The purpose of this document is to describe the implementation of a system that will enable a single member of a Zoom meeting to perform a song and superimpose the lyrics on the camera feed. A member of a Zoom meeting is, for the purposes of this document, a solo artist or ensemble located in the same physical place, employing a single Zoom client to connect with the meeting.
Currently the time delays incurred by internet conferencing preclude the possibility of multiple members performing as an ensemble.
For the layman, the following system may seem complex and somewhat daunting to implement. I shall, therefore, first give a high level overview and then describe how to implement it in a number of sections, each one covering a different interface.
First, however, I need to list the system requirements, because it is no good starting on a project if you don't have the right resources.
The system that I am about to describe comprises an iPad and a Windows PC with a webcam (or equivalent). It should be possible to achieve the same result with a Mac, although an alternative to ReaPlugs will have to be used.
I include the versions of software that I am using at the time of writing for your information.
Unfortunately I cannot enumerate the minimum specification required of the PC on which this will run; however, I can describe the two machines that I have, one of which is not up to the task.
| Property | Inadequate | Adequate |
| OS Name | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro |
| Version | 10.0.18363 Build 18363 | 10.0.18363 Build 18363 |
| System | x64-based PC | x64-based PC |
| Processor | Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3320M CPU @ 2.60GHz, 2 Core(s), 4 Logical Processor(s) | AMD FX(tm)-8350 Eight-Core Processor, 4000 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s) |
| RAM | 4.00 GB | 16.0 GB |
| Graphics | Intel(r) HD Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GT 640 |
The main difference for the adequate machine is that:
I am becoming more of the opinion that it is the graphics card that makes the difference because it takes the load off the main CPU for graphic manipulations.
I do not believe that it is necessary to have the Pro version of Windows 10. In fact you may be successful in running this on Windows 7 or 8.
A fully functional webcam connected to this PC is required.
I use a 6th generation 9.7" iPad running iPadOS 14..4.1.
The version of OnSong Pro that I am running is 2020.5.4. It is available via the App Store. Read more about it at the OnSong website.
Older versions of iPad, iPadOS and OnSong should work.
NOTE: This system assumes that you have entered your lyrics into OnSong as plain text (either typed directly into OnSong's song editor or imported a text file such as may be created by Notepad). If you have use imported PDF files or any other kind of non-text file then this probably won't do what you want it to.
At the time of writing it is at version 5.0.1.
If you always start it from the Zoom website then you should always use the latest version.
OBS Studio is free and open source software for video recording and live streaming that can be downloaded from Open Broadcaster Software.
At the time of writing it is at version 25.0.8.
This is a free plug-in for OBS Studio that can be downloaded from the OBS-NDI Plug-in page.
At the time of writing it is at version 4.9.0.
NDI Tools is a free suite of applications that can be downloaded from the NDI Tools page.
At the time of writing it is at version 4. 5.
AirServer is a mirroring receiver for AirPlay, Google Cast and Miracast streams that can be downloaded from the AirServer Universal for PC page.
At the time of writing it is at version 5.5.11.0 and costs £14.99 + VAT for a single user license. There is a trial version available.
Reaper is a digital audio workstation (DAW) application that can be used as an audio mixer when combined with a USB audio interface. It is a very full-featured DAW that has many effects that come as standard, I highly recommend it. It can be downloaded from the Reaper DAW page.
At the time of writing it is at version 6.09 and it costs US $60 for a single user license. There is a 60 day trial version available.
ReaPlugs is VST FX Suite that is free to download and use. It works not only with Reaper but other DAWs too. It contains an awesome number of quality effects. It can be downloaded from the ReaPlugs page.
At the time of writing it is at version 2.36.
The diagram below shows a high level representation of the system.
The audio and video inputs are fed directly into the host PC. They may come from a webcam, a media file, PowerPoint presentation or any other source that you have.
The projected lyrics are streamed from OnSong running on an iPad/iPhone via Airplay to the host PC. OnSong is a wonderful iOS app for storing and organising chord charts; it also has the ability to project lyrics via Airplay/Chromecast.
OBS Studio can accept multiple audio and video inputs from a variety of sources. It makes it easy to blend inputs together and switch between different input combinations. It is the glue that makes everything hang together.
In the following sections I will describe how to setup (and test) each interface, starting with Zoom and moving back through OBS Studio to the various possible sources.
In this section I cover the following:
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In this section I cover the following:
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In this section I cover the following:
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In this section I cover the following:
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In this section I cover the following:
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By the time that you have worked your way through all these sections, you may have a system that looks like this:
