Connecting Cameras & Video Inputs
Visibox’s Camera Clip can display any live video feed, not only webcams. USB cameras are the most common input, but you can also feed in any HDMI source (a game console, a secondary computer, a video switcher, a broadcast camera) using an inexpensive HDMI capture adapter. If your computer sees it as a camera, Visibox can use it.
USB Cameras
USB cameras are usually called “webcams,” but hardware adapters and software let you connect many other digital cameras too. If a camera works with Zoom, it will probably work with Visibox. Most laptops also have a built-in camera: set one next to your drummer and add a Camera Clip for an instant drum cam.
HDMI Video Inputs
To pull an HDMI source into Visibox as a live feed (a game console, a video mixer, a second computer, a broadcast camera), you need an HDMI capture adapter. It is sometimes called a capture card or video capture device. These devices plug into your computer via USB and present any HDMI signal as a standard camera input, so Visibox (and Zoom, OBS, or any other app) can use it just like a webcam.
What you need:
- An HDMI capture adapter (USB devices from brands like Elgato or Magewell work well, as do generic ones. Look for “USB capture card” or “HDMI to USB capture”.)
- An HDMI cable from your video source to the capture adapter
To set it up:
- Connect your HDMI source (game console, camera, switcher, etc.) to the capture adapter with an HDMI cable.
- Plug the capture adapter into a USB port on your computer.
- The device appears in Settings > Devices alongside your other cameras.
- Add a Camera Clip to your Song and select the capture adapter as the source.
Most USB HDMI capture adapters need no drivers on macOS or Windows. They show up on their own as a standard video device. If your adapter isn’t appearing, check that it’s fully seated in the USB port and that no other app has exclusive access to the device.
HDMI capture adapters vary in quality and latency. For live performance, look for adapters with low-latency pass-through and at least 1080p/30fps capture. Elgato Cam Link, Magewell USB Capture HDMI, and similar devices are popular choices in live production environments.
Virtual Cameras
Visibox also supports “virtual cameras”: software extensions that let your computer see an application as a camera. This software may capture a hardware camera input and add effects, or it may capture the output of a software application such as OBS or ManyCam. A hardware network camera that sends a video stream over the network may also create a virtual camera you can use in Visibox. Virtual cameras add camera or video feeds to your setup without saturating your USB bus.
NDI Cameras
NDI sends video over a network instead of a cable. An NDI sender on your network (a hardware NDI camera, another computer, or an app that broadcasts NDI) can be a Camera Clip too. NDI sources appear in the camera list alongside your physical inputs, with no capture hardware and no cable beyond the network.
By default Visibox connects to an NDI source only while its Clip is playing, which keeps network use down. Turn on Connect to NDI Cameras Before Playing in Devices Settings to hold the connection open from the moment the Project opens, so the first frame is instant.
Setting Up Cameras & Video Inputs
Every connected camera and video input shows up under Settings > Devices. Default Camera picks the one a new Camera Clip uses.
Right-click a Camera Clip in the Controller window to point that one Clip at a specific device. Three cameras and an HDMI capture adapter can all run at once, each on its own Clip.
The menu bar offers the same list under Song > Add Camera Clip, which picks the device as it adds the Clip. When the computer has no camera or video input connected, that submenu reads No Cameras Found.
Resolution and frame rate
Each camera in Settings > Devices has its own Capture Settings: a Resolution and a Frame Rate.
Both start at Auto, which lets the camera pick. Set them yourself when you want a specific format, or to hold a camera down to something your machine can carry comfortably through a long show. The lists offer only what that camera reports it can do.
Under the two controls, a Current: line shows what the camera is actually delivering right now, as width by height and frames per second. If the camera is not running, it reads “not streaming”.
These are per camera and belong to the machine, not to the Project. The same Project on a different computer uses that computer’s settings.
When a camera goes missing
Cameras get unplugged, and operating systems reassign device identifiers. When you open a Project on a machine where a Camera Clip’s camera is not present, Visibox first tries to match it up by name and position in the device list. Most of the time the Clip repairs itself and you never notice.
When it cannot, the Clip shows Unknown Camera. To fix it, right-click the Clip and choose a camera from Replace with Camera.
If other Clips were using the same missing camera, Visibox asks whether to move those across too (“Update 3 other clips using this camera?”). Say yes and the whole set is repaired in one step, which counts as a single undo.
Two identical cameras report identical names to the operating system. Visibox falls back to their position in the device list, which follows the port rather than the unit. Swap two matching cameras between ports and their Clips swap with them.