Hey TouchDesigner community,
We at Derivative are looking for better ways to get a TouchDesigner TOP with audio outputting to streaming social media services such as YouTube, Zoom, Slack, Skype and more. The NDI video streaming protocol is part of the Non-Commercial version, available for anyone to use.
Here’s how you can use an NDI stream to send directly from a TOP to Skype. Follow these directions and it should be easy to figure it out with any other streaming / hangout application.
NOTE: As of May 18 2020 this approach works on both Windows 10 and Mac OS. Follow these instructions for Windows but the general process will be analogous on Mac OS.
Step 1 - Install NDI Tools.
First you need to download NDI Tools 4.0. For this link - https://ndi.tv/tools/ - and scroll to the bottom of the page.
- Download and install NDI Tools.
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From the Windows Start Menu locate the newly installed NDI 4.0 Tools and run the Virtual Input application.
Step 2 - Install and setup the latest desktop version of Skype.
Ensure you have installed the desktop version of the Skype application. There is also a version that comes from the Microsoft Windows Store which looks like the desktop version but it will not work.
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Follow this link to download the desktop version of Skype. Install Skype. https://www.skype.com/en/get-skype/download-skype-for-desktop/
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Open the settings control panel for Skype and locate the Audio & Video section.
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In the Camera settings area, locate the device drop menu and select the “NewTek NDI Video” device.
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You can continue to use the standard microphone settings for talking.
Step 3 - Connect TouchDesigner to NDI Virtual Input.
TouchDesigner will connect to the NewTek NDI Video driver in Skype through the NDI Virtual Input application.
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Download, install and start the latest official TouchDesigner. https://derivative.ca/download
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If you have a camera device connected to the computer, put down a “Video Device TOP”. If you don’t have a Video Capture Device you can use a Movie TOP or whatever you want to generate visual content.
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Connect an “NDI Out TOP”. The default settings are fine. It will automatically generate an NDI Stream called TouchDesigner. You can rename it to whatever you want if you like.
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Next ensure NDI Virtual Input application is running. The application runs with only an icon that is available in the hidden icons area of the Windows taskbar.
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Right click on the NDI Virtual Input icon - a popup menu will appear with an item submenu labelled with your computer name.
- Now when you go to the Skype video camera controls you should see the TouchDesigner feeding directly into Skype.
