How to use a virtual camera for Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet in OBS for Mac

Jun Kudo
4 min readApr 23, 2020

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Introduction

OBS for Mac OS can now also use a virtual camera.
Now you can output to Zoom, etc., even if you are doing the delivery on a Mac.
Isn’t this the feature everyone has been waiting for!

In the past, I wrote an article like the one below and was often asked if it could be done on a Mac.

I found it!
Just the other day, it was mentioned in the OBS forum.

The following plugins are available.

I’d like to explain how it works after installing it.

How to Install

Package versions for macOS are available at obs-mac-virtualcam-0e62cec-v1.1.0.pkg. The method of use remains the same.(21/05/2020)

OBS will be started.
Start Virtual Camera will be added to Tools. We’re ready to go.

Start with Start Virtual Camera in advance.

Virtual Camera must be started before you can launch the application you want to use.
Otherwise, the virtual camera may not recognize you as a camera device.

To exit, press Stop Virtual Camera at the same point.

Here’s one important thing to note. The OBS that the plugin is loaded into is copied to the user’s HOME, so it needs to be launched from the terminal each time. You can’t launch it directly from the Finder either. I can’t do it with aliases either. Maybe it will work if you do a lot of talking.

Zoom

Zoom for Mac version 5.1.1 or higher now supports virtual cameras. Please keep it updated with the latest version. (07/07/2020)

The OBS Virtual Camera can be selected in the camera selection section.

You can confirm that the OBS screen will be displayed when you select it.

Microsoft Teams

For Microsoft Teams, it works with the latest version.

Change the camera to OBS Virtual Camera on the device’s Customize screen.

I can confirm that it is displayed without any problems.

Google Meet

You can see it on Google Meet without any problem (I think it will).
The one I tried was the free one.
I think it’s essentially the same.
Also, since it works in Chrome, I think it works in Chrome, but other applications almost work too.

Open the configuration screen and change from Video to OBS Virtual Camera.

The OBS screen will be output without any problems.

conclusion

Until now, the OBS virtual camera was only available for Windows. That’s why people with macOS didn’t have much fun customizing their screens and having meetings.
With the introduction of the virtual camera for macOS, the range of use of OBS has expanded and the fun has increased.
I think it will work well in delivering study groups, etc.
I’d be happy if the product is packaged and made more accessible.

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