What you need
- Discord
- Webcam or smartphone, perhaps a stand of some sort
- Microphone (separate headset recommended)
General guides
There are plenty of general webcam Magic guides.
Hipsters of the Coast: Getting Set Up for Paper Magic Online
The Spike Feeders: How to Play Magic: The Gathering On Skype
Using Moxfield playtest (or Cockatrice) as webcam
You will need:
- OBS Studio
- An account and a decklist on Moxfield
Setting up OBS Studio for virtual webcam
Note that the streaming settings do not matter as you will not be streaming but using the virtual webcam feature of OBS.
- Under “Sources”, click + and select “Window Capture”.
- Name the source as you like, click OK.
- Select the relevant window (browser with Moxfield, Cockatrice…). Leave others default. “Capture Cursor” might be beneficial, as it will also show your cursor in your screen share (allowing you to point stuff out easily).
If sharing a browser, you may want to use the Window Match Priority as “Window title must match”. This way you don’t accidentally share any other information from the same browser session. You will need to update it every time you switch decks, as the window title will change. - You should now see the selected window in your OBS session. You may click it to adjust the size by dragging the red edges.
- Next, you might want to crop or block certain areas of the screen (e.g. your hand).
- To crop, right-click the screen, and select Transform > Edit Transform. Adjust the Crop Bottom near the bottom of the window and click ok.
- To block parts out, add a new source > color source. Select a color you like, and click ok. You may now move and resize the color source as you wish. To resize it asymmetrically, hold shift while dragging the edge/corner nodes.
- Your OBS display should now adequately show the content you wish to share with your opponent.
- Click “Start Virtual Camera” from the lower right corner of OBS.
- Restart Discord, then go to settings > Voice & Video > Camera: OBS Virtual Camera.
- Now when you turn on your camera (not screen share!) in a voice channel, you will instead share the content defined in OBS.
You will see your video mirrored, but others will see it normally so don’t be alarmed.
Starting a game on Discord
First, join the MtgSuomi server.
- At the bottom, below the channel list, click “Video” to begin sharing your video.
- By right-clicking a video stream you may de-select “Show Non-Video Participants” to hide all spectators.
- To enlargen the video area, click the Pop Out icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- To hide your own video, either click the opponent’s video stream or right-click and select “Focus This Person”.
Using a phone
To use your phone as a webcam, you’ll need a dedicated application for your phone and on your PC. There are approximately a billion guides on the internet on the topic.
Tom’s Guide: How to use your phone as a webcam
The Verge: How to use your Android or iOS device as a webcam
Indestructables: Android Smartphone As USB (!!) Webcam
You will probably also need an improvised stand. Here are a few options:
Stand from a fatpack
Stand from a cardboard box
Stand from PVC pipes
Stand from a swing arm (e.g. lamp stand)
Example setups
Thanks to the Canlander community on Discord for contributing!
Example 1: Webcam connected to desktop PC, attached to screen
Example 2: Webcam connected to laptop, attached to makeshift stand
Example 3: Lamp as a stand for webcam
Example 4: DLSR attached to PC via HDMI input device