I am trying to use a RTSP stream from an IP camera as video input source for various applications on Windows (eg. Skype, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, etc.).
The only solution I have found so far is using "webcam 7", an application that fetches an RTSP stream and creates a virtual webcam driver that registers in system as webcam and that any application can then use. Unfortunately, this application often becomes unstable and might crash randomly.
Are there any alternative/better ways for achieving this?
As a rule, browsers do not support RTSP, so the video stream is converted for a browser using an intermediate server.
Before you have your RTSP address entered, you're going to go into the web interface for the camera you're going to be streaming and go to “Set Up”, “Network”, and then “Port.” You need to make sure your RTSP Port is set to 554. This should be the default setting, but it doesn't hurt to check before you get going!
So, can you use an IP camera as a webcam? The answer is yes. This can be done using a free software on the PC that receives and understands the encoded video stream coming in from the IP camera over the local network and converts it into an integrated webcam, selectable in different video conferencing applications.
This is easily achieved with the media player VLC which can be downloaded from here. Once VLC is installed and the camera is connected to the computer. Press Media and click Open Network Stream... Choose the Network tab and enter RTSP:\\<IP-address-to-Camera>.
Create your own DirectShow video capture filter (there are lots of examples - this is a great one) and handle the RTSP stream inside it. This way you can implement the stability yourself.
I know this is a bit old question. But you can also have look at vlc2vcam, looks promising.
Try Moonware Universal Source Filter from http://netcamstudio.com. The only drawback is that it creates only video "composite" device that sends both video + audio and Skype can only see the video (I think most of applications does the same). If I find an easy way to split that stream will post it here.
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