OBS virtual camera kills my integrated camera when using Zoom

[j chris]

Hello,
Been a while. I have the free OBS studio on my Lenovo pc. Whenever I join a Zoom meeting, my integrated camera quits. When I try and start my camera, the computer gives me a message my camera cannot be found and it is not showing in Device Manager. My video screen is blank. Checking the Zoom Start and Stop video drop down menu has OBS virtual camera as my video source .
I can get my camera to be present if I have it running before joining a Zoom meeting. Any advice on how to stop OBS from disappearing my camera would be appreciated.

 

[Weijeff]

You mean you can only start your zoom video via OBS virtual camera? And your integrated camera can only be present on OBS?

 

[AaronD]

Whenever I join a Zoom meeting, my integrated camera quits. When I try and start my camera, the computer gives me a message my camera cannot be found and it is not showing in Device Manager. My video screen is blank. Checking the Zoom Start and Stop video drop down menu has OBS virtual camera as my video source .
I can get my camera to be present if I have it running before joining a Zoom meeting. Any advice on how to stop OBS from disappearing my camera would be appreciated.

You mean you can only start your zoom video via OBS virtual camera? And your integrated camera can only be present on OBS?

I interpreted it at first as the camera working, and then Zoom kills it. But on re-reading, I think you're probably right.

Physical devices themselves don't share. At all. It's the operating system's job to do that: mix audio from different apps to the same sound card, put all of their different windows on the same screen, provide inputs as requested, etc.

Historically, for performance reasons, video inputs have always been exclusive. Only one app can have a given video source at a time. Seems like that's still true today. Zoom grabs the camera, and then OBS can't have it until Zoom closes.

The way to fix that is to either tell Zoom not to touch it (may not be possible; I haven't used Zoom very much), or start OBS first and *then* Zoom. Let OBS grab what it needs first, and then Zoom can't have it until OBS closes.

 

[j chris]

I

You mean you can only start your zoom video via OBS virtual camera? And your integrated camera can only be present on OBS?

When logging in to Zoom, one must start the video. This results in a blank zoom video screen. My integrated camera is not in the list of available feeds, only the OBS virtual camera is showing . I noticed there is no longer a camera showing in device manager when this is going on, and using the camera trouble shooter results in "camera not found" . Logging out and restarting the computer gets my camera showing in device manager. I do not have OBS running, and had not used it in about a year
I developed a work around to finally get my zoom video up, and that was to have my integrated camera up and running before starting a zoom session. Then the list of available cameras in Zoom will give me a choice to use the integrated camera. Is there a way to disable the OBS virtual camera?

 

[Weijeff]

I

When logging in to Zoom, one must start the video. This results in a blank zoom video screen. My integrated camera is not in the list of available feeds, only the OBS virtual camera is showing . I noticed there is no longer a camera showing in device manager when this is going on, and using the camera trouble shooter results in "camera not found" . Logging out and restarting the computer gets my camera showing in device manager. I do not have OBS running, and had not used it in about a year
I developed a work around to finally get my zoom video up, and that was to have my integrated camera up and running before starting a zoom session. Then the list of available cameras in Zoom will give me a choice to use the integrated camera. Is there a way to disable the OBS virtual camera?

Have you tried unstalling OBS?

 

[AaronD]

I developed a work around to finally get my zoom video up, and that was to have my integrated camera up and running before starting a zoom session.

What does "camera up and running" mean? The hardware just sits there ready, until an app asks for it. Do you have another app that uses it?

Is there a way to disable the OBS virtual camera?

Well, there's this:

Your layout is probably different from mine, as I've moved things around from the default, but that stack of buttons will be the same.

I doubt that's your problem though. Each camera has its own exclusivity: one app can use one camera, and another app can use another at the same time. I'm still not convinced that you don't have OBS running and that it doesn't claim the camera that you want as part of a scene somewhere. If it's running and claims it, then nothing else can have it.

Can you look through the scenes and see if that camera is being used? And if so, remove it from *all* of the scenes where it's used?
Or, as a lot of people do, continue to run the camera through OBS, and connect Zoom to OBS's virtual camera instead. Then you can live-produce what Zoom gets from you.