Z-Cam E2 integration

[smnstrm]

Hello Guys,
For those who don't know the camera yet, you can get some information on it on: http://www.z-cam.com/e2/

One nice feature they have is livestreaming capability via ethernet. The problem is that they use their own protocol called "libssp", which stands for "Simpe Stream Protocol". Of course their own software and app can use that protocol without problem. If you want to use it on your computer, you need to install their StreamConverter which converts the libssp protocol to either NDI or Virtual Cam. That way you could use it with obs. Problematic on "lower" spec hardware is the immense overhead due to decoding the libssp and encoding again to NDI or Virtual Cam.
They are very developer friendly and providing complete API on Github.

https://github.com/imaginevision/libssp
https://github.com/imaginevision/Z-Camera-Doc/tree/master/E2

I think this cam and the 799$ Version E2C will become very popular in Livestreaming.
As i'm not able to program a plugin for obs myself, i would like to ask, if someone would be willing to take care of this so OBS will be popular for usage with that camera (vMix was announced to probably integrate it)

Best regards,
Simon

 

[xm1994]

obs-ssp beta released.

 

[smnstrm]

yup saw that in the z cam group

Z CAM SSP Source

obs-ssp Network A/V in OBS Studio with Simple Stream Protocol(SSP). Features SSP Source : receive video and audio from ZCam cameras to OBS. Downloads Binaries for Windows, and macOS are available in the Releases section. Automated Builds

obsproject.com

 

[SubbrSchwob]

I got an E2C today and we will see… btw, the E2 should also stream rtsp directly, see: https://github.com/imaginevision/Z-Camera-Doc/blob/master/E2/protocol/http.md#Network-streaming - I will see if this is also true for the E2C. The document is worth a look anyway since it also describes how to remote control the camera via HTTP. You could create your own remote control for it, exactly serving your needs.

 

[SubbrSchwob]

Turns out that the current version of obs-ssp won't build on Linux, it contains errors in the C++ code. Unfortunately also VLC does not accept the rtsp stream from the E2C camera. mpv does read the stream properly.
The VLC source in OBS however seems to work with the stream. Add rtsp://192.168.178.119/live_stream as VLC source (make sure to use the IP of your E2C camera instead).
You can setup the stream of the camera simply by surfing to

http://192.168.178.119/ctrl/stream_setting?index=stream1&bitwidth=8&enc=h265&width=1920&height=1080&fps=25&bitrate=30000000

Make sure to fix the IP again. The parameters are pretty much self-explanatory. stream1 is the one that the E2(C) outputs over the net, stream0 is the one it records to storage. You can also make the camera give you stream0 via the network, but why should one, normally.
I have not tested this too thoroughly yet. The latency is remarkable.

 

[SubbrSchwob]

http://192.168.178.119/ctrl/stream_setting?index=stream1&bitwidth=8&enc=h265&width=1920&height=1080&fps=25&bitrate=30000000

Actually the camera doesn't react to all the commands in one URL, so you gotta do this separately like

http://192.168.178.119/ctrl/stream_setting?index=stream1&enc=h265

and so on.

 

[SubbrSchwob]

Update: Also VLC now works with the E2C h264 stream without OBS, I'l keep learning. The h265 in principal also works but I had some weird frames in my first tests, most likely due to VLC.

 

[SubbrSchwob]

Meanwhile I learned that OBS-SSP cannot work on Linux since Z Cam do not provide a recent libssp for Linux and this library is not open-source. So Z Cam do not want it to work on Linux.

I found the VLC input source not to be reliable, furthermore the image quality is poor. I gave up on using Z Cam cameras via network. I use their HDMI port instead, which makes them not more attractive than any Panasonic GH9 or G9.

Use a Mac, they say. I think a G9 is cheaper.