Several cameras, your screen, titles

The control room takes one camera and one sound source. To use more than one camera, show your screen, add titles or play a backing track, put them together in OBS Studio, which is free for Mac and Windows. You switch between them in OBS while you are live; nommo sees one camera, your audience sees every switch, and the recording keeps them all.

Set it up once

1. 01

   Install OBS Studio

   Download it from obsproject.com and open it. If it offers to run its set-up wizard, choose Optimize just for using the virtual camera.

   Set the canvas to 1920×1080 at 30 frames a second, under Settings, then Video.

2. 02

   Connect your cameras

   A webcam plugs in by USB. A mirrorless camera or camcorder needs an HDMI capture card, such as an Elgato Cam Link, and then appears as a webcam would. Set each camera to a clean HDMI output, with no on-screen display.

3. 03

   Make a scene for each shot

   In OBS, a scene is one view your audience sees. Make one for each camera: under Scenes press +, then under Sources press + and choose Video Capture Device for that camera.

   Add more scenes as you need them: your screen with Display Capture or Window Capture, a title card with Image or Text, or a camera with your name across the bottom.

4. 04

   Bring your sound in

   Simplest: keep your microphone, mixer or audio interface out of OBS and choose it directly as the microphone in the nommo control room. Best for talking and live playing.

   With a backing track or sound from your computer: the sound has to go through OBS. Install a virtual audio cable (BlackHole on a Mac, VB-CABLE on Windows), add your microphone to OBS as an Audio Input Capture, set OBS’s monitoring device to the cable under Settings, then Audio, and set each sound to Monitor and Output in Advanced Audio Properties. In the nommo control room, choose the cable as your microphone.

5. 05

   Start the virtual camera

   Press Start Virtual Camera in OBS. On a Mac, allow the system extension the first time it asks.

Each time you go live

1. 06

   Open OBS first, then the control room

   Start the virtual camera before you open your event on nommo, so the control room finds it.

2. 07

   Choose OBS in the control room

   Camera: OBS Virtual Camera. Microphone: your interface or mixer, or the virtual cable if your sound goes through OBS.

   Tick High quality picture if your connection uploads at least 5 Mbps, and Studio sound for music or a mixer.

3. 08

   Check picture and sound match

   Clap once in front of the camera and watch the preview: the clap and the sound should land together. If the sound comes early, route it through OBS (step 4) so both travel together.

4. 09

   Go live, and switch in OBS

   Press Go live in the control room, then switch scenes in OBS as you like. Keep the nommo tab open and in front: if it goes to the background, your picture pauses.

   Devices cannot change once you are live, so the recording stays whole. Change scenes in OBS instead, as often as you like.

Also live on TikTok or Instagram

One show can go out on nommo and on TikTok or Instagram at the same time, from OBS: the virtual camera feeds nommo while OBS streams to the other platform. Everyone watches the same show live.

1. 10

   Get a stream key

   Instagram: on a computer, start a live video and choose Live Producer (streaming software). Copy the stream URL and key.

   TikTok: stream keys are given to some accounts only, and who qualifies changes. If yours has one, it is in TikTok’s LIVE settings or LIVE Studio.

   A stream key is like a password to your channel: never share it or show it on screen.

2. 11

   Point OBS at it

   In OBS, Settings, then Stream: choose Custom, paste the server address and the stream key.

   For TikTok and Instagram at once, add the Multiple RTMP outputs plugin to OBS, or use a service such as Restream that sends one stream to several places.

   TikTok and Instagram suit an upright picture. You can make a 1080×1920 scene for them, but nommo’s stage is wide, so most creators keep one wide show for both.

3. 12

   Go live in both

   Start the virtual camera and choose it in the nommo control room, as above. Press Go live on nommo, then Start Streaming in OBS.

   Streaming to two places needs more upload: leave High quality picture off unless your connection uploads well over 8 Mbps.

If something is wrong

• OBS Virtual Camera is not in the list: start it in OBS, then reload the control room. Close other apps that use the camera, such as video calls.
• The picture is black: make sure the scene in OBS shows something and the virtual camera is running.
• Your audience hears nothing: check the microphone chosen in the control room, and that its level moves in the preview.
• The sound is too quiet or distorts: with Studio sound on, set your level on your mixer or interface; nommo will not turn you up or down.
• It stutters: untick High quality, use a wired connection, and close anything else using the internet.

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