Starting the virtual camera
- Compose a scene for the use case: a webcam close-up for talks, or a full presentation layout with slides (Window Capture / Window Capture / browser) underneath your facecam.
- Click Start Virtual Camera in the Controls dock (right side of OBS).
- In Zoom/Discord/Teams, choose OBS Virtual Camera as the camera device.
The button toggles to “Stop Virtual Camera.” Video stops when you stop it, when you quit OBS, or when the machine sleeps — not when you merely switch scenes. Scene switching stays live, which is the whole point: change layouts mid-meeting like you’re directing TV.
Set up a meeting scene properly
A clean virtual-camera layout beats a mirrored raw webcam:
- Webcam framed with headroom, not cut off at the forehead.
- Name plate / lower third as a text source so new attendees know who you are.
- Slide or document source for presentations (Window Capture on Windows, Window Capture on macOS for most apps).
- A quiet “BRB” scene for when you step away.
Use the scene-switching hotkeys from the hotkey setup to move between layouts without fumbling.
The audio catch
The virtual camera carries video only. Your meeting app keeps using its normal mic input, which is usually fine — you’ll talk into the same mic you’d use anyway. What you cannot do this way is push OBS-mixed audio (music, sound effects) into a meeting without extra plumbing:
- macOS: install BlackHOLE or loopback-style virtual audio, set it as OBS’s monitoring output, then select it as the mic in the meeting app.
- Windows: VB-Cable or Voicemeeter provides the same bridge.
For most meetings, though, don’t bother: the plain mic input is more reliable, and OBS audio adds little to a status call.
Platform-specific quirks
- Zoom: Some Zoom versions cache the camera list; restart Zoom (or “refresh” its video devices) if OBS Virtual Camera doesn’t appear.
- Discord: works normally in voice/video channels and Go Live streams from free accounts.
- Microsoft Teams: On some corporate installs, Teams blocks unsigned virtual devices entirely. If the camera doesn’t appear after a restart, it’s likely policy, not your setup.
- Browsers (Meet, Whereby): Chrome/Edge see the virtual camera without trouble; Safari is sometimes stingy about non-native camera devices.
macOS approval on first start
On macOS, starting virtual camera for the first time triggers a system prompt to allow the OBS camera extension. Approve it in System Settings → Privacy & Security if the prompt was dismissed; the toggle lives under Login Items & Extensions → Camera Extensions. Until it’s approved, Zoom won’t list the device.
More macOS-specific streaming context is in the Mac streaming guide.
Common fixes
- Camera shows a frozen frame: OBS was minimized or the GPU got starved. Bring OBS back (it must be running, not quit) and restart the virtual camera.
- Wrong scene showing in the meeting: you’re looking at a scene you didn’t intend. Check which scene has the “active” marker in OBS; the virtual camera always sends the currently active program scene.
- Grainy / soft image: the meeting app is compressing heavily. Improve lighting before blaming the pipeline; also avoid scaling a 1080p scene down if the meeting app only wants 720p — set the OBS canvas to the size the app handles best.
- It worked, then stopped after a reboot: some apps re-index devices. Start OBS before joining the call, every time, in that order.
Uses beyond meetings
- Recording course or tutorial videos through any webcam-based recorder.
- Doing a podcast interview in a browser app with your full production layout, or an MMO/stream crossover where a second app needs your broadcast frame.
- Doing a podcast interview in a browser app with your full production layout.
Anything that accepts “a webcam” can accept a fully directed OBS scene.