News How to Use Raspberry Pi as a PC Webcam

[Admin]

Having trouble getting a USB webcam for your PC? You can use a Raspberry Pi with camera module instead.

How to Use Raspberry Pi as a PC Webcam : Read more

 

[DWBollweevil]

I think you left out a step, before step 9... don't you need to clone the mjpg-streamer repo from github?

 

[DWBollweevil]

Are there any extra steps to get the camera recognized by Google Hangouts or Jitsi Meet? I'm able to see the camera working at http://raspberrypi:8080/?action=stream, and IP Camera Adapter autodetects successfully, but I'm unable to actually use it in either of the apps I need it for. FWIW, the Windows 10 'Camera' app also does not recognize the camera at all. Any help is appreciated!

 

[daglesj]

Alternatively just use one of the other 12 devices you have to hand with a webcam already built in and ready to go.

Looking round my living room alone I count 9!

 

[enitka]

Having trouble getting a USB webcam for your PC? You can use a Raspberry Pi with camera module instead.

How to Use Raspberry Pi as a PC Webcam : Read more

Now I've gone and broken the cuff for the flat cable on the camera - any source for replacement cuffs ? ernie

 

[graysoniv]

Hey there after this step
mjpg_streamer -i “input_raspicam.so” -o output_http

I get this error

ERROR: could not find output plugin output_http

Any ideas? think im missing a plugin but dont know how to install it.

 

[MCaLeer]

I think he forgot the .so after -o output_http.so

Also mistype in the step regarding the usb gadget...it should not be cmdline.text but cmdline.txt

-if you use what is written there it will create a new file and won't make sense.

 

[menacing]

I think he forgot the .so after -o output_http.so

You're right.

mjpg_streamer -i "input_raspicam.so" -o "output_http.so"

Also for me I had a problem copying and pasting the wrong type of """" marks.

Great guide though, thank you.

 

[tomasf]

Alternatively just use one of the other 12 devices you have to hand with a webcam already built in and ready to go.

Looking round my living room alone I count 9!

I thougth the same. Phone(s), tables, laptop. An old webcam.

 

[Bezalel79]

Do you think it is possible to connect 3 external USB cameras and generate 3 distinct streams?
thanks

 

[Mordog89]

@menacing This worked! thanks for the line to copy!

 

[yagmur34]

I wonder if we can apply the same as for Raspberry Pi's CSI camera?

 

[Cozzamara]

So in case of Direct USB connection between Pi Zero W and PC, how does this setup take advantage of that direct connection, if video stream goes through WiFi anyway ?

I guess the intention was to stream through Ethernet over USB network, but PC and Pi are not able to communicate over that network in my case. Did I miss anything ?

 

[hahof]

I have a Debian-based Linux PC.
IP Camera Adapter is for Windows.
How do I use my raspberry pi as a webcom on Linux?

 

[Dr.J]

Thank you that was a big Help considering I had this Pi B+ and Pi cam for years and I didn't have a webcam I had a web conference the next day I didn't know what to do but I knew this was possible and even better then I was thinking how it was gonna work now Im ready to do more with my pi and possibly get the pi 4 and build an intrusive robot wife to come over to remind me of my web appointments as well as turn on its cam automatically whether Im ready for it or not.

 

[Dr.J]

I wonder if we can apply the same as for Raspberry Pi's CSI camera?

???? apply what?

 

[RufusVS]

Another typo is startcam.sh and smartcam.sh

 

[gmontjr]

Just found your procedure and it worked, despite that typo where you the .so off of output_http.
I tried a few other how-tos and they didn't work or left something out.
Thank you so much!

 

[Bonzadog]

Does not seem to work under Bullseye and I need to observe the RPI Camera , nort a WebCam - from my PC (Win 10 Pro)
Any help on this, please????



nt@CAM1:~ $ sudo apt-get install cmake libjpeg8-dev -y
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
Package libjpeg8-dev is not available, but is referred to by another package.
This may mean that the package is missing, has been obsoleted, or
is only available from another source
However the following packages replace it:
libjpeg9-dev libjpeg62-turbo-dev

E: Package 'libjpeg8-dev' has no installation candidate

And ignoring that error an proceeding to the next step.


ake[1]: Leaving directory '/home/nt/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental/_build'
nt@CAM1:~/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental $ mjpg_streamer -i “input_raspicam.so” -o output_http
MJPG Streamer Version: git rev: 310b29f4a94c46652b20c4b7b6e5cf24e532af39
ERROR: could not find input plugin
Perhaps you want to adjust the search path with:
# export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/plugin/folder
dlopen: “input_raspicam.so”: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
nt@CAM1:~/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental/mjpg-streamer/mjpg-streamer-experimental $