Repurposing old devices is quite popular in the DIY projects landscape, and it’s a trend I can get behind. While ancient PCs and dinosaur laptops can be turned into decent server workstations, it’s possible to reuse individual peripherals and accessories as well. An old microphone can be combined with a Home Assistant server and a locally-hosted LLM setup to build a voice-controlled AI helper. Turning old webcams into surveillance cameras via Frigate is a great way to bolster the security of your living space… but how about doing the opposite instead?
You see, when I moved out of the apartment I’d rented for college, I ended up ordering several cheap smart devices for my home – including IP cameras. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the right mounting spot for one such surveillance camera, which is why it was gathering dust in my cupboard. Considering desktop webcams can get somewhat pricey, I tried converting the IP camera into a makeshift camera for some official calls and Discord video chats. If that sounds intriguing, here’s a log of the whole project.
Creating the RTSP credentials using the IP camera app
And getting rid of the surveillance-esque OSD profile
First things first, the surveillance camera in question is a Tapo C210, which can not only capture footage at 2304x1296p, but also supports limited pan/tilt. Features-wise, it’s a lot better than the HP W300 USB webcam I’ve been using for the past year, so I had high hopes for this project. My initial plan was to pair the IP camera with my PC over RTSP, though I had to make some tweaks inside the Tapo mobile app first.
In order to enable RTSP streams to external apps, I first had to bolster the security of the connection by adding some user credentials. This was fairly simple to do, as I added the Username and Password to the Create Account section of the Settings after agreeing to the security pop-ups.
While I was still inside the mobile app, I wanted to remove the date, time, and (most importantly) Tapo watermarks, which are enabled by default. To do so, I headed to the On-Screen Display Info section and turned off the toggles for each setting. I also wanted to turn up the resolution and frame rate, which were available inside the Video Quality tab. With the mobile app edits complete, it was time to switch to my PC.
Connecting the security camera to OBS Studio
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get it to capture audio
I consider OBS Studio one of the best recording/streaming utilities out there, and I often use it alongside Davinci Resolve for my video-editing needs. Besides a plethora of video capture tools, OBS Studio includes a Virtual Camera, which lets me stream the contents of a Scene to external apps – and I planned to use this utility to transmit my IP camera footage to Discord, Meet, Zoom, and other platforms.
But first, I had to pair my surveillance camera with OBS Studio. I accomplished this by adding a new Media Source, unchecking the Local File option, and adding the RTSP link of the C210 in the following format:
rtsp://username:password@ip-address:554/stream1
Soon, the camera’s stream appeared on the screen, and after setting the right resolution, I was free to use the Virtual Camera. While OBS Studio (or rather, Virtual Camera) was able to display the RTSP stream on Meet, there was one major flaw in this setup: I couldn’t access the Audio Device!
So, I went on a wild goose chase to find a way to transmit the audio alongside the video feed. But despite setting up the VB Audio driver and a few other plugins, I was unable to use the IP camera as the audio device in any video conferencing platform.
Setting up SplitCam
It’s pretty simple
But just when all hope seemed lost, I encountered SplitCam, and the livestreaming app single-handedly saved this project. That’s because SplitCam not only includes its own virtual camera implementation, but it also comes with an audio mixer that can record sounds directly from the surveillance camera.
After installing the app, I pressed the Add button, chose the IP camera option, and added the same RTSP link as earlier. SplitCam immediately began displaying the camera feed, while the audio mixer showed the surveillance camera as the connected device. I bumped the resolution up a notch and modified the noise suppression settings before creating yet another Google Meet link.
This time, both the audio and video sources were visible, and I signed in to the meeting from another device to gauge the quality of my makeshift webcam.
There are some deal-breaking issues with this setup
Noticeable latency, alongside washed-out colors
To no one’s surprise, the RTSP-powered DIY webcam had some annoying issues. There were occasional dips in the video’s frame rate, so I had to turn down the resolution. Unfortunately, surveillance cameras aren’t known for their video quality, so there was quite a bit of noise, both in the audio and video streams. The colors, too, were rather washed out, especially when I tried using the IP camera-turned-webcam outdoors.
Nevertheless, this setup is not unusable by any means. Sure, it’s no match for my HP W300’s quality, but if my webcam stopped functioning and I didn’t have a spare smartphone on hand, I wouldn’t mind using a surveillance camera as a stand-in.
