Blackmagic HyperDeck Disk Recorders Using your HyperDeck as a Webcam

When connected to a computer via USB, your HyperDeck disk recorder will be detected as a webcam. This means you can broadcast the playback or recording from your HyperDeck using streaming software such as Open Broadcaster.

Setting the Webcam Source

In most cases, your streaming software will automatically set HyperDeck as the webcam, so when you launch your streaming software you will see the picture from your HyperDeck Studio straight away. If your software doesn’t select it automatically, simply set the software to use HyperDeck as the webcam and microphone.

Below is an example of how to set the webcam settings on Skype.

1. In Skype’s menu bar, open the ‘audio and video settings’.

2. Click on the ‘Camera’ menu and select your HyperDeck from the list. You will see the video from HyperDeck appear in the preview window.

3. Now go to the ‘microphone’ menu and select your HyperDeck as the audio source.

With your Skype settings set correctly, perhaps try out a Skype call with a friend as a quick test to check your webcam setup is working.

That’s all you need to do, your HyperDeck Studio is now ready to broadcast your video to the world live!

Setting up Open Broadcaster

Open Broadcaster is an open source application that works as a streaming platform between your HyperDeck Studio and your favorite streaming software like YouTube, Twitch, Facebook Live and others. Broadcaster compresses your video to a bit rate that is easily managed by your streaming app.

Below is a demonstration of how to set up Open Broadcaster to stream the webcam output from your HyperDeck Studio using YouTube Live as the streaming service.

Launch Open Broadcaster and click on the plus symbol in the ‘sources’ box.

Select ‘Video Capture Device’.

Name the new source and click ‘OK’.

In the device menu, select your HyperDeck Studio model and click ‘OK’.

Now go to your YouTube account. Click on the ‘go live’ button then click ‘stream’.

In the YouTube ‘stream’ options, enter your broadcast details and click ‘create stream’.

YouTube will now generate a stream key that will direct Open Broadcaster to your YouTube account. Click the ‘copy’ button next to the stream key. Copy the stream key that you will now paste into Open Broadcaster.

Return to Open Broadcaster and open the preferences by clicking on ‘OBS/preferences’ in the menu bar. Select ‘stream’. Now paste in the stream key you copied from YouTube and click ‘OK’. You will now see the video from your HyperDeck in the Open Broadcaster streaming preview window.

To connect Open Broadcaster’s broadcast link to YouTube, click ‘start streaming’ in the bottom right corner of the screen. This establishes the link to YouTube from Open Broadcaster and from here everything will now be set using YouTube Live.

Go back to YouTube Live and you will see the webcam program output from your HyperDeck in the background. Click ‘done’.

With Open Broadcaster now communicating with YouTube Live, you are ready to begin your broadcast. Now it’s time to perform your final checks and make sure everything is good.

If you are all set, you can now begin your broadcast by clicking ‘go live’.

You are now broadcasting live on YouTube with Open Broadcaster.

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NOTE Due to the nature of internet streaming there can often be a delay, so it’s important to watch the stream on YouTube and confirm your program has finished before clicking ‘end stream’ to make sure you don’t accidentally cut the end of your broadcast short.