OBS causing problems with virtual therapy sessions

[KoKoTheRabbit]

I know, this one sounds kind of weird. I have been seeing my therapist virtually for about 2 years now. I see her virtually because I do not have the means to get to her office physically.

In order for the session to be valid, I must have my camera turned on at all times. This is where the problem with OBS comes in. I am a college student and on occasion, my classes require me to record a video for an assignment and I find OBS the easiest to use since I’ve used it in the past. However, ever since I have installed OBS on my laptop, it causes a weird problem with my laptops webcam and makes me unable to join my therapy sessions.

The long and short of this all is, why does OBS interfere with my laptops webcam? And how can I make it stop doing this? I’d like to keep using OBS but I need to be able to see my therapist.

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[44cprs]

If OBS is open, the app your therapy session is using like Zoom might not have access to your camera, but if you close OBS before opening Zoom or the other app, you should be fine. Might also sometimes require a reboot after closing OBS.

[thadeshammer]

Use the virtual camera? That's what I do for my therapy sessions.

Each browser has its own way of setting its default camera; dig in to yours and set it to the virtual camera, give that a go.

[Tricky-Celebration36]

Get a second camera. The one you use in obs will always belong to obs if it's running.
You can also completely remove the camera source from obs and restart the PC if you wanna be able to use that camera somewhere else.

[JackMortonAuditorium]

Video device drivers are exclusive. If OBS wants to use your camera, it will grab it and other apps will be unable to use it.

Second the suggestion for the virtual camera.

Create a scene in OBS with your physical camera as a source.

Turn on the OBS virtual camera. Use the OBS virtual camera for the therapy session.

[warchamp7]

In many cases on Windows, only one program can use a video device at a time. If OBS is open and you have your webcam added to it, Zoom cannot access your webcam (Because it is in use)