Howdy all.

I'm not really sure how to phrase this so I'll just shoot: Can I trick Skype into thinking that my Canon XF305 is a webcam?

Here's my thinking: I think I'd have to passthrough the XF video signal into a Blackmagic Intensity box (or something similar?) and then connect that to the computer. Then I'd open up YawCam or ManyCam and select the source (XF305) and then set the video/audio source in Skype as YawCam. Would that work?

Any other options that anyone can think of?

Thanks!

SB

You can do this with the paid subscription program Xsplit with much higher quality. Yawcam and Manycam are very rudimentary and crude.

You can do this with the paid subscription program Xsplit with much higher quality. Yawcam and Manycam are very rudimentary and crude.

Okay good to know. So swap in XSplit for YawCam and that workflow should do the job?

SB

Yes, Xsplit was designed with Blackmagic capture devices in mind.

Hi Steven

I wanted to do the same with my Panasonics but alas it's simply not as simple as using a USB cable and you need at minimum a HDMI to USB3 capture device. We use our HDMI output Panasonics via an LiveStream broadcaster to bring our remote signal in from the main cam at weddings but we also use a second cam for a wide angle view which is a tiny SJ4000 action cam and works a treat with just a USB cable and you switch the cam to PCMode and you have a camera input. I bring mine straight into my Studio switching software as a remote camera and it's really useful if I have to move the main cam to the register signing table so we simply switch from main cam to wide angle cam and then back to the main cam once the move is complete ... I believe all the GoPro's have a USB mode a s well so you can use them as a web cam. Surely for Skype, a little action cam will work well? WE get a 1080 25P signal from the camera in "PC cam " mode too and it works a treat!! I have two SJ4000's and the whole kit is under $100 which is way cheaper than a Black Magic card!!

Regardless of setup, Xsplit can even take in the SJ4000 cameras as input if need be. Xsplit can work with nearly any configuration of input devices.

Thanks for the replies everybody.

After a few suggestions here and over on DVXuser I've narrowed it down between these two HDMI to USB 3 dongles:

Marshall VAC-11HU3-2: Marshall Electronics VAC-11HU3-2 HDMI to USB 3.0 Converter VAC-11HU3-2 (http://www.adorama.com/mavac11hu32.html)

And the Inogeni 4K capture card: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1073122-REG/inogeni_4k2usb3_4k_hdmi_to_usb.html

I was also looking into the Magewell X100DUSB dongle but I have read/heard bad things about the poor audio that the device outputs.

SO. These devices cutout the "middleman" (XSplit) and go straight from the camera into Skype. Now I just need to decide which one to purchase. I hear that Inogeni have a "borrow" program so that you can try the product before you buy it? Might be something to look into.

SB

I'd highly recommend against using a capture device directly. Skype recently EOLed support for H.264 and MJPEG webcam codec protocols in the latest version. They could change stuff at any time leaving you SOL.

Xsplit can adapt to these changes whereas a fixed device can't.

I have done this via my Black Magic Mini Recorder on my Mac. I connected my XF305 via HD-SDI and selected it as the source for video & audio in skype. Worked directly without any other issues.

Looked great

Windows is not as simple as that. You have to use Xsplit on Windows to do the same effect. Mac can directly use Thunderbolt, but the PC version of Skype can't use that directly.

Hdmi > usb games capture devices are a lot cheaper. And probably just as good.

I used to plug my Sony XDCAM HD 350 into my computer via FW and used Manycam. That was some time ago, but it did indeed work. For awhile there, I had the world's most expensive webcam.

-gb-

LOL, I had the same feeling when I was doing the skype event with lights and everything all feeding into skype directly. It actually interrupted the meeting a few times because people were trying to figure out how the hell my setup looked and sounded so good compared to all the logtitech webcams and speakers bleeding into mics etc