📷 Fake Webcam Streamer

Fake Webcam Streamer is an automated Bash script designed to turn a video file into a virtual webcam on Ubuntu. Using v4l2loopback and ffmpeg, it creates a seamless virtual webcam experience that can be utilized in any video input-enabled application. Whether you’re simulating a live feed for testing, presentations, or just for fun, this script handles everything from device detection to cleanup, so you don't have to.

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🚀 Features

• 🔧 Automated Setup: Automatically detects and configures the next available video device.
• 🔄 Seamless Streaming: Streams your chosen video file in a continuous loop as a virtual webcam.
• 🧹 Automatic Cleanup: Ensures the virtual webcam module is removed when the script exits, leaving no traces.
• ⚠️ Error Handling: Built-in checks for missing or invalid video files to prevent issues.

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📋 Requirements

• Ubuntu (Tested on versions 20.04 and above)
• v4l2loopback: A kernel module to create virtual video devices. Refer to the official v4l2loopback GitHub repository for installation instructions.
• ffmpeg: A powerful multimedia framework to handle video streams. Install it using:

  sudo apt-get install ffmpeg

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💻 Installation

1. Clone the repository to your local machine:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/fake-webcam-streamer.git
   cd fake-webcam-streamer

2. Make the script executable:

   chmod +x fake_webcam.sh

3. Install the required dependencies as mentioned in the Requirements section.

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▶️ Usage

To use the script, pass the path to your video file as an argument:

./fake_webcam.sh /path/to/video.mkv

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Example:

./fake_webcam.sh ~/Videos/sample_video.mkv

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⚙️ How It Works:

• Cleanup Function: A function is defined to remove the virtual webcam module when the script exits (triggered by signals like SIGINT or SIGTERM).
• Validation: The script checks if the video file path is provided and verifies its existence.
• Device Detection: Finds the next available video device number (/dev/videoX), loads the v4l2loopback module on that device, and streams the video in a loop using ffmpeg.

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🔗 Notes

• The virtual webcam will be accessible under /dev/videoX (where X is the device number found by the script). You can use this in applications like Zoom, OBS, or any other video conferencing software.
• The video will loop continuously until the script is stopped.

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📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

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🙏 Acknowledgements

• v4l2loopback - For creating virtual video devices on Linux.
• ffmpeg - For handling multimedia files and streams.