The only thing I'd like to change is the fact that the NDI protocol uses the wireless network to transmit the video data. I tried to change this to a local area network, but was unsuccessful so far.
NDI is agnostic (indifferent) to the Ethernet network. I use NDI on a LAN, as is the typical use case.
I have tried to connect the two PC's with just an Ethernet cable and then followed some tutorials which got me far enough to be able to view the files of computer 1 on computer 2.
Hooking up 2 PC directly is not standard, requires a cross-over cable, and as a network rookie, unless you absolutely have to, just use a normal Ethernet switch, vs direct connecting [lots of complicated steps to get such to work, lots of implications, certain things won't work by default, etc... so doable, but only if you want to learn a fair amount about networking, TCP/IP, etc]
Congrats on direct connecting 2 PCs with a cross-over cable and getting that set up correctly (if that is what you did)
How can assign the video data from the Webcam to this path aswell? Do I need a switch or even a router?
So lets start with the basics - is the webcam a typical USB webcam? [there are NDI webcams,{much more expensive, but they Ethernet connect to LAN directly} hence my question]
For sake of discussion, I'll assume typical USB webcam, and for some really good reason, you aren't plugging the webcam into PC#2 [which I presume is where OBS Studio is running?]. right?
If you have multiple computers, yes a switch and/or router would be a good idea.
Many (most?) modern consumer routers have a switch built into them as well (ie multiple LAN ports). For simplicity and with limited sophistication, a typical router is a good idea and can (often) include a WiFi access point. Most sophisticated setups, especially if something like PoE (power over Ethernet) security cameras are desired, then a PoE switch, possibly dedicated PoE Access Point (Wifi) [multiple APs for a larger building(s)].. depends on requirements and budget
OBS Studio is an interactive compositing tool.. is meant to combine different sources on 1 computer. You complicate matters (sometimes significantly) by routing sources via other computers. There sometimes good reasons to use multiple systems... but it makes a steep learning curve even worse
That said. from a semantics perspective, you don't assign video data from webcam (presuming USB) to another path. A USB webcam essentially is handled by the USB chipset (and operating system/firmware) the USB webcam is plugged into. Now, you can take a USB webcam, get it into its locally connected Host Operating System (PC#1) and the either alone, of combined with other sources, then real-time encode a video signal and send that to another device (PC#2 in your case). Encoding is typically a lossy process. So when you re-encode on PC#2, you are dropping video quality (like old days of HVS copies of VHS copies... just not as immediately apparent, but similar in concept). Now, you could send/capture high-quality video from PC#1, minimizing the impact of serial lossy encodings, but again, this complicates matters, increases hardware resources demands, etc)
now, might there be a USB utility out there that captures a USB input (webcam in this case) on PC#1 and sends those USB packets over Ethernet to another IP address? I think I've heard of such... but without a REALLY good reason, not something I'd advise pursuing
I hope the above helps.
Many folks pursue the 2 PC setup because of something they saw/read in terms of gaming performance. In some edge cases, such a 2 PC setup makes sense. but more often than not it is a work-around driven by shortcomings in the primary video source system (or a console with inability to run something like OBS Studio). Basic recommendation - avoid 2 PC unless you have to. So a description of your setup / scenario (why 2 PCs?) will enable others to make a recommendation better aligned to your situation
