For chess creators and video teams
Spend less time rebuilding. More time explaining.
The audience sees a clean digital board. You may spend hours creating it from raw OTB footage. ChessZCam is designed to help build the move record and overlay workflow closer to the moment the game is captured.
Creator workflow
Move the repetitive work earlier in the pipeline.
ChessZCam does not create the story for you. It aims to give you a cleaner starting point for telling it.
Build a move-by-move position from the physical board instead of starting from an empty analysis board later.
Use the detected move sequence and timing context to reduce manual searching through the recording.
Check blocked or ambiguous positions against the video rather than reconstructing every move from the beginning.
Continue in the analysis platform or editor you already use after the game record has been checked.
Use the Windows browser source in OBS or vMix for live presentation or recorded production.
A verified move record can support a long video, short clips, diagrams, articles and coaching notes.
Where it fits
Best suited to people who do this work repeatedly.
The strongest fit is creators and production teams who regularly turn physical games into digital content.
Likely fit
- YouTube and social chess creators
- Tournament videographers
- Live commentators and stream operators
- Chess educators producing OTB analysis
- Local chess media and club channels
A simpler workflow may be enough
- You only record occasional games for personal memory
- You already receive a clean official PGN
- You do not need a digital board, timestamps or overlay
- Your current manual workflow is already quick enough
Actual beta footage
See a creator-style overlay in actual tournament footage
This tournament footage shows the kind of split-screen output a creator can build with ChessZCam and vMix. The workflow is still in beta.
What the test demonstrates
- A normal OTB board viewed by an Android phone
- Move data feeding a Windows production workflow
- A digital board presented beside the venue camera
- Operator oversight in real hall conditions
Questions before trying it
Common questions from creators.
Is ChessZCam only for live streamers?
No. The same move-record workflow can help with recorded analysis videos, post-game reconstruction and PGN preparation.
Can I use the overlay in OBS or vMix?
ChessZCam is being developed with a browser-overlay workflow for OBS and vMix through the Windows module.
Will it remove all editing work?
No. It is intended to reduce repetitive board reconstruction. Commentary, story selection, verification and final editing remain creative human work.
Can I publish the detected PGN without checking it?
That is not recommended during beta. Review uncertain moments against the video or scoresheet before publishing.
For the next difficult OTB project
Keep your creative time for the part only you can do.
Try it on a complete OTB project and compare the total reconstruction time with your current workflow.