How to Connect Zoom & OBS
Written by Paul Richards on April 28, 2020
In this video, you will learn how to connect Zoom and OBS together. Connecting OBS to Zoom allows you to send high-quality video production into your Zoom meetings. This is a great way to live stream Zoom Meetings and make recordings that have extra production functionality features available in Open Broadcaster Software. Here are the steps for this project:
- Step 1 – Install VirtualCam for OBS
- Step 2 – Install Virtual Audio Cables A + B
- Step 3 – Setup Your Virtual Camera in Zoom
- Step 4 – Setup Your Virtual Audio Cables in Zoom & OBS
- Step 5 – Test and configure all of your settings!
Installing a VirtualCam for OBS
The VirtualCam for OBS can be found here. This plugin is supported for Windows and can be downloaded and used with your Windows OBS system. Go ahead and download the VirtualCam plugin for OBS in order to take the output of OBS and send it to other programs using a virtual webcam driver. Once installed this plugin will show up inside of Zoom as a selectable webcam. Select the OBSCam option for the webcam and all of the video you set up in OBS will come through to Zoom
Installing Virtual Audio Cables
You can install virtual audio cables on to your Windows computer by getting the drivers here. Virtual audio cables are a very useful tool for video and audio production in many ways. You will need two of these virtual audio cables for this project. One virtual audio cable will be used as your microphone input into Zoom and one virtual audio cable will be used for your speaker output from Zoom. Take a look at the wiring diagram about to see how these virtual audio cables are routed. Virtual audio cables need to be selected inside of your Zoom settings as your microphone and speaker. Then you also have to bring these virtual audio cables into OBS and route the audio inside of the advanced audio settings. You also need to use one of your audio cables as the monitor output selection inside of OBS.
Select your Virtual Camera inside of Zoom
Inside of OBS you can go to the Tools drop-down menu and open up VirtualCam. You will need to click the start button and select the virtual webcam driver you would like to output video with. Once you have clicked the start button anything you have in the output of OBS will be sent to any application using the virtual webcam driver. Select the virtual webcam driver inside of Zoom and turn the video button on.
Setup Your Virtual Audio Cables in Zoom & OBS
This is probably this most complicated part of connecting Zoom with OBS. First make sure you have installed two unique A and B virtual audio cable drivers on to your computer. It’s helpful to draw out exactly how they will connect via Zoom and OBS. In Zoom, select one virtual audio cable for your microphone and one for your speaker. In OBS, add both virtual audio cables into your audio system in the audio settings area. Then go to the advanced audio settings and monitor the audio input so that you can send audio back to Zoom.
You have connected Zoom and OBS!
Once you have followed these steps you will have successfully connected Zoom with OBS for full audio and video use without a feedback loop. You can get a feedback loop if you do not have your virtual audio cables routed properly. Hopefully, the video tutorial is detailed enough to walk you through this setup.
Check out our other articles about Open Broadcaster Software below:
- Updated - How to connect OBS and Zoom with VoiceMeeter and Headphone Monitoring - here.
- Learn how to use OBS for remote production here.
- How to connect OBS with Zoom, here
- OBS vs vMix a complete review here.
- How to use Zoom for Church Meetings and Worship here.
- Here are the top 10 OBS features you need to know about
- Getting dropped frames in OBS. Here are some new feature to help with that.
- Take a look at OBS 24 and all the new feature here.
- Increase your productivity with OBS and learn how to use hotkeys here
- Learn how to setup animated stinger transitions in OBS here
- Learn how to install the NDI plugin for OBS (and why you should) here
- Learn more about the latest OBS user interface (UPDATED for 2019) here
- Make your audio in OBS sound great with these VST 2 plugins here
- Learn how to fix the most common OBS issues! Audio and Video Sync! here
- Learn how to use OBS 20+ here
- Learn how to use NDI Cameras with OBS here
- Learn how to use the OBS Multiview here
- Learn OBS quickly with our ZERO to SIXTY tutorial video here
- Learn more about OBS settings and optimizing your settings for live streaming here
- Learn how to record videos using OBS here
- New OBS 24 feature allows broadcasters the ability to pause and restart video recordings. Learn more here.
- Learn how to add live annotations over your OBS productions here
- Learn how to add a webcam and set up a picture in picture scene inside OBS here
- Learn how to crop and rotate inputs inside OBS here
- Learn how to use color correction tools and LUTs here
- Learn the best way to connect OBS and Zoom here
- Learn how to connect OBS and Teams here
- Learn how to use countdown timers in Teams here
- Learn where OBS recordings are saved here
- Learn how to live stream to YouTube and Facebook with OBS for free here
- Learn about OBS 27's new features here