Online Presentations Using OBS and Zoom

Are you sick of giving Zoom presentations with only the option to share your screen and having the video of you on the right side as a very tiny square? This forces the viewers into focusing more on the screen, rather than on you as the presenter.

There is an option in Zoom to share your slides as a virtual background.

It superimposes your webcam feed on top of the slides.

However, the only limitation is that your files have to be a PowerPoint presentation. 

What if you need more flexibility to share anything on your screen and still be able to superimpose your webcam feed on top of your shared content?

Zoom actually has a feature called Screen Sharing Presenter Layouts and it works with anything on your screen and not just PowerPoint files.

Again, there is a downside of this feature.

Presenter layouts do not support local or cloud recordings. Resulting recordings will not have the presenter and layouts combined as seen in the live session. Therefore, any recordings will default to what was shown in the first image above.

Setting up OBS

1. Open OBS Studio on your computer.

2. Create a new scene by clicking the "+" button in the Scenes box.

3. Add your desktop as a source:

   • Click the "+" button in the Sources box

   • Select "Display Capture" or "Window Capture"

   • Choose your desktop or the specific window you want to share

4. Add your webcam as a source:

   • Click the "+" button in the Sources box again

   • Select "Video Capture Device"

   • Choose your webcam from the list

5. Apply a circle mask to your webcam:

   • Right-click on the webcam source

   • Select "Filters"

   • Click the "+" button and choose "Image Mask/Blend"

   • Select a circular mask image (you may need to create or download one)

   • Adjust the settings to fit your needs

6. Position and resize the masked webcam feed:

   • Click and drag the webcam feed to your desired location

   • Use the red corner handles to resize it

Connecting OBS to Zoom

1. In OBS, click "Start Virtual Camera" in the Controls section.

2. Open Zoom and start or join a meeting.

3. In Zoom, click the up arrow next to the video icon and select "OBS Virtual Camera" as your camera source.

4. If the virtual camera doesn't appear, go to Zoom Settings:

   • Click the gear icon in the top-right corner

   • Go to the Video tab

   • In the Camera drop-down menu, select "OBS Virtual Camera"

5. Your OBS scene with the desktop and circular webcam feed should now be visible in Zoom.

Additional Tips

• You can create multiple scenes in OBS with different layouts and switch between them during your Zoom call.

• Adjust your webcam's position and size in OBS to ensure it doesn't obstruct important parts of your desktop screen.

• If you need to share audio, you may need to set up virtual audio cables for a more comprehensive solution.

By following these steps, you'll be able to create a professional-looking virtual camera setup in Zoom using OBS, featuring your desktop screen and a circular webcam feed.