skypevideowebcam
I've begun doing video calls with a Logitech webcam. Problem is that mounting on top or bottom of monitor looks awful – can't make eye contact with the person, the angle is up or down my face. How can I mount the camera so it's eye level?
One idea I had was to clip eye level to the side of the monitor. But A) I can't rotate the image and B) it's hard to make it stay there.
I found this solution from another website and it worked for me (same camera too).
On the PC you're connecting to, change the following in Edit Group Policy:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Device and Resource Redirection
Do not allow supported Plug and Play device redirection: Disabled
Finally, reboot the remote computer. This is all I had to do.
The post also mentioned this setting as well, but I didn't find it necessary when going to a non-virtual machine:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Remote Desktop Services > Remote Desktop Session Host > Remote Session Environment > RemoteFX for Windows Server 2008 R2
Configure RemoteFX: Enabled
This response is not really for Microsoft Teams - it's more about rotating the webcam stream in Windows, so I'm posting this as it is related to the title of the questions.
Basically, I just need to play a webcam video on Windows, nothing else - however, since the webcam camera is installed in an inaccessible location, I would like to rotate the stream image in software.
Thus, I'd be quite happy to use the built-in Camera app in Windows - and once, there actually used to be a rotation setting for the Camera app in Windows 10 (although, seemingly, just for "Windows Insiders"):
https://mspoweruser.com/microsoft-rolls-out-an-update-for-the-camera-app-for-windows-10/
But then, somewhere in 2018, Microsoft decided to remove it:
The only sort of funny explanation on why this happened I found here:
Faris-Jayyousi Replied on July 3, 2018
Next camera update from Microsoft Store fixes this issue by including a feature within the options to rotate the camera degree. The latest camera version up to this date is 2018.426.70.0
...
Faris-Jayyousi Replied on October 27, 2018
Camera rotation did disappear after the October 2018 Update, but the camera rotates correctly now. They fixed the problem so now there's no need for this setting anymore.
They "fixed the problem"? What "problem"? :) They certainly did not solve the problem of how to do software rotation, if your webcam is mounted in an inaccessible place!
So, even if Microsoft is one of the richest software companies in the world - money only attracts idiots and parasites, and the only thing we can expect is things turning more and more to crap ... what a waste of time.
Oh well - I guess, the real answer is, Microsoft do not want to be bothered with support issues dealing with webcam rotation, and instead of leaving a possibility for the users to fix the problem themselves (as there was an option to do so) - they'd rather users plague the manufacturer of the device instead ... At least if they were honest about it, one would not have to spend endless hours for a fix that does not exist.
Well, then - now, in this case, I use a Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000, so I thought I'd check out what the manufacturer has on offer - and I tracked down something called Logitech Capture - so I thought, ok maybe that has some sort of a rotation setting.
Note here, that I'm in the EU, and I first got a location-based language webpage for Logitech Capture, but I wanted to download an English version. So I change the language to "en-us" in the URL, so I get https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/capture - but when I try to load this, I just get https://www.logitech.com/en-us/ ... and after some searching online, it turns out the right link for EU is https://www.logitech.com/en-roeu/product/capture ! I mean, how hard would it have been, to have a notification "Sorry, as you're based outside of the United States, you are not allowed to download the software intended for the US"?
Eh, so not just for Microsoft - everything in the business software world is turning to more and more crap ... What a waste of time.
So, ok - I install this Logitech capture, I get a lot of flashy screens, and then I realise this:
Notice something? Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000 is NOT in the sources list! However, if you look at the video settings, you get resolution and FPS:
... and if you change this here, it actually does change the settings of the Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000!
So, what is the reason for this stupidity? Found the answer here:
The reason you have your issue is because our C930e webcam is not a supported webcam for our Logitech Capture program.
Well, then - why not be honest, and in the program itself, instead of "Source 1: None", just write "Source 1: Screw you, you piece of ****, buy a new webcam, we don't care"? At least one would not have to spend endless hours finding an explanation... Oh well, no avoidance of more and more crap - what a waste of time ...
Well, finally, there is only one remaining thing to do - and that is turn to open-source; and I managed to get a webcam stream viewer which can rotate the video image in VLC. Install an open VLC (I used 3.0.11), and click Media/Open Capture Device... - and you get this screen:
Thankfully, the webcam I use is found under "Video device name" - however, note that there are no obvious options to change FPS and resolution here; so for that, you'll either have to use Logitech Capture (heh :)), or the Windows 10 Camera app (click the Settings gear top left corner, then scroll down to Video Quality, and make your choice there):
(Although, I guess now that this is posted, Microsoft employees will easily figure out that this is useful, so they'll likely remove it in the next update - so I wouldn't count on this too much)
Once you have your webcam settings done, open VLC, do the Media/Open Capture Device... as above, click Play - and you should get the stream; now, to rotate it - click Tools/Events and Filters/Video Effects tab/Geometry tab - click the Rotate checkbox there, and then use the wheel to set the rotation angle; this should be applied immediately - and then you can click Close:
If you click Save here - this will cause the rotation setting to be remembered and saved, so it will be applied to everything - including when you want to watch normal videos in VLC.
So, a better idea would be (at least for me), to actually have a command line call to VLC, which will set up both the webcam viewing and the rotation, and throw that into a .bat script.
So, start up Command Prompt (cmd.exe), to test this kind of a call; note that VLC should be able to target the camera by name, and it seemingly does not have an option to list capture devices ( apparently you have to use ffmpeg for that, which I got from https://github.com/mjasnikovs/logitechC920-vlc/blob/master/README.md ; see also VLC. Rotation works when using command line but it doesn't when entering the options in the Edit Options section , Video playback as minimalist overlay in corner of screen , How to disable all window borders from the VLC playback window ):
Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19042.630]
(c) 2020 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
C:\Users\user>cd "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC"
C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC> vlc --qt-minimal-view dshow:// :dshow-vdev="Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000" :dshow-size="640x360" :dshow-aspect-ratio=16\:9 :no-dshow-config :vout-filter=transform --transform-type=180 --video-filter "transform{true}"
Well, this worked good enough for me - so now, let's just through this command in a .bat file - I call it "VLC-webcam.bat"; use the start command here, so you do not have a terminal shown ( How do I create a Windows Batch file that does not show the Command Prompt when executed? ; plus you need an empty set of quotes at first, https://stackoverflow.com/questions/154075/ )
start /B "" "C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc" --qt-minimal-view dshow:// :dshow-vdev="Logitech QuickCam Pro 9000" :dshow-size="640x360" :dshow-aspect-ratio=16\:9 :no-dshow-config :vout-filter=transform --transform-type=180 --video-filter "transform{true}"
Eh, finally - I can do just one double-click, and get a window showing a rotated webcam video; isn't that amazing?
Of course, caveat emptor - since everything has to turn to bigger and bigger crap, expect Microsoft employees to soon release an update which removes setting of resolution from the Camera app (or remove the Camera app altogether), and Logitech employees to soon release an update to the driver, so you cannot set the resolution there either, so this whole process will break - and soon, I'll have to use again countless hours on solving the same problem... What a waste of time.
Best Answer
Get a small camera stand - such as this example, assuming your cam has the appropriate screw-thread.
However, you'll have to set the cam right in front of their face on screen to achieve what you ask - might be somewhat distracting.