Zoom - how can I switch between two cameras and microphones on the fly?
July 6, 2020 10:09 AM   Subscribe

How can I most efficiently switch between multiple video and audio inputs during a Zoom call?

I'm a video editor working entirely remotely right now because duh.
Sometimes clients want to "supervise" a session and when they do I use Zoom via my Macbook Pro.
I have the built in camera/microphone for myself and then a device that feeds the video and audio out from my workstation via USB into the Macbook which Zoom can then see as a second camera.
I am able to set up zoom so I can switch between the video and and audio input devices.
What I want to know is... is there a way I can map this step to my keyboard so that with one button I can change both the video and audio input from one device to another?
This would greatly speed up my workflow and make switching from presenting to conversing much more smooth.
posted by matt_od to Computers & Internet (6 answers total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Hmmm. From this Support site it looks like there’s a keyboard shortcut for switching cameras, but not microphones. By default it’s alt-N on windows and command-shift-N on Mac but zoom will let you remap basically anything. Not sure if there’s a mic equivalent....
posted by Tomorrowful at 10:49 AM on July 6, 2020


Was about to link the same page as Tomorrowful; you can remap keys as long as you can find a shortcut, so that shouldn't be difficult for switching the camera. For the audio you could always use an inline 2:1 USB switch or analog audio switch, but that may not be any faster than switching in the Zoom interface.
posted by aspersioncast at 10:52 AM on July 6, 2020


Maybe one of Rogue Amoeba's audio apps would help here? SoundSource and Loopback seem to have hotkey toggles that maybe you could combine with Zoom's camera keyboard toggles?
posted by bluecore at 11:04 AM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Can you give your workstation its own Zoom account and have both logged on? Not a one-step solution but I think muting the workstation's audio/video might still be faster than switching between devices in one account.
posted by yeahlikethat at 1:44 PM on July 6, 2020


A little more complex to setup but maybe have a look at OBS and virtual camera to feed the result into Zoom
posted by Z303 at 4:19 PM on July 6, 2020 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks for your help y'all. I ended up purchasing a Blackmagic ATEM Mini and it's working well.
posted by matt_od at 1:58 PM on October 6, 2020


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