Multi-camera Recording Setup on a Budget

In this video, I show you my multi-camera recording setup for KZbin and Livestreams. I am using OBS to record four separate sources to one 4K file that I can edit later on. Using this method I have the versatility I am looking for when using multiple cameras and multiple locations for recording in my space. Using both old and new tech I have created a good baseline for workflow that I want for making videos.
Blog Post:
hackbatch.com/...
OBS Camera App for iOS:
apps.apple.com...
obs.camera/doc...
DroidCam for OBS:
www.dev47apps....
www.dev47apps....
Music by Derrick R

[@YankeeManG27]

Thank you so so so much for this video. It took me hours to find something like this. This is exactly what I needed!

[@consumerdebtchitchat]

Thank you for showing us equipment that we actually use in our rooms and not an imported Nikon $3,000 a piece special lens, custom-made, pro studio design setup. ❤❤❤

[@DannyCuro]

Been looking for someone to help me with exactly this for sooo long. finally someone with the right information and so well laid out on your website. Really appreciate it

[@hackbatch]

Thanks for the comment I appreciate the feedback. I’m so glad it was helpful!

[@_Oregon_Sunday_Drives_360]

This video is better than the title says.

[@happybaak]

WOOOW! This is what i am looking for a looooooong time! This is very very helpful for me! Thank you for this very important information.

[@hackbatch]

I’m happy that it was helpful!

[@beyounow7204]

Perfect! Straight to the point. You saved me so much time in explaining what I needed to get going. THANK YOU!!!😃

[@CarlinComm]

OK that's pretty slick! When you say it, its pretty obvious to record the 4K and then pull out 4x 1080P windows, but I hadn't thought of it like that. Instant 4 camera ISO feeds, slick! Thanks for sharing!

[@gearscodeandfire]

This is an awesome and clever implementation AND it introduced me to your channel, which i am currently binging 🤘

[@hackbatch]

Thanks so much, I’m glad you are enjoying it!

[@FLPoolServicesincTampa]

I really appreciate the video you made it my brother !!! So far is the best one that I had watched!!!🎉🎉🎉

[@hackbatch]

Thanks for watching, I hope it helps you!

[@SoulCriminal]

dude you just made this so easy to understand compared to others...thanks

[@hackbatch]

Glad I could help! Thanks for the feedback

[@mccoolart]

thank you! super helpful & clear

[@DaverdGamingHub]

You're kinda smart for using 4k to get 4 1080p frames. Not a bad strategy. Deff saves time.

[@Somewhat_Scientific]

This is fantastic, thank you!

[@hackbatch]

Glad you liked it!

[@rontan8433]

Thanks for making this video

[@hackbatch]

Thanks for watching, I hope it helped!

[@TSquadRVing]

Thank you so much for this video. Helped us out!

[@FortheLoveofItVibes]

This is amazing. Thanks for the help!

[@falonvela9197]

This is amazing!!! Thank you so much!

[@hackbatch]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful

[@caroline___]

Thanks for the info and the details on your blog. Nice!

[@hackbatch]

Thanks so much, glad it helped!

[@luisfernandoenrique]

Thank you. Very useful and practical

[@hackbatch]

Glad I could help!

[@useruser-oc8xn]

Nice! Thanks for the info.

[@n.tandura2648]

super thank u

[@brokerhc]

Does the OBS software come for Windows PCs? Great video, very informative.

[@hackbatch]

Yes I use it on Windows now as well!

[@catchreal]

Thanks, very useful!

[@fitzsocial6073]

Thanks so much man! you earned a sub!

[@MykeHawke-r9r]

Thank you for making this video

[@CharlieVN]

Very cool setup, will try it 😁

[@hackbatch]

Thanks! I’m glad you found it useful

[@RomanWeisman]

Thank you, this was helpful, trying to accomplish the same.

[@hackbatch]

Glad it was helpful!

[@plinden]

wow! this saves us 1K compared to logitech 3 cam box

[@TheHazarrrd]

Great Explanation. I wonder if this would work with some 4k Webcams like a Logitech Streamcam as well? This would make producing multicam so much cheaper..

[@hackbatch]

I’m sure this will work with any type of USB video source including webcams! I just had the extra phones laying around so I tried that instead. Thanks for watching and your feedback.

[@vishyswaminathan]

what other device can you use to connect multiple USB devices (including camera or video recording devices) to the laptop especially if you run out of USB ports? my macbook pro is the 2015 version.. i tried to route a pc webcam by using a USB 3.0 hub and it dint work.. any suggestions ?

[@BeatsbyLonza]

Thank you.

[@truthunleashed5250]

Need more views on this subject brutha, yours is the best by far.....I am using a android samsung s22 and sony zv1 for podcasting for multi camera setup, will i need to use OBS and will these two work....thanks for your time.

[@hackbatch]

Thanks! If you check out the blog post linked in the description, there’s a section towards the bottom where I list the apps you can use for android to make this work. The four screen trick only really works with 1080p video sources so make sure the zv1 outputs 1080p to a capture card and not 4k. You can get a cheap usb capture card. Hope that helps!

[@truthunleashed5250]

@@hackbatch i will definitely check this out and purchase capture card, thank you again.

[@jazzrat2000]

What a great video, no extra fluff. You remind me of John Delancey, has anyone ever said that to you? I am a Star Trek fan. I have been using old phones for cameras ever since I got the Alfred app. The only problem I have with them is the same problem I had when I quit using them and that is that the charging cable is loose and doesn't stay in and so by the next day it's all dead.

[@nowyatalking]

Great video very helpful 💪🏾 question how do you get different video files if everything is recorded together? Or do you record all 4 on one screen than crop each into 1 shot in editing

[@hackbatch]

In this example I am recording them into one clip and then cropping in editing. I have tried other methods such as using the Source Record plugin for OBS but have not gotten it working reliably.

[@nowyatalking]

@@hackbatch thanks your the man I'm trying this out asap I currently use the advanced switch while recording it works great but sometimes while editing it gets a little to chopped this method give me more control of the editing 💪🏾

[@Shermanbay]

I'm curious what cameras (brand, model) you are actually using. Can someone provide that info?

[@itsharryhagen]

2 Questions: 1. What’s your main camera? 2. Do the iPhones need to be connected to the USB hub ?

[@purpkisses7599]

Thank you thank you thank you. Could you possibly do a 1 on 1 to help someone? Or do you have a detailed video on the apps and plug ins?

[@hackbatch]

In the description there’s a link to the blog post with instructions and the plugins you might find helpful!

[@gavinbroder9882]

Thanks for your video totally appreciate the help I’m trying to use a Nikon D3300 for my main camera and not sure if it’s outdated? Can you share with me the model of camera you’re using for the main camera

[@hackbatch]

At the time it was an Canon EOS M200 which has a feature called clean HDMI out, I would check if your camera has something similar

[@gavinbroder9882]

Thank you

[@charlie1872]

Hi, Very interesting. I have a model railway youtube channel and publish through Streamyard. I try to use multiple webcams/iphones but have run into problems with the cameras dropping off. My setup is through my Macbookpro. I wire the webcams in through a card/usb hub and the iPhone(s) I invite via Streamyard. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

[@hackbatch]

Hi I have never used streamyard so I can’t say much on that. The setup I use here uses a few different apps with OBS. They are all linked in a blog post in the description of you are looking for alternatives to try. There’s an app called Detail that I have seen for Mac and IPhones that’s lets you do multicam over USB as well. Might be worth a look

[@charlie1872]

Thanks for responding, I appreciate that 👍

[@safetyhomeloans950]

loved your music selection, I found the artist...I just wanted to ask what the name of the song was. thank you

[@hackbatch]

Thanks! I make most of the music on this channel in GarageBand if they aren’t made and credited to someone else. I cannot actually find the name or the file of the song on my computer.

[@FRBPturning]

I’m setting up something exactly like this for my woodworking channel. I just got some holly land lapel mics to improve my audio and those will start the camera from the transmitter. Can you start OBS with the mic if I use the usb receiver in the computer as opposed to the phone-camera? Would it then come in as a separate audio file or just the main audio for the whole multi camera file? I hope you see this 2 years later…

[@hackbatch]

I am unfamiliar with starting OBS from a microphone receiver but OBS does have a plugin that lets you programmatically control it through websockets. That takes quite a bit of setup though. This method records the source you have active to the main multicam file but there may be a way to get a multitrack audio recording that you can split up later in editing. I would check the audio recoding preferences in OBS for that.

[@FRBPturning]

@hackbatch wow thanks for the speedy reply! The mic recover is just a usb module that plugs into a device. I haven't actually used Obs yet, and I'm fine if there's only one audio track. It's just way easier to start away from the computer with all my protective gear on. I'll have to check if there is a way to trigger it then.

[@nowyatalking]

Back again how do you split the video sources evenly on the screen thanks in advance

[@nowyatalking]

Also how do you record in 4k

[@nowyatalking]

Also how do you record in 4k

[@hackbatch]

You can make a scene that has 4 different sources in it and resize the sources and position them in the scene window in OBS. To record 4 streams in 4K you would need to have an 8K scene or at least computer hardware capable of processing 8K video.

[@nowyatalking]

Thanks again for the info you've been a great help Ive been trying to built a low budget multi cam setup for the last month this is they way I'm going 💪🏾

[@hackbatch]

@nowyatalking Glad I could help! Good luck

[@samroots59]

Hi, nice your video 👍 Bravo 👏 I am on Mac and I would like to record vinyl (music) videos from my alpha58 reflex and then share them on KZbin and I would like to know what software/application can I use to make my videos but also (very important) capture direct audio thanks to my Mac input? And not with an external microphone... (less good quality and surrounding sounds...) because indeed, my mixer and already connected directly to the input of my Mac to capture the sound in direct input with the Audacity software that I use just for the sound part but not for the video of the moment... I would also like to know if by spanking a KZbin live we can select the sound input of the mac? For the best quality audio part without the surrounding noises Thank you in advance if you would guide me and good luck for your videos that I find very captivating. Warmly SamRoots

[@hackbatch]

Hi thanks for your kind comment! I think there’s something different you have to do on Mac to get the internal audio into OBS. Unfortunately I don’t have a Mac on hand right now to test it so I would not know what the solution is. Good luck with your projects!

[@UIUCRock]

The camera you are looking at in the corner is an iPhone? Looks like a regular camera of some sort?

[@hackbatch]

It’s not an iPhone, it’s a Canon EOS M200 although I did use iPhones in this video, just not for that shot from the corner.

[@charlie1872]

Interesting. I have a model railway youtube channel and through my macbook I run two logitech webcams and my iphone. I would like to improve it add an old movie camera to this to get better zooming. Any ideas? Thanks

[@hackbatch]

Hi, it depends on what type of outputs your camera has. If it’s a camcorder you will probably have different options than a DSLR. Many modern cameras have an HDMI out which you can use with a USB capture card to your MacBook. An older camera might have something else at which point I would recommend looking for a capture card for that type of signal. Hope that helps some!

[@charlie1872]

@@hackbatch Thanks for responding.I will need to think it through as I have an older sony camcorder plus I think I have the appropriate cables and one of those h hd capture cards. The logitech webcams aren’t that user friendly to find/operate the zoom. Cheers

[@danweberhealing]

This was great Thanks brother. So as a musician who wants multiple camera angles at once and I want to record them simultaneously, should I use OBS? If they're not in 4K, just 1080 can I still separate them after to edit in imovie? Thanks!

[@danweberhealing]

also can I combine an android phone with an iphone? I have an old samsung A5 but may get an iphone 11 soon. Can you mesh the streams together in OBS from both Droidcam and OBS apps?

[@hackbatch]

I have used both the Droidcam and OBS camera app for iPhone at the same time in OBS without a problem! (I do it in this video in fact) 1080p will work just fine but you will end up with a 4k file to crop down to each individual camera in IMovie unless you use a plugin like Source Record for OBS but I have had trouble with it. If you take a look at the link in the description I wrote a blog post that explains how to to do it with 1080p sources.

[@danweberhealing]

@@hackbatch Thanks!!

[@zainnadaf4866]

الله حيو ابو السيم

[@WTSPod]

was curious how you didn't overload your usb hub with multiple cameras?

[@hackbatch]

No clue, I had it plugged into a usb c port on my MacBook. I always wondered what the limits were.

[@armandoperez3447]

How are you connect 2 different iPhone with obs camera app? I can only make one iPhone show at a time

[@hackbatch]

You need to add a new source for each iPhone in OBS.

[@armandoperez3447]

@@hackbatch what the heck?!!! I have had and used the obs camera app for years and didn’t know I can connect multiple iPhones to it. I try it a few hours ago and it didn’t work. But I just try it again and it work. I had to connect and reconnect one of the phone so they can be recognize. Thank you!! This have save me a lot of headaches

[@hackbatch]

Glad you got it working!

[@SugarSpicePodcast]

Does this work for a multi view recording. For podcasting? Where they can record straight to my computer ? I have a Mac. I’m starting a podcast and want to use our 2 old iPhones for portrait mode and then have one camera for landscape filming…. Does everything record and save into a file for later editing? What would you recommend as an editing program?

[@hackbatch]

There are some more details in the blog post linked in the description. This method records four sources into a single 4K clip. Each source is 1080p and takes up a fourth of the screen. To get each source individually in editing you have to crop the video to each source which is 1080p. Then you can have 4 tracks that you cut between in editing. I use DaVinci Resolve because they have a very professional free version.

[@melaniestamps]

I found your video and also read your blog post. Thank you for the information. To this point I have only done top view videos with my iphone but last night I tried using the "Detail" app so that I could see two screens on my laptop. The laptop camera and the top camera view. I recorded clips from the laptop for a intro and exit clip of me and then did the rest from the top view. I had trouble with the sound and video lining up. I think you call it lagging? Is this because it is over wifi? The clips were fine in "detail" for the most part but then when we transferred it to imovie for editing it messed up and I can't use the face clips because the sound doesn't line up with my lips moving. Can you lend me some guidance??? Remember I am a complete newbie at this multi camera stuff. THANK YOU!!!!!!! P.S. I love what your doing on your channel!!!!! keep up the good work!

[@hackbatch]

Thanks so much for the kind words! I have experienced this delay even over USB in OBS( which is what I use for recording) Fortunately OBS has a setting that lets me adjust the audio delay so that it matches with the video source while I am recording. Unfortunately I have never used the Detail app so I cannot say for sure what the issue is there. I can recommend if you are using a new Mac it might be helpful to look into an editing software like Davinci Resolve. It 's free and has a way to split the audio from video align it.

[@melaniestamps]

@@hackbatch my son was able to show me how to detach the audio in I movie - yay! Thank you so much for getting back to me and helping out!!!!

[@welsonfy5246]

Thanks. Is it possible for each webcam to automatically capture an image in 1080p on the PC for each connected webcam and this automatically?

[@hackbatch]

The only way I know for OBS to capture multiple sources to separate files simultaneously is the SourceRecord plugin. I have never gotten it to work reliably. If your computer is powerful enough and you feel like messing with the plugin, I haven’t used it in while so maybe it has improved. The method shown in this video is a workaround so I didn’t have to use that plugin but I could still record 4 sources to one file and edit them later.

[@johnmcclung4736]

What is the almost lantern-style diffuser on your LED light?

[@hackbatch]

It’s a little soft box that came with the Falcon eyes flexible light. I got it on Amazon. Not sure of the exact model. I have had better luck using an collapsible photography umbrella and a powerful LED bulb however.

[@TheMilford]

does it need to stay as the quadrant or can the footage be edited later into a single frame with edits? excuse the noob question.

[@hackbatch]

The footage can be cropped and edited in a video editor later on. So you can record as quadrants in one file and edit it later on separately from this process.

[@ejaybeatz3609]

how do you edit all video clips or are they just combined all in one?

[@hackbatch]

You can record a single 4K clip with all four 1080p sources within it and then crop multiple copies in the timeline of your edit allowing you to switch between which view is showing in your editing software.

[@privateross99]

dear sir this is only for mac owners? and you say mac does not use a fan? i have a dell lap top with a fan. any tios for me? this stuff too difficult to explain really.

[@hackbatch]

The setup shown here works on Windows and Mac. I only mention the fan because i thought it was cool that the MacBook was efficient and didn't need one.

[@robinwatson4282]

How does a resultant single file contain/provide 4 separate camera source feeds for subsequent multicam editing later? I don't understand this part.

[@hackbatch]

If you crop a 4k file with a 1080p source in each corner, you will have a 1080p source. If you create 4 tracks in editing each with a cropped duplicate of the original 4k clip, you will have 4 separate 1080p tracks to cut between.

[@Boss0Leeny]

Will this work for Live Streaming in real time ??

[@hackbatch]

In order to record the multicam scene and live stream at the same time you would need to use the Source Record plugin which is a 3rd party plugin similar to the other software shown. If you don’t need to record and only want to livestream you can just use OBS like normal.

[@esemulka]

I am trying to resize my 2 multi camera video with a small PIP in right bottom corner. I have the capture of the 2 camera video but how do I resize or edit the video to place one of the videos in the right bottom corner of the multi video recirding?

[@esemulka]

Also I am using me cell phone to record the above 2 camera video to edit.

[@hackbatch]

You have to use two copies of the video clip in your editing software and crop it to the right size and place it where you want. Using a 4k file to record will get you four 1080p videos when cropped to the right resolution.

[@Grandma-EV]

Does this only work hard-wired? I am looking for a 2 or 3 cam setup method for driving, using Android phones and GoPros

[@hackbatch]

Droidcam OBS app works on a WIFI network. I am unsure about GoPros though.

[@Boss0Leeny]

Is this possible with STREAMYARD ❓❓❓

[@hackbatch]

I don’t know I’ve never used Streamyard, sorry

[@AlsadarOfficial]

Mantabb

[@טוביה-ק4ע]

what if i want to record each camera in 4k resulotion?

[@hackbatch]

That might be difficult depending on your computer’s performance. I don’t think you can record in 4K for each camera simultaneously using this method very easily.

[@AlwaysLaurenNicole]

What are you using to actually "start" recording all the cameras at one time?

[@hackbatch]

I’m using the Start recording button in OBS. Once all the feeds are coming live into the software the way I want them there’s no extra setup needed on the cameras to start the recording.

[@Headahhpodcast]

@@hackbatch so all the cameras are connected through cords? How that work if I was interviewing someone via zoom??

[@hackbatch]

You would need to add the Zoom window as a source in OBS. You can do that with a window capture or display capture source. That way you can record the Zoom window as well as any cameras you have connected with a cable to your computer.

[@Headahhpodcast]

@@hackbatch thank you !!!!

[@fajarsiddiq]

how do we convert mkv to mp4?

[@hackbatch]

In OBS use the ‘Remux recordings’ option. I think it’s under the File menu

[@jacquesredmond]

Where is your blog? I am getting a 404 error. :(

[@hackbatch]

Sorry about that! Should be fixed now, thank you for letting me know. The link is in the description again.

[@jacquesredmond]

@@hackbatch I appreciate it. If someone only needs 2 cams (one front and one down facing), how would you configure that?

[@hackbatch]

You can do the same trick with the base canvas resolution, setting it to two times the width of your camera resolution and match the height to your camera resolution. This will give you a video file from OBS that is really wide but just as tall as your camera’s resolution. Then you can place the camera views side by side in the canvas in OBS. You will have to crop it later in editing to show one cam at a time. Or, you can try the ‘source record’ plug-in, it has never worked completely properly for me but you may have luck.

[@jacquesredmond]

@@hackbatch This video you have is for those who already are familiar with camera setups, and making the changes you outlined wouldn't be a problem, however It would be awesome if you could do another video of this geared for the true beginner and break it down showing examples using 2 Webcams or 2 Smartphones, one for a front facial cam, and one for top down. This would be immensely helpful. :)

[@mavisbroadcast]

Hi team @Hackbatch - this is great, thank you for sharing. We would love to put Mavis on your radar, too. This is a cloud-based solution that enables multi-camera productions. Would you be interested in a free trial? Look forward to hearing from you. Cheers, the Mavis team.

[@hackbatch]

Hello, for business inquiries you can visit my website which is linked in the about section of my channel. Thanks for your interest in my work!

[@mokenOS]

Uh...Latency?

[@hackbatch]

I didn’t test anything for latency because I didn’t really experience anything noticeable. But perhaps I don’t understand your question. I was recording and not streaming so any inconsistency can be removed in editing.

[@mokenOS]

@@hackbatchThanks for the response! Using a canon 700D as webcam produces noticable latancy for me. Maybe its different with newer cameras and USB-C? I do know about the Latency compensation thing in OBS but i want to simplyfy the process and Having multiple cameras with different latencys recording into one single video file seems like a pain to synchronize. Wanted a way around that but i guess thats just how it is when using USB. But i realize now what im actually looking for is a no latency multicam STREAMING setup. Even though i might just be recording. Something like the "Elgato Cam Link Pro" is what I need....i think....

[@hackbatch]

@mokenOS Sometimes things are easier to implement in hardware but that usually means more expensive. Also note that I only have the iPhone and smartphone cameras connected over usb straight out of the device. My camera at the time as a canon m200 and I was using a cheap hdmi capture card to turn it into a usb video source but I was not using that camera as a usb webcam with any canon software. That might help to try a cheap capture card first and check the latency. I know that the USB webcam softwares can sometimes introduce latency and lowered resolution.

[@hermanherman1982]

Thank u for that. May i ask something? Lets say i have cameras…. LG Brio stream connected straight to a PC recording a scen from 2 angles and normal camera with LCD screen in my hands. No capture cards what so ever. Will this work? After copying material from camera in my hands, to my pc i would like to make movie using bits from all 3 cameras going back and fourth between files (cutting them in to smaller files and using them here and there) sorry fot „buttery butter” type of comment, im new to this. I used to stream live, never made movie. What to use to edit and render please?

[@hackbatch]

You can use a video editing software like Davinci Resolve which is a free download to drag your clips into a timeline and crop them to be the right size and switch between them in sequence.

[@Cryptoworldhotnews]

hey bro you have email i get few questions

[@hackbatch]

Hello, for business inquiries I have an email you can contact in my channel description. For everything else I would be glad to answer your questions in a comment.

[@jess_hess]

Is it possible to use the OBS system with three separate WebCams?

[@hackbatch]

I think it is! You just have to add them as three sources in your scene. I have seen problems with using three of the same capture card connected to the computer at once but webcams I think should be okay