LiveStreamConnectorToOBS for Virt-A-Mate

Stream any VaM camera as MJPEG over HTTP. No Spout, no NDI, no native DLLs — just a URL that any browser or OBS Browser Source can open.

A maintained fork of LiveStreamConnectorToOBS by MahiroOyama (CC BY), rebuilt around a raw TcpListener so the stream can reach other devices on your network, with an access key, a throughput toggle, and live diagnostics.

✨ What this fork adds

• 🌐 Network access — bind all interfaces instead of loopback only, so a phone, tablet or second PC can view the stream. No elevation, no netsh http add urlacl.
• 🔑 Access key — optional shared secret required as ?key=…; anything else gets 403.
• 🔽 GPU downscale — stream smaller than the source camera. Every cost scales with pixel count, so this is the strongest dial available.
• 🧵 Threaded JPEG encoding — the encode runs on a worker thread instead of the main thread, so streaming costs a buffer copy rather than a full encode.
• 💤 No cost with no viewers — capture is skipped entirely while nothing is connected.
• 📊 Live diagnostics — game fps, stream fps, encode ms, re-render ms and client count, refreshed once a second, so you can see which cost dominates before changing anything.
• 🛡️ Hardened server — enforced 4-client cap, request timeouts, bounded send buffers, so a slow viewer drops frames instead of stalling the stream.

🚀 Installation

1. Download FivelSystems.LiveStreamConnectorToOBS.<n>.var from Releases.
2. Drop it into your AddonPackages folder and start VaM.
3. Select any atom → Plugins → Add Plugin → LiveStreamConnectorToOBS.cslist.

🎮 Usage

1. Pick a source camera. Entries are labelled with their resolution and parent atom.
2. Copy the URL. The OBS URL field always shows the correct URL for the current settings, including host and access key. Default http://localhost:8088/stream.
3. In OBS: add a Browser Source, paste the URL, set the source Width and Height to match the plugin's, and untick Shutdown source when not visible.

Opening the bare URL (http://localhost:8088/) in a browser serves a plain viewer page, which is the quickest way to confirm the stream works before touching OBS.

Choosing a source camera

Selection	Cost
A camera that already has a RenderTexture (WindowCamera, CUA phone screen)	Free. It was already drawn this frame; the plugin just reads it.
A camera without one (the main view)	Costly. The scene is rendered a second time per capture.
-- Create New Camera --	Currently streams black — see Known limitations.

If the render figure in the Status line is above a few ms, you picked the second row.

📊 Reading the Status line

game 58 fps  |  stream 19.4 fps  |  main 1.1 ms  |  jpeg 10.4 ms  |  render 0.0 ms  |  1 client

Field	Meaning
game	Frames VaM ran.
stream	Frames actually encoded and sent. The real output rate.
main	Main-thread ms per capture. This is the only figure that costs you framerate.
jpeg	Worker-thread ms for the last encode. Off the frame budget.
render	Main-thread ms per capture spent re-rendering the scene.
dropped	Frames superseded before the worker reached them. Only shown when non-zero.

Symptom	Cause	Fix
render > 5 ms	Source camera has no RenderTexture.	Pick one that has.
main > 5 ms	The buffer copy is large.	Lower Width/Height.
jpeg > 30 ms	Worker cannot keep up with Target FPS.	Lower Width/Height or Target FPS.
dropped climbing steadily	Capturing faster than the worker encodes.	Lower Target FPS.
stream hits Target FPS but looks choppy	Not the plugin.	Client-side decode or display rate.

⚡ Framerate

AsyncGPUReadback never stalls the GPU, but only one request is in flight at a time and each takes 2–3 frames to return, so throughput is about game fps ÷ 2–3. Raising Target FPS above that ceiling does nothing.

Threaded Encode (on by default) runs the JPEG encode on a worker thread using a built-in encoder, leaving the main thread with only a buffer copy. Turning it off falls back to Unity's EncodeToJPG on the main thread, which is what the main figure will then report. The built-in encoder produces files within a few percent of Unity's at the same quality setting.

If the worker is still busy when the next frame is captured, that frame is dropped rather than queued — the stream always shows the newest frame, never a backlog.

Bandwidth and cost dials, in order of effect: Width/Height (halving to 960×540 cuts both the copy and the encode by more than half), then JPEG Quality (75 → 45 saves a great deal for little visible loss), then Target FPS.

🌐 Network access and security

Allow Network Access off (the default) binds loopback only. On, it binds every interface, making the stream reachable from other devices — a live view of your scene, served to anything that can route to the host. An inbound firewall rule for the port may also be required.

Access Key: leave it empty and no key is required. Set it and every request must carry ?key=…. The generated OBS URL and the built-in viewer page both include it automatically. It is a query parameter over plain HTTP: adequate over an already-encrypted transport, readable otherwise, and it lands in browser history. Put a reverse proxy in front of the port if that matters.

At most 4 concurrent stream clients are accepted; further requests get 503.

Windows Firewall

Binding every interface is not enough on its own -- Windows still has to let the traffic in. The first time the server binds with Allow Network Access on, Windows raises a Windows Security Alert asking whether to allow VaM to communicate. Tick both Private and Public and accept. That is the whole setup, and it needs no command line.

Two things commonly go wrong:

• The prompt never appears. In VR or exclusive fullscreen it opens behind the game and is easy to miss. Turn network access on once with VaM in desktop windowed mode, answer the prompt, then go back to VR.
• The network is classified Public. Windows applies a separate firewall profile per network, and a Public network is filtered far more aggressively than a Private one. A stream that works on your home Wi-Fi can fail on another network for this reason alone. Check under Settings -> Network & Internet -> your connection -> Network profile type.

If the prompt was missed or dismissed, allow VaM by hand: Start -> Allow an app through Windows Firewall -> Change settings -> Allow another app... -> browse to VaM.exe -> tick Private and Public. This needs a local administrator; a standard user account cannot grant it.

🎛️ UI reference

Control	Notes
Enable Streaming	Off stops the server.
Threaded Encode	On by default. Off reverts to EncodeToJPG on the main thread. Persists.
Flip Output Vertically	On by default. Turn off only if the stream arrives upside down. Persists.
Allow Network Access	Off = loopback only. On = all interfaces. Persists.
Access Key	Empty = open. Otherwise required as ?key=…. Persists.
Port	Default 8088. Changing it restarts the server. Persists.
Source Camera	See above. Refresh with the button below it. Persists.
Width	Stream resolution. Lower than the source downscales on the GPU. Persists.
Height	Set freely. Any aspect ratio; the image fills the frame and is cropped, never stretched. Persists.
Target FPS	A ceiling, not a guarantee.
JPEG Quality	Applied live, no restart. The most effective bandwidth dial.
OBS URL	Read-only. The correct URL for current settings.
All Addresses	Read-only. One URL per interface the host answers on, most likely reachable first.
Status	Diagnostics, refreshed once a second.

Source Camera, Port, Width, Height, JPEG Quality, Target FPS, Flip Output Vertically, Allow Network Access and Access Key all save with the scene.

⚠️ Known limitations

• IPv4 only. The listener binds IPAddress.Any; clients reaching the host over IPv6 will not connect.
• -- Create New Camera -- streams black. The created camera is never rendered. Pick an existing camera instead.
• Dragging Width, Height or Port restarts the server on every frame of the drag, which drops connected clients. Set the value, then reconnect OBS.
• Streaming still costs framerate. The encode runs on a worker thread, but at a large source resolution it can still fail to keep up and will contend for CPU. Lower Width to downscale on the GPU before anything else.

🤝 Credits

• MahiroOyama — original LiveStreamConnectorToOBS (CC BY). The capture pipeline and camera scanner are theirs.
• FivelSystems — TcpListener server rewrite, network access, access key, Sync Capture, diagnostics.
• MeshedVR — the MVRScript plugin framework.

❤️ Support

If you find this useful, consider buying me a coffee. ☕

📜 License

CC BY 4.0, inherited from the original work. See LICENSE.

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VaM Hub BBCode (Click to Expand)

[size=5][b]LiveStreamConnectorToOBS for Virt-A-Mate[/b][/size]

Stream any VaM camera as [b]MJPEG over HTTP[/b]. No Spout, no NDI, no native DLLs -- just a URL that any browser or OBS Browser Source can open.

A maintained fork of [url=https://hub.virtamate.com/resources/livestreamconnectortoobs.67984/]LiveStreamConnectorToOBS by MahiroOyama[/url] (CC BY).

[size=4][b]What this fork adds[/b][/size] [list] [] [b]Network access[/b]: bind all interfaces instead of loopback only, so a phone or second PC can view the stream. No elevation, no URL ACL. [] [b]Access key[/b]: optional shared secret required as ?key=... ; anything else gets 403. [] [b]GPU downscale[/b]: stream smaller than the source camera. Every cost scales with pixel count, so this is the strongest dial available. [] [b]Threaded JPEG encoding[/b]: the encode runs on a worker thread, so streaming costs a buffer copy rather than a full encode. [] [b]No cost with no viewers[/b]: capture is skipped entirely while nothing is connected. [] [b]Live diagnostics[/b]: game fps, stream fps, main-thread ms, worker ms, re-render ms and client count, once a second. [*] [b]Hardened server[/b]: 4-client cap, request timeouts, bounded send buffers. [/list]

[size=4][b]Setup[/b][/size] [list=1] [] Add the plugin to any atom. [] Pick a Source Camera. One that already owns a render texture (WindowCamera, CUA phone screen) is free to capture. [] Copy the URL from the [b]OBS URL[/b] field. [] In OBS: Browser Source, paste the URL, match Width/Height, untick "Shutdown source when not visible". [/list]

[size=4][b]Tuning[/b][/size] Read the Status line before changing anything. High [i]render[/i] means your source camera has no render texture -- pick another. High [i]main[/i] means lower Width/Height. High [i]jpeg[/i] means the worker cannot keep up -- lower Width/Height or Target FPS. Target FPS is a ceiling, not a guarantee.

[size=4][b]Known limitations[/b][/size] [list] [] IPv4 only. [] "Create New Camera" streams black -- pick an existing camera. [] Dragging Width/Height/Port restarts the server and drops clients. [] Windows must allow VaM through the firewall before another device can connect. Answer the Windows prompt, or allow VaM.exe by hand for both Private and Public networks. [/list]

[size=4][b]Credits[/b][/size] [list] [] [b]MahiroOyama[/b]: original plugin, capture pipeline and camera scanner (CC BY). [] [b]FivelSystems[/b]: server rewrite, network access, access key, diagnostics. [/list]

[size=4][b]Support[/b][/size] If you find this useful, consider buying me a coffee. [url=https://buymeacoffee.com/fivelsystems]buymeacoffee.com/fivelsystems[/url]

[size=4][b]License[/b][/size] [b]CC BY 4.0[/b], inherited from the original work.