Facebook messenger and the virtual camera, works but only a still image ?

[shodanx]

Hi,

I'm streaming to my friends in a private facebook group
I want to combine my camera and screen capture in a single shot so OBS is perfect for compositing my screen

I installed the facebook messenger windows PC application
It sees the OBS virtual camera,
But when the video starts, it hangs on the first image !

In messenger I can click the

start/stop video button
It goes black and when it comes back it updates the still frame to the current frame
But then no movement

I searched everywhere for a setting to fix this, but there's really not much going on in device settings

Been stuck on this for a while now, maybe this is what virtual camera blocking looks like ?

Is there a workaround ?
At this point I am considering OBS streaming to network to raspberry pi to HDMI output to usb HDMI input which does work in facebook messenger, but that is quite the ridiculous setup and would probably add over half a second of latency, so, not great :\ but if that's the only way ....

 

[shodanx]

So I did the workaround I mentionned below

VLC opens virtual camera
Spacedesk app installed to create virtual monitor
spacedesk client running on android lineageos running on raspberry pi on the network
output of the raspberry pi into an usb hdmi input
VLC special effect geometry horizontal flip because somewhere it's getting flipped
Now facebook sees my OBS output, but the latency is about 1 whole second and the colours a kind of blown out (that's spacedesk crappy colours)

Really strange it's not working nicely, I blame the Zucker

Really hoping one of you guys has a fix !

 

[shodanx]

Found some other people with similar issues but no answers

same problem

Virtual Cam ...only get still image

Hi! If I use the Virtual Cam in a different Application - Facebook Messenger, Skype... I only get a still image With Streamlabs the Virtual Cam works. Any suggestions where I might look? Tried different Installs OBS 26.1.1 Win 10 20H2 with all latest updates

obsproject.com

different problems

Question / Help - OBS Virtual Camera Not Showing Up In Facebook Messenger

I do a lot of interviews on my livestreams. Google Hangouts & Skype work perfect with virtual cam but Messenger doesn't notice the virtual camera as a source. Is there some sort of workaround anyone has found for this?

obsproject.com

Facebook Messenger no longer recognizing OBS virtual camera?

I have always been able to use OBS virtual camera with Facebook Messenger until about 2 months ago when I updated Messenger. Now it does not accept a virtual camera. Has anyone else had this problem? I haven't found any information on Facebook's side or OBS's side. It's quite frustrating, and...

obsproject.com

 

[fosseli]

Same problem. Works fine in Zoom and Teams so there has to be a Messenger issue. :(

 

[shodanx]

I suspect this is facebook silently rejecting a virtual camera.
Here is how I got around it, it is NOT pretty and it adds half a second of latency but

Buy two of the 10$ HDMI to USB video inputs
Get a second PC, also install OBS on it
Plug one HDMI to USB in each computer
Connect one HDMI output of each computer to the HDMI input of the other
If you have a camera connect it to the second computer (one upside is, it saves processing on the first computer, especially as I run background removal)
On the first PC, I have set video capture scenes for each of my displays
On the second PC I have a scene that combines the camera and the video from the first PC through the USB to HDMI input
On the second PC I select the scene I want and do projector to the HDMI output connected to the HDMI input of the first PC
On the first PC, in messenger, in device setting, I can select the USB HDMI input as a normal webcam and it doesn't freeze on the first frame.

Disable facebook messenger app to prevent facebook patching this oversight
This will probably break eventually, use this time to abandon, ostracize or otherwise cut out of your life anyone who won't switch to your jitsi server.

And that's how you do it ! Simple !

 

[p.a.werner]

Can somebody see if this works for them? Tried with Chrome/Edge on Windows.

+ Set Messenger to use OBS but start video call without OBS running

+ Once connection is made fire up OBS and start virtual camera

 

[dkintheuk]

Can somebody see if this works for them? Tried with Chrome/Edge on Windows.

+ Set Messenger to use OBS but start video call without OBS running
View attachment 86808
+ Once connection is made fire up OBS and start virtual camera

I've just tried that and several other ideas and nothing works. Facebook messenger just will not accept the virtual camera.