Simultaneous streaming to Zoom and other platforms with OBS

Overview

You may occasionally want to stream to both Zoom and other platforms simultaneously. This method allows you to reach a broader audience by engaging a small, interactive group on Zoom while broadcasting to a larger, passive audience on platforms like YouTube or Facebook. It helps maximize visibility, allowing content to be shared on multiple channels leveraging the unique features of each platform.

Zoom offers interactive tools like breakout rooms and screen sharing for deeper engagement. At the same time, other platforms provide wide reach, automatic archiving and on-demand replay. This approach can ensure both intimate participation and large-scale exposure.

Zoom offers Business and Webinar plans that allow you to stream directly to another service such as YouTube, Facebook or other platforms, but there are several drawbacks:

1. Expense: The Business plan starts at $19.99/mo per host, and the Webinar plan starts at $40/mo for 100 concurrent participants. 
2. Resolution: You cannot stream at a higher resolution than 720p, which can result in lesser video quality.
3. Watermark: A "Zoom" watermark is added that can't be removed.
4. Quality: Zoom restreams the ingested stream, which can cause audio/video degradation (the "photocopy of a photocopy" effect).

This guide shows you how to stream to Zoom and platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and others that can ingest an RTMP feed simultaneously without the drawbacks of the more expensive Zoom solutions. It covers setting up the stream in OBS, routing the video and audio correctly and ensuring your network configuration supports the necessary ports for streaming.

Prerequisites

1. OBS Studio (or similar software) installed on your PC
2. Accounts for streaming platforms (e.g., YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, etc.) that accept RTMP feeds
3. A stable internet connection with sufficient upload bandwidth for streaming to multiple platforms
4. Basic knowledge of OBS and platform settings.

Set up OBS studio for streaming

Step 1: Configure OBS for video and audio capture

1. Install OBS Studio if you haven’t already
2. Open OBS and create a new scene for your stream
3. Add Video and Audio Sources to the OBS scene

Step 2: Set up virtual camera in OBS (For Zoom)

1. Enable the virtual camera in OBS (this allows OBS’s video feed to be used in Zoom).
   • In OBS, go to Tools > Start Virtual Camera
   • Make sure the virtual camera is running

Step 3: Configure audio monitoring in OBS

1. In OBS, ensure your microphone and desktop audio levels are properly balanced in the Audio Mixer.
2. You can use audio monitoring for checking the audio, but make sure that it’s not enabled for Zoom.

Stream to RTMP services (YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and More)

Step 1: Obtain stream keys for your platforms

1. For each platform (YouTube, Facebook, Twitch, etc.), go to the live streaming section of your account settings
2. You will find a Stream Key and RTMP URL for each platform (usually in the Live Dashboard or Live Streaming Settings)
3. Copy these details for use in OBS

Step 2: Configure OBS for streaming to multiple platforms

1. In OBS, go to Settings > Stream.
2. Set the Stream Type to Custom.
3. Paste the RTMP URL and Stream Key for your first platform (e.g., YouTube, Facebook) into the appropriate fields.
4. Click OK to save the settings.

Step 3: Start streaming

1. Once configuring OBS, click Start Streaming to begin streaming to your selected platforms.

Stream to Zoom

Step 1: Set up Zoom audio and video

1. Video: In Zoom, select OBS Virtual Camera as your video source:
   • Go to Settings > Video > Camera and select OBS Virtual Camera.
2. Audio: In Zoom, ensure that your microphone is selected as the audio source (the same one you’re using in OBS)
   • Go to Settings > Audio and make sure the correct microphone is selected

Step 2: Disable Zoom background effects and filters

1. To avoid conflicts and ensure the most consistent appearance:
   • Go to Settings > Background & Filters in Zoom and disable any background effects, virtual backgrounds, or video filters
   • All background adjustments and video filters should be done in OBS for consistency

Step 3: Start your Zoom meeting

1. Start your Zoom meeting or webinar as usual.
2. Ensure participants can see and hear your video and audio feed from OBS.

Ports that need to be open

If you have access to your router settings, make sure the following ports are open on your network to ensure smooth streaming to YouTube, Facebook, Zoom, and other RTMP services,

For Zoom:

• UDP Ports 3478 to 3479 (for audio and video)
• UDP Ports 8801 to 8810 (for media traffic in high usage scenarios)
• TCP Port 443 (for Zoom client and meeting/webinar connectivity)
• TCP Port 80 (for fallback HTTP connections)

For YouTube, Facebook and other RTMP platforms:

• TCP Port 1935 (for RTMP streaming)
• TCP Port 443 (for fallback streaming via HTTPS)

Final notes

• Bandwidth considerations: Streaming to multiple platforms requires a high upload speed, especially if you are streaming in HD. Make sure your internet connection can handle the combined load.
• Audio quality: Ensure that the audio levels in OBS are properly balanced for all platforms, including YouTube, Facebook, and Zoom.
• Testing: Before going live, run tests to ensure that both video and audio work smoothly on all platforms.

By following these instructions, you can successfully stream to multiple RTMP services such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and others, simultaneously, and manage your Zoom meeting concurrently using OBS.