How to stream with 2 PCs

Over time, thanks to your live videos, you managed to get a fair number of followers. For your next live, you’d like to stream content from two different computers at the same time, however you feel you don’t have the technical skills to do so and are looking for some advice on how to proceed.

How do you say? That’s it? Then you have nothing to fear: I’m here, ready to give you a hand! In the course of this tutorial, in fact, I will explain to you in detail how to jam with 2 PCs , whether they are physically close and connected to each other via HDMI, or belonging to the same local network.

I assure you that, with the right tools and a few minutes of time, you can get noteworthy results. So, without waiting any longer, make yourself comfortable and carefully read everything I have to explain to you on the subject: I’m sure that, at the end of reading this guide, you will have acquired the necessary skills to brilliantly achieve your goal. Having said that, there is nothing left for me to do, except wish you good reading and have fun!

Index

• Required material
• How to stream with 2 PCs with OBS
• How to stream with 2 PCs without capture card

Required material

To be able to carry out a live stream by sending, at the same time, the images from two different computers, one of them must run the software through which to start the live broadcast. The second computer can be physically connected to the first, or via LAN .

My advice is to opt, if possible, for the physical connection with the help of a good quality USB HDMI capture card : by doing so, you will be sure that the images coming from the secondary PC are captured by the transmission software in clear way, without the risk of running into lag or other display problems.

 

4K Video Capture Cards, HDMI US Video Capture Card …

See offer on Amazon

 

Video Capture Card USB 3.0 Game Capture 4K 60fps Capture Card 1 …

See offer on Amazon

 

 

OTHA Video capture card, Audio capture device H …

See offer on Amazon

 

In order to use a similar device, the HDMI connector of the acquisition card must be connected directly to the input of the same name on the computer that will configure and start the live streaming; the secondary PC must be connected to the HDMI input on the acquisition card, using a special cable .

To ensure that the images coming from both computers are transmitted, it is sufficient to configure the streaming software appropriately: in this case, I recommend Open Broadcaster Software , also known as OBS , which is free, open source, compatible with all major operating systems and performs its job very well (in fact it is among the most used in this area).

 

KabelDirekt – 1m – 4K HDMI Cable (4K @ 120Hz and 4K @ 60Hz for a spectacular …

See offer on Amazon

 

Amazon Basics – Ultra HD HDMI 2.0 High Speed ​​Cable, 3D formats to …

See offer on Amazon

 

 

Twozoh 4K HDMI Cable 1M, Nylon Braided HDMI 2.0 Cable Supports 4K 60 …

See offer on Amazon

 

Furthermore, if you want the images coming from the second computer to be displayed simultaneously on its monitor, you will need to get an HDMI splitter with at least two ways, able to “split” the signal coming from the computer in two and direct it, at the same time, both on the screen and towards the capture card.

 

HDMI Splitter, ABLEWE Aluminum 4K HDMI Splitter 1 In 2 Out Supports HD …

See offer on Amazon

 

1 in 2 Output HDMI Splitter, Full HD 3D 4K HDMI Splitter for Two Monit …

See offer on Amazon

 

4K HDMI Splitter 1×2, Snxiwth HDMI Splitter 1 Input 2 Outputs, 1 …

See offer on Amazon

 

Alternatively, if you do not have the necessary equipment and you do not want (or cannot) get it, you can appropriately configure OBS on both computers, so that the contents can be sent from the secondary PC and acquired from the primary one through the LAN, connecting both computer to the same router: this approach, however, could cause some problems in terms of performance. In the following sections of this guide, I will explain how to implement each of the aforementioned procedures.

How to stream with 2 PCs with OBS

As already mentioned above, for the transmission of content, I recommend that you rely on the OBS software , a free multiplatform program available for both Windows and macOS and Linux. In this case, the software must be installed and configured exclusively on the computer through which the live broadcast will be started.

To begin with, position yourself in front of the PC that will not stream (presumably the one dedicated exclusively to the game) and prepare it for transmission , starting the title / program to be shown online and applying the right adjustments to the screen.

When you’re done, connect it via HDMI to the capture card , if you don’t need external graphics feedback; if, on the other hand, you have also chosen to use the splitter (in order to see the contents running on the external monitor as well), connect the HDMI output of the splitter to the computer and connect the second monitor and the capture card to the HDMI inputs of the splitter same.

Once this is done, positioned in front of the computer from which to stream , insert the HDMI output of the capture card into the HDMI port of the computer (wait a few moments for the drivers to be installed) and, if you do not yet have OBS, download it and install it: then go to the software home page, click on the button that best suits your operating system (eg Windows or macOS ) and wait for the OBS installation program to be downloaded to your computer.

When the download is complete, start the file obtained and, if you are using Windows , press the Next button twice in a row, then click Install and Finish ; if everything went smoothly, the program should automatically start the initial configuration procedure.

If yours is a Mac , open the .dmg file downloaded just now, drag the OBS icon to the macOS Applications folder using the transfer window that appears, double-click the icon you just copied and press the Open button , if necessary, to authorize the software to run (you only need to do this the first time). Now, click on the OK button to allow OBS to access the microphone and wait for the software first configuration screen to open.

From this moment on, the procedures are the same: put the check mark next to the word Optimize for live broadcasts , the recordings are less important , click on the Next button and indicate, using the dedicated drop-down menus, the resolution to be used in phase of streaming and the number of fps .

Now, click on the Next button , indicate the streaming service you intend to use using the appropriate drop-down menu (eg Twitch , YouTube , Facebook and so on) and connect OBS to your account by pressing the appropriate button, or enter the stream key / code of the live shows associated with your profile, by typing them in the appropriate fields.

After this step too, press the Next button and then the Yes button , in order to carry out an automatic network test to determine the connection speed and apply optimal settings; to finish, click on the Apply settings button and that’s it.

Please note that you can also intervene on streaming adjustments in manual mode, by clicking on the Settings button located at the bottom right and clicking on the Direct tab . To change the parameters such as video resolution and audio quality, instead, you need the Audio and Video cards respectively .

If you need step-by-step instructions on setting up OBS for online streaming, I refer you to reading my tutorial on how to set up OBS or, if you need specific directions for YouTube and Twitch, to my guides on how to do live. on YouTube and how to stream on Twitch .

At this point, you are ready to configure the live broadcast: first of all, locate the OBS Scenes box and click on the Scene item inside it; if it is not there, press on the [+] symbol located a little further down, to create a new scene.

Now, you need to add everything you want to transmit to the scene: the content of the monitor you are watching or an active window on it, the content of the second computer and, if you wish, the audio and the webcam.

To do this, locate the Sources box , press the [+] button located in its correspondence and select the item Capture the screen from the menu that is proposed to you, if you intend to transmit the entire desktop, or the items Browser or Capture a window to capture , respectively, the content of a browser tab or of a specific window; subsequently, click on the OK button , specify whether to capture the cursor or not by intervening on the appropriate box and press the OK button .

Following this operation, you will see the entire contents of your desktop appear in the central section of OBS: to resize the window within the scene, use the borders that appear in correspondence with the selection rectangle; to move it, “grab” it with the mouse and release it at the point you want.

If the computer you are going to start streaming from is a Mac , at this stage, you will be asked to give OBS permission to record the screen : when this happens, press the Open System Preferences button , click the padlock symbol locked located at the bottom left, enter the Mac administration password in the appropriate field and put the check mark next to any item concerning OBS . Finally, close System Preferences and return to the software window.

Now, proceed to insert the contents of the secondary computer on the scene: click again on the [+] button located at the bottom of the Sources box , select the Video capture device item from the menu that appears and click OK .

When you reach the next panel, select the capture card name from the Device drop-down menu and, if you deem it necessary, use the remaining options that appear on the screen to define the display parameters. If you don’t have a clue what to do, I recommend that you leave the default options unchanged.

Finally, click on the OK button and reposition the contents of the secondary computer, acting on the appropriate resizing window; I point out that you can reorder the elements, simply by dragging the respective names up or down, within the Sources box .

If you wish, you can also insert the webcam content into the scene by adding a new Video Capture Device : remember, this time, to set the Device menu to the name of the webcam to be captured.

Finally, if necessary, add the audio to your video by clicking on the [+] button below the Sources box and choosing the Capture audio input item , to insert the sounds coming from the microphone and / or the capture card , or the voice Capture audio output , to insert the sounds played by your computer. Either way, make sure you select the correct input / output device from the Devices drop-down menu .

Once the scene has been configured, you just have to click on the Start live button , located in the lower right corner of OBS, to immediately start broadcasting the contents; to stop streaming, click on the End live button instead . It wasn’t that hard, wasn’t it?

How to stream with 2 PCs without capture card

If, for some reason, you cannot (or do not want to) use a capture card and / or an external splitter, you can stream what happens on two computers at the same time, again via OBS, as long as they are connected to the same network. LAN or Wi-Fi .

This approach, however, could be more problematic than what we saw earlier: firstly, OBS must also be installed and configured on the computer that is not involved in streaming; secondly, the transmission of contents via the LAN network could cause delays in the acquisition of images by the computer used for streaming, reducing – even significantly – the quality of the live broadcast.

How do you say? Do you want to proceed anyway? Fine, no problem. First, install and configure OBS on the PC used for streaming, as I indicated in the previous chapter of this guide; subsequently, switch to the computer that does not have to start the live broadcast (presumably the gaming one), install OBS and, once the first configuration is complete , close the program completely .

Now, still on the same computer, you have to download the OBS-NDI plugin , to activate the acquisition of content via the LAN: therefore connected to this web page, click on the Go to download button and then on the obs-ndi-XX- link. Windows-Installer.exe , if you use Windows , or on the obs-ndi-XX-macOS.pkg link , if yours is a Mac.

Once you have the file, start it and, if you are using Windows , click on the Yes and Next buttons twice consecutively; now, press the Yes button again and click on the Next (three consecutive times) and Install buttons . Finally, put the check mark next to the item I accept the agreement , press the Next button for another four consecutive times and finalize everything by pressing the Install and Finish buttons (twice). If necessary, restart your computer to apply the changes.

If, on the other hand, yours is a Mac , open the previously downloaded .pkg file , click on the Continue and Install buttons and, when prompted, enter the Mac password in the appropriate field. Now, hit the Install Software, Close and Move buttons and restart your Mac .

Now, you just have to proceed with the installation of the NDI runtime : therefore connected to this website , click on the link ndi-runtime-XY-macOS.pkg (replacing XY with the version of NDI downloaded previously) and, once once the file has been downloaded, run it. Now, press the Continue button twice in a row, accept the terms of the software license, press the Continue button once again and enter the Mac password in the appropriate field when prompted. Finally, click on the Install Software , Close and Move buttons .

Once the installation of OBS NDI is complete, you must activate the plugin and assign a name to the computer from which to acquire the contents: open the OBS program and, if prompted, authorize the program to bypass the Windows firewall by clicking on the Unblock button .

Next, click on the Tools menu and select NDI Output Settings from the menu that appears. Once in the new window, put the check mark next to the Main output item , assign a name to the computer by typing it in the appropriate field and click on the OK button to apply the settings.

Once this is done, minimize OBS and switch to the computer that will have to take care of transmitting the live: start the configuration of a new scene as I explained above and, to add the remote computer, click on the [+] button located at the bottom in the Sources box , select the NDI Source item from the menu that appears, click on the OK button and use the Source name drop-down menu to select the name of the computer from which to acquire the contents.

If you can’t see the remote screen during setup, fear not: this is absolutely normal. Anyway, click the OK button to add the computer content to the scene and reposition it where you want. Once you have finished configuring the live, press the Start live button to start streaming.