I am trying to use my Canon 7D as a webcam on Kubuntu 19.10. I managed to connect the camera using gphoto2 and pipe the video stream to a video device with this following command:
gphoto2 --stdout --capture-movie | ffmpeg -i - -vcodec rawvideo -pix_fmt yuv420p -threads 0 -f v4l2 /dev/video2
I am able to confirm this works - I am able to view the stream using ffplay /dev/video2 and even in some online services (like Whereby, Jitsi Meet or Zoom) I am able to use my custom webcam (Although its name appears to be Dummy video device (0x0000)).
But when trying to use other services - like Google Hangouts, Slack or Facebook Messenger, only my internal laptop webcam is offered. I suspect the video4linux2 webcam uses some less common codec, that is not as widely supported as the codec that is used by my internal webcam. But that is just my wild guess, I am in no way experienced with video codecs and video conversion.
I will be very thankful for any advices how to make my Canon 7D webcam with more services for videocalls.
Edit: Here is the output of the command I use to create a virtual webcam with video from the Canon 7D camera:
Capturing preview frames as movie to 'stdout'. Press Ctrl-C to abort.
ffmpeg version 4.1.4-1build2 Copyright (c) 2000-2019 the FFmpeg developers
built with gcc 9 (Ubuntu 9.2.1-4ubuntu1)
configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=1build2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared
WARNING: library configuration mismatch
avcodec configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=1build2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared --enable-version3 --disable-doc --disable-programs --enable-liblensfun --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libtesseract --enable-libvo_amrwbenc
avfilter configuration: --prefix=/usr --extra-version=1build2 --toolchain=hardened --libdir=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu --incdir=/usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu --arch=amd64 --enable-gpl --disable-stripping --enable-avresample --disable-filter=resample --enable-avisynth --enable-gnutls --enable-ladspa --enable-libaom --enable-libass --enable-libbluray --enable-libbs2b --enable-libcaca --enable-libcdio --enable-libcodec2 --enable-libflite --enable-libfontconfig --enable-libfreetype --enable-libfribidi --enable-libgme --enable-libgsm --enable-libjack --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libmysofa --enable-libopenjpeg --enable-libopenmpt --enable-libopus --enable-libpulse --enable-librsvg --enable-librubberband --enable-libshine --enable-libsnappy --enable-libsoxr --enable-libspeex --enable-libssh --enable-libtheora --enable-libtwolame --enable-libvidstab --enable-libvorbis --enable-libvpx --enable-libwavpack --enable-libwebp --enable-libx265 --enable-libxml2 --enable-libxvid --enable-libzmq --enable-libzvbi --enable-lv2 --enable-omx --enable-openal --enable-opengl --enable-sdl2 --enable-libdc1394 --enable-libdrm --enable-libiec61883 --enable-chromaprint --enable-frei0r --enable-libx264 --enable-shared --enable-version3 --disable-doc --disable-programs --enable-liblensfun --enable-libopencore_amrnb --enable-libopencore_amrwb --enable-libtesseract --enable-libvo_amrwbenc
libavutil 56. 22.100 / 56. 22.100
libavcodec 58. 35.100 / 58. 35.100
libavformat 58. 20.100 / 58. 20.100
libavdevice 58. 5.100 / 58. 5.100
libavfilter 7. 40.101 / 7. 40.101
libavresample 4. 0. 0 / 4. 0. 0
libswscale 5. 3.100 / 5. 3.100
libswresample 3. 3.100 / 3. 3.100
libpostproc 55. 3.100 / 55. 3.100
[mjpeg @ 0x55672f94c680] Format mjpeg detected only with low score of 25, misdetection possible!
Input #0, mjpeg, from 'pipe:':
Duration: N/A, bitrate: N/A
Stream #0:0: Video: mjpeg, yuvj422p(pc, bt470bg/unknown/unknown), 1056x704, 25 tbr, 1200k tbn, 25 tbc
Stream mapping:
Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (mjpeg (native) -> rawvideo (native))
[swscaler @ 0x55672f9b6f80] deprecated pixel format used, make sure you did set range correctly
Output #0, video4linux2,v4l2, to '/dev/video2':
Metadata:
encoder : Lavf58.20.100
Stream #0:0: Video: rawvideo (I420 / 0x30323449), yuv420p, 1056x704, q=2-31, 223027 kb/s, 25 fps, 25 tbn, 25 tbc
Metadata:
encoder : Lavc58.35.100 rawvideo
Edit 2: By following the steps from this post - Use webcam from laptop on desktop pc (thanks to @Raff for linking it), I was able to make the webcam work on Slack, but still not on Google Hangouts.
Namely I used these steps to make the webcam work with Slack:
sudo modprobe -r v4l2loopback
sudo depmod -a
sudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 card_label="Canon7D:Canon7D"
exclusive_caps=1option and give your cam a name like sosudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 card_label="MyLaptopCam:MyLaptopCam". See this answer for extra information – Raffa Apr 17 '20 at 18:49depmod -aand thensudo modprobe v4l2loopback exclusive_caps=1 card_label="MyLaptopCam:MyLaptopCam"solved it partially. I am now able to use the camera in Slack, but Google Hangouts (in browser) still offer only the integrated laptop cam (I tried to restart Firefox, but that didn't help). – jenda Apr 17 '20 at 18:57sudo apt install v4l2loopback-dkms v4l2loopback-utils? Try to start allover and install following the steps. It works on both Firefox and google Chrome. Do asudo apt update && sudo apt upgradefirst and reboot after package installation. – Raffa Apr 17 '20 at 19:07v4l2loopbackis not 100% compatible with all applications, that is a fact. Try using Google Hangouts in Google Chrome and see if it works there. – Raffa Apr 17 '20 at 19:45Thank you very much for your help.
– jenda Apr 17 '20 at 20:08