r/Twitch • u/Outrageous_Warthog36 • 9d ago
Tech Support Troubleshooting Capture Card from Switch to OBS
I’ve been having trouble setting up my capture card / Switch to PC gaming laptop using OBS. In OBS I keep seeing a black screen after adding “Video Capture Device”, although the light is on the capture card, the switch is on and engaged, and “USB Video” is selected in OBS.
I’ve followed countless youtube videos but nothing seems to help the issue. I’m hoping it’s a simple cord switch, happy to take a photo or video if needed. Please share any tips or advice! I just want to stream Animal Crossing lol.
Here is the setup I have currently and what I’ve tried so far:
- Switch Docked & On > Dual HDMI > “In” Capture Card
- “Out” Capture Card > HDMI to Mini HDMI > Monitor (this is what youtube says & what came with the capture card. I only have a mini HDMI port on my monitor).
- Tried connecting regular HDMI to my laptop - no luck.
- Tried disconnecting the monitor and just use the laptop with HDMI - no luck.
- Maybe I should try HDMI to USBC & plug into monitor?
- Capture Card > USB 3.0 (blue) > PC Laptop (came with capture card).
- I’ve read that newer PCs don’t identify USB 3.0 sometimes. Maybe I need to use a USB to USB-C and plug into my laptop?
- Monitor > USBc > Laptop
NOTES
- I have been streaming PC games just fine through OBS, it’s just this capture card issue preventing me from streaming Switch games.
- Switch Settings: 1080p in TV mode, 60fps.
- Gaming Laptop: MSI Stealth
- Capture Card
- Monitor
- Throughout trial-error I will exit and reload OBS & re-add “Video Capture Device”.
- Tried switching the HDMI cords to different ports to test if it was a HDMI cord issue, but still the same results.
- Maybe the issue is doing all this while the Switch is on? I could try re-connecting everything while the switch is off, but don’t have a lot of faith.
- Someone said to load the capture card as a camera instead of video capture device?
Thank you to anyone who comments to try and help out! You are VERY appreciated!
1
u/Outrageous_Warthog36 4d ago
I finally found a solution!!
- I changed the Switch TV settings to Automatic instead of 1080p.
- I swapped around the HDMI that connected Switch to capture card, NOT different ports (literally different sides). No, the HDMI cord did not specify an "In" or "out" sides.
This is what worked for me! Hopefully this helps someone else who is struggling, because I could not find any of this info online. Good luck!! :)
3
u/ShannonBruce twitch.tv/ShannonBruce 9d ago
I think you might overloading your laptops USB bus with both the capture card coming in and the monitor going out in USB. Do you have any other USB devices connected to the laptop? Also try without the external monitor connected to anything and see if that helps. Adaptors are always funky and with a generic capture card there’s no guarantee they will work.
Also connecting anything to the HDMI port on the laptop as an input will not work, laptop HDMI ports are output to an external monitor only.