. Therein lies my whole issue.

 

[AaronD]

Okay. What happens if you use the NDI Filter or NDI Output, to *create* an NDI stream? Either on the same machine or a different one on the same network? Can you receive *that* in OBS?

 

[istreamustream]

When I add the Dedicated NDI Filter, plus select "OBS" as Main Output under NDI Output Settings, I get this below. A black screen.

A thought. I am wondering if it's possible that a symlink is either not in the right place, or needs to be created. Perhaps someone knows where the obs-ndi and NDI 5 Runtime files should be located? Again, I can control the camera in PTZ Controls, I just can't see an output of the camera in OBS. Weird.

 

[AaronD]

As far as I can tell from here, the only difference between mine that works and yours that doesn't, is that I installed fresh from the two .deb's and nothing more, and you ran the script. I wonder if that script has a bug in it?

 

[istreamustream]

Aaron, that most certainly could be a valid point. I see online that, in Arch distros, you can use Debtap to convert a DEB package to an Arch (Linux) Package. I will likely try that, but first I hope to uninstall the existing Runtime that the script installed. I'll have to poke around Endeavour OS to figure out how. I'll keep folks posted.

 

[istreamustream]

No dice. Uninstalled the NDI 5.5.3 Runtime in favor of the Advanced SDK 5.5.4. Did this, and also uninstalled/reinstalled obs-ndi, both done through Add/Remove Software in Endeavour OS. I could not convert the NDI Runtime mentioned by Aaron with Debtap, as it reported it could not make NDI 5 into an Arch (Linux) Package.

See the photos below to see what I have installed currently. I have been fiddling with this for nearly a week. Very frustrating, for sure.

 

[AaronD]

You mentioned Arch. I doubt that that alone would be the problem, but I'm grasping at straws here. My rig is Ubuntu Studio, which is based on Ubuntu, which is based on Debian. Of course, the .deb's work natively there.

Ubuntu Studio – A free and open operating system for creative people.

ubuntustudio.org

It also has a graphical package manager, but I *really* like to use the command-line instead (sudo apt install ...), because it keeps a record of everything I did there. That lets me trace it (to some extent) and search it when I set up another one:
cat ~/.bash_history | grep install

I'm hesitant to make you change distros, since that's not only a complete reinstall, but also another learning curve for you, but I really don't have anything else at this point.
(you might at least dual-boot during the transition, and copy stuff to/from the other partition or drive that isn't running at the moment)

Or maybe someone else has some ideas. I'm stumped.

 

[AaronD]

If you do end up with UStudio, I'd recommend sticking with the LTS versions (long-term support), which causes a slight problem by default: the pre-installed apps are out of date by that much more. I haven't really noticed that to be a problem, except for OBS, which is stuck on version 27.

To fix that, install the PPA as noted in the sticky thread here, then update normally
(sudo apt update && sudo apt full-upgrade -y && sudo apt autoremove && sudo reboot),
and then you'll have the latest stable version of OBS, which is presently 29.1.1. THEN, install plugins and do the other config.

If you set it up in v27, and then upgrade, you'll lose it all again. v27 to v28 breaks a lot of plugins, which subsequently lose their settings even if you do manage to downgrade back to what it was.

 

[istreamustream]

I appreciate the thoughts, Aaron, but as I've been switching around various Linux distros, I finally found one that works REALLY well with this Framework 12th Gen Intel laptop. Many of the Linux OSs had issues with installing to this computer, but there was some kind of workaround (I believe involving the sound card) that I got it to install. Or perhaps something to do with the chipset. Don't remember.

The MSI GF63 I have is dual boot (Win 11 and Linux Mint, believe 22), but as I stated before, it's battery life is awful, and it runs hot. That's not going to work in an outdoors situation trying to broadcast a baseball game. I have solutions for keeping the cameras out of the sun and cool, but the laptop will need to be one to have excellent battery life and stay fairly cool as well.

One thing I will ask, Aaron, is if you can check where exactly your NDI Runtime and obs-ndi files are. I strongly suspect that somehow, my install of said items has them in the wrong folder, and I need to create a symlink of some kind to make this work. I mean...I'm this close! PTZ Controls sees the cam and can control it; I just can't use it as a source. I need that if I'm going to use it as a streaming camera.

It may be time to go the Windows route and at least test it on the MSI. If it works there...time to buy another laptop. With Windows 11 (for temporary future proofing), a fairly decent vid card and...good battery life. Perhaps I'll put myself on the moon first.

 

[AaronD]

I appreciate the thoughts, Aaron, but as I've been switching around various Linux distros, I finally found one that works REALLY well with this Framework 12th Gen Intel laptop. Many of the Linux OSs had issues with installing to this computer, but there was some kind of workaround (I believe involving the sound card) that I got it to install. Or perhaps something to do with the chipset. Don't remember.

Wow! You must have some wacky hardware!

As for the sound card...USB. Period. The internal one is buried in so much digital noise that you're not going to get much from it anyway, even if it does have "audiophool" specs, and that includes any internal add-on cards too. USB gets it out of that noise-bath, and gives you an excellent opportunity to make it standards-compliant. Should solve that problem.

Just make sure to get one that is actually designed for that purpose, and not just a different wrapper around the same cheap chip that would have gone inside, and therefore has the same abysmal performance in the chip itself.

it's battery life is awful, and it runs hot. That's not going to work in an outdoors situation trying to broadcast a baseball game. I have solutions for keeping the cameras out of the sun and cool, but the laptop will need to be one to have excellent battery life and stay fairly cool as well.

I don't trust batteries anyway. If at all possible, find a power plug, or bring a massively overkill external battery to run from. Like maybe a car battery + inverter.

One thing I will ask, Aaron, is if you can check where exactly your NDI Runtime and obs-ndi files are. I strongly suspect that somehow, my install of said items has them in the wrong folder, and I need to create a symlink of some kind to make this work. I mean...I'm this close! PTZ Controls sees the cam and can control it; I just can't use it as a source. I need that if I'm going to use it as a streaming camera.

I'm not exactly sure where they ended up, but I'm at that rig now, and I kept the .deb's that I used:
libndi4_4.5.1-1_amd64.deb
obs-ndi-4.10.1-linux-x86_64.deb
I'd attach them here, just to be sure that you got the exact same thing, but even the ZIP is too big.