In this section we are going to connect several other AV sources to OBS Studio so that they can be output to Zoom.
If you have a video file in a format that VLC can play then it can be played through OBS Studio.
If you do not have VLC installed on your PC then download it from the VLC download page.
NOTE: If you have the 32 bit version of OBS Studio installed then you must install the 32 bit version of VLC. Likewise if you have the 64 bit version of OBS Studio installed then you must install the 64 bit version of VLC.
Open OBS Studio and select the Scene Collection named Church that we created earlier.
In the Scenes window add a new scene and name it 'Play Video'. We are going to configure this scene so that it automatically starts playing a video as soon as it is selected; no other audio or video sources will be active.
The Sources window should have no entries in it. Click on the + button at the bottom to add a source. In the pop-up menu select VLC Video Source and give it a name of 'VLC Video' then click on OK. In the next window unckeck Loop Playlist and Shuffle Playlist. Set Visibility Behaviour to 'Stop when not visible, restart when visible'. Click the + to the right of the Playlist and select Add Files from the menu. An Add Files To 'Playlist' dialog open, navigate to the video file you want to play, select it and then click the Open button. The filepath should now appear in the playlist. Click on OK.
There should now be a single entry in the Sources window called 'VLC Video'. Right click on it and select Transform, then select Fit to screen; this should make the video fit within the bounds of the screen but maintain its aspect ratio.
The video should be playing, and in the Audio Mixer window the VLC Video meter should indicate that there is audio playing, however you will not hear it even though it is being sent to the main output. This is an occasion where it would be useful to hear the audio through the speakers, whereas when we are performing or using the webcam mic it is not desirable for the audio to be routed to the speakers.
Right click in the Audio Mixer window and select Advanced Audio Properties. On the line named VLC Audio, change the Audio Monitoring from Monitor Off to Monitor and Output. The audio should now be heard through your speakers (or wherever you have routed your monitor sound).
In the Scenes window select Webcam Only; the video will stop playing and its audio will cease.
In the Scenes window select Play Video; the video will start playing from the beginning and its audio will be heard.
In the Scenes window select Lyrics Projection; the video will stop playing and its audio will cease.
In the Scenes window select Play Video; the video will start playing from the beginning and its audio will be heard.
This demonstrates that a video can be played at will from its start simply by selecting the scene.
In the Scenes window add a new scene and name it 'Ppt Presentation'. We are going to configure this scene so that it displays the presentation and any embedded sounds are played.
Before we add the presentation we will add sound from the webcam mic; if you don't need it then skip this step.
The Sources window should have no entries in it. Click on the + button at the bottom to add a source. In the pop-up menu select Audio Input Capture, select Add Existing, select Webcam Audio, click on OK. We have now included audio from the webcam mic in this scene.
Open the PowerPoint and start the slideshow. Do not minimise this, but Alt-Tab to bring OBS Studio to the front.
Click on the + button at the bottom to add a source. In the pop-up menu select Window Capture, name it 'Ppt Slideshow video', click OK. In the Properties dialog, set Window to the slideshow window; if it is not in the dropdown list then maybe it has closed and you will have to restart the slideshow. Uncheck Capture Cursor, click on OK.
There should now be a entry in the Sources window called 'Ppt Slideshow video'. Right click on it and select Transform, then select Fit to screen; this should make the video fit within the bounds of the screen but maintain its aspect ratio. This is just the video side of the presentation configured. You may stop the slideshow now if you wish.
If the presentation contains any audio then click on the + button at the bottom to add a source. In the pop-up menu select Audio Output Capture, name it 'Ppt Slideshow audio', click OK. In the Properties dialog, click on OK.
To test this, start a Zoom meeting. When the meeting window is open, ensure that it occupies less than 75% of the screen, left click on the camera icon in the top left hand corner of the window and then select Keep On Top. This is important because we need to be able to see the Zoom window while the slideshow has the focus
Now start the slideshow and you should see the slideshow in the Zoom window. In order to test that the slideshow audio is getting through to Zoom, click on the up arrow by the mute button and select Audio Settings... from the menu. The slideshow audio may stop at this point, however, if you click on the slideshow that is behind the Zoom window the audio should resume. Check on the Input Level meter in the microphone section that the slideshow audio can be seen; if it shows then you have confirmed that both the slideshow video and audio will be streamed by Zoom.
Click here to return to the main page.