New Camera Focus Controls in vMix

vMix 24 has just been announced, and there are quite a few features PTZ camera operators show know about. The first is camera focus controls which allows you to dial in the focus on your IP connected PTZOptics cameras. Another feature you should know about is tally light support for virtual PTZ camera inputs. The tally light support for PTZ cameras in vMix will be covered in an upcoming video. In this blog post, you will learn all about the fine-tune focus controls now available for PTZOptics cameras inside of vMix.

Once you upgrade your vMix to the most current version, you will notice a focus control checkbox in the PTZ tab of vMix. PTZ camera controls are only available for vMix users with 4K or Pro licenses. If you do not have a 4K or Pro license of vMix you can still gain access to focus controls in a variety of ways. One of the easiest ways to control PTZOptics cameras focus is the web-interface made available on your local area network using the camera’s static IP address. Each PTZOptics camera can be controlled over the network and the web-browser features a focus “lock” which can be very useful. You can also access fine tuning focus controls with the free PTZOptics camera control app.

Inside of vMix, assuming you have a 4K or Pro license, you can open any PTZOptics camera and access the pan, tilt, zoom and focus controls in the PTZ tab of the input. Here, you will need to connect to your camera using the IP address. You can learn how to set up a static IP address for your camera in the camera setup video or by reviewing the manual. Once connected, you will gain access to the PTZ and focus camera controls.

To access the focus controls for your PTZOptics cameras inside of vMix you need to click the focus checkbox. Once checked, you can operate the focus using the “+” and “-” buttons available inside of vMix.

Note: The Zoom controls inside of vMix will turn auto-focus back on. If you would like to lock the focus this is done with the PTZOptics camera control app or the web-browser interface. Locking the focus is ideal for some video production scenarios.

When you start to zoom the auto-focus is turned back on in PTZOptics cameras by default. Therefore, this feature in vMix 24 is nice for temporarily dialing in the focus of your camera. For example, when you start to adjust the focus of a PTZOptics camera with vMix, auto-focus is turned off. So you can choose a specific point of focus and the camera’s auto-focus will not change. The auto-focus will not turn on until you zoom to a new location. In this way, you can easily find the ideal focus and further tweak the settings with vMix on the fly.