Virtual camera for live face swap: how it works

What a virtual camera is

A virtual camera is a software device that behaves like a webcam. It has a name, it appears in the camera menu of apps that use video, and it produces a moving picture that the app treats as a live camera feed. There is no lens and no cable: the frames can come from a scene, a recording, or another program that is already producing video.

Because the receiving app cannot tell a virtual camera from a physical one, it opens the door to any app that accepts a webcam, including apps that have no way to capture a browser tab.

Why it matters for face swap

Live face swap produces video in a browser tab. Without a virtual camera, the only way to get that video into Zoom, Meet, Teams, Discord or a stream is a window capture or a screen share. That is workable, but it is a separate layer: the call shows a shared window instead of your camera, and the composition has to be kept clean by hand.

A virtual camera turns the swapped video into a video source that every app already knows how to use. It is the difference between sharing a window and simply being on camera.

Where you select one

• OBS Studio: Start Virtual Camera is an output, not a selection. Press it, then choose OBS Virtual Camera in whichever app you are using.
• Zoom: Settings, then Video, then Camera. The camera list refreshes when a new device appears.
• Google Meet: the settings gear in the call, then Video, then Camera. Meet reads the camera list from the operating system, so a virtual camera appears once the driver is installed.
• Microsoft Teams: Settings, then Devices, then Camera.
• Discord: User Settings, then Voice and Video, then Camera.

What works at LiveFaceSwap.co today

The browser studio is the whole product today, and it does not register a system virtual camera. Two workarounds cover the gap: share the studio window inside the call, or capture the studio in OBS and use OBS Studio's own virtual camera output. Both are documented step by step, and both keep the same billing rules: 0.6 credits per live second, a 900-second session cap, and the unused part of the reservation returned when you stop.

Do not install a third-party virtual camera as a shortcut. It would capture a window or a screen, not the studio, so it solves nothing that OBS does not already solve, and it adds another program with access to everything on your screen.

Our virtual camera is coming with the desktop app

A native LiveFaceSwap virtual camera is planned to ship with the desktop app, which is not available yet. When it does, it is intended to appear as a camera device in the same lists above, so the browser capture step disappears and the browser studio becomes optional for calls and streams. The desktop app is also planned to use the same account and credits as the browser studio.

There is no release date to promise. Until the desktop page says otherwise, treat the browser capture routes as the supported setup, and do not build a workflow that assumes a LiveFaceSwap camera device exists.

Rules that do not change

A virtual camera makes the effect easier to use, not the obligations weaker. You must be 18 or older, have the rights and consent for any face you use, and tell people when the video they are watching is AI-generated. Some platforms and jurisdictions require a visible label on synthetic video, and using a real person's identity without consent can be illegal.

The studio does not record your camera stream. The app you send it to might record the call, so the usual rules about recording other people still apply.

When a window share is enough

For a one-off demonstration, a screen share is simpler and more transparent. A virtual camera is worth the setup when the swap should sit inside your camera tile: a stream overlay, a one-to-one call, a games session, or any layout where a shared window would look out of place. Pick the route that matches the format instead of forcing a call into a capture scene.