We demonstrate this process using OBS on macOS, but it should work the same on Windows and Linux.

1. Installing OBS

  1. Download and Install OBS at: https://obsproject.com/welcom

2. Starting Virtual Camera

To start the virtual camera, click the button "Start Virtual Camera".

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PS:

  1. To change video/output settings, please stop the virtual camera.
  2. If you do not see the OBS virtual camera in Zoom Video setting, please restart Zoom. If the virtual camera option is still not showing up in Zoom, restarting the computer will usually fix this.

<aside> 💡 If you had the old plugin for virtual camera installed before it was integrated into OBS, you will need to remove it. Make sure OBS is closed, and then do the following: Open a new Finder window

Hit "CMD+SHIFT+G", then enter /Library/CoreMediaIO/Plug-Ins/DAL/

Delete the file named obs-mac-virtualcam.plugin - you might be asked for your password to confirm the deletion

Hit "CMD+SHIFT+G" again, now enter /Library/Application Support/obs-studio/plugins

Delete the folder named obs-mac-virtualcam - again, you might be asked for your password Now you are set to use OBS' built-in virtual camera plugin

</aside>

3. Recording

Click the plus icon to add a source, choose video capture device.

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Leave everything as default, hit "OK" to continue.

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Select the camera source, then hit "OK" to continue.

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The canvas's default size is 1920x1080, however, if the camera resolution is lower than the canvas, it may not fill up the canvas. Resize the video source by dragging the bottom-right red handle to fill up the canvas.

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Add another source, for example, display capture.

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Resize both source to the desired size.

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To configure the recording settings, go to Menu → OBS → Preferences → Output

  1. Set Video Bitrate to 8000 Kbps
  2. Set Audio Bitrate to 320
  3. Set a desired recording path
  4. Set the recording format to mp4
  5. Click "OK" to save the configuration

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Start Recording by clicking the "Start Recording" button.

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When recording is finished, hit "Stop Recording" to stop the recording. The file is saved at the specified location. A 1 hour recording of 1080p video is estimated to be around 4 GB.