It seems that remote work isn’t going anywhere any time soon, and you and your editing team may feel like you’re stuck in an endless cycle of draft uploads, zoom meetings full of vague notes about the drafts, more edits, and more uploads.
There has to be a better way, right?
In an ideal world, everyone would be crowded into the editing suite, watching, talking, and editing all at once. What if you could replicate that experience at a distance?
Now, Zoom is the video conferencing platform of choice and is nearly universal in its use in modern workplaces. So is it possible to stream your Filmora-based editing sessions over Zoom?
We’re going to explore some common workflows that people are attempting to use to stream their editing sessions live over Zoom, and examine whether any of them truly meet the needs of the modern editing team.
Workaround #1 (Windows): Use an NDI and two separate systems
Brace yourself; this workaround is going to require that you have two separate systems for it to work. One for you to run Filmora on, and a second to run Zoom on.
First, you’ll need to download NewTek’s Connect or Connect Pro NDI to both systems. This will create an input-output system for broadcasting your Filmora editing suite to Zoom.
After installing the NDI tools on both systems, you’ll need to first set up the NDI on your Filmora system to screen monitor while you edit.
To do this, follow these steps:
- Download the NewTek NDI Tools package to your PC
- Open the NDI Screen Capture application.
- Once NDI Screen Capture is running, it will automatically begin broadcasting your screen to the network.
- Open Filmora and launch the project you want to broadcast.
Once you’ve done this, launch Zoom on your second system and set the video and audio inputs to the NewTek NDI Video stream. You should now see a broadcast of your desktop running the Filmora application.
If you’ve done this successfully, you should be able to stream your editing screen live over Zoom while talking with your co-collaborators.
While you can successfully stream your workspace over Zoom using this method, it does have several drawbacks:
- It requires two separate systems to work (an expensive investment for many editors).
- The editor cannot stream their face at the same time as the video feed without additional software and workarounds.
- This method often has latency issues, so tracking specific verbal edit notes can become incredibly complicated.
- There’s no way for collaborators to annotate or make timestamped notes on the work being edited.
- It only works on Windows computers.
- It uses a lot of bandwidth and processing power.
Ultimately, the NDI workaround works but is a complex and clunky workflow for the web-streaming capability that remote creative teams need in order to work efficiently and effectively.
Create together remotely, in real time
Workaround #2: OBS VirtualCam and Two Monitors (Mac)
So we covered Windows, but what about editors working on Mac OS? Well, there is a similar workaround that you can use for Mac, but it involves one more piece of software.
First, you must download and install OBS VirtualCam to your Mac.
Next, you’ll need to download NewTek’s NDI Tools package for Mac.
Like before, you’ll want to start up NDI Screen Capture and select the screen that will be running Filmora as your source. Open Filmora and whatever project you want to stream on that screen.
Now, open OBS and Zoom on your second monitor.
In OBS, select NDI Screen Capture as your video input source. If you’d also like your face visible, you can select your webcam as a secondary input and position a picture-in-picture view of you and your workspace.
Lastly, you'll want to start the "Virtual Camera" stream in OBS that you'll use to stream to Zoom. Go to "Tools," then select "Start Virtual Camera."
Now, open up Zoom, and for your audio/video input, select the OBS video stream. This will allow you to stream whatever is in OBS directly to Zoom.
Like the previous method, this still has significant drawbacks:
- It’s incredibly demanding of processing power.
- The video feed can often lag or cut out entirely.
- There’s no way for other participants to make accurate notations on the video feed.
Again, these are workarounds invented by editors needing to collaborate with their teams in the face of inadequate native tools. But, what if there was a system that would allow you to stream your workspace while seamlessly video chatting with your participants without any workarounds?
Thankfully, the team at Evercast has built a platform that will allow you to stream your workspace, video chat with your co-workers, and make accurate notations, all without any workarounds.
How to Stream Filmora with Evercast
Evercast is designed to work seamlessly with any video editing software to allow you to stream your workspace in full HD with 5.1 surround sound and no additional hardware or software needed (in most cases). That means to stream your Filmora editing session, all you’ll need is Filmora, Evercast, and a little time to get your Evercast system set up.
Benefits of using Evercast to stream Filmora:
- Low latency (on average, less than 150ms)
- Built-in video chatting
- On-screen annotations and timestamped comments to keep notes organized and clear
- 24/7 support
It all works under one roof with the Evercast system, meaning less of a strain on your CPU as well. And participants that simply join meetings don't need to download any additional software; just join and start collaborating.
If you’re looking for a better way to bring your remote editing team closer together and collaborate more efficiently from a distance, check out Evercast. We believe collaboration is the magic behind the movies, and better collaboration starts with software that works with your team, not against it.
