How can welding instructors demonstrate proper welding technique for large groups of students at a safe distance?

The answer involves a virtual welding trainer, such as Lincoln Electric’s VRTEX®, which can display live-stream or pre-recorded video of welding practice sessions no matter how far away other students may be from the action.

All it takes is a video capture device, connective cables and a web conferencing service to make it happen.

To put everything together, read these easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions.

VRTEX 360 Compact

Required Equipment & Hardware

• VRTEX virtual welding training simulator
• Any computer with a USB 3.0 port
• VGA-to-HDMI adaptor with audio support (for older VRTEX models)
• HDMI cable (for newer VRTEX models)
• HDMI to USB 3.0 video capture and streaming device

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Equipment Setup

Step 1: Connect HDMI from VRTEX to video streaming device

Step 2: Connect the USB 3.0 video capture and streaming device to computer and install necessary drivers for USB 3.0 video capture device.

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Sharing Video on a Web Conference

After you’ve set up your equipment, follow these instructions for sharing your video on a web conference platform.

Step 1: Open the web conferencing software and select your video capturing/streaming device as the preferred webcam input.

Step 2: Make sure the webcam feature of the meeting is activated.

Step 3: Make sure to set the meeting to accept audio from the laptop or external microphone. If audio is not going through the webcam input, check web conference software audio settings to ensure audio filter settings are off in order to capture VRTEX sound.

Video sharing of the VRTEX screen and audio should now be active.

Note: Audio could be enhanced by connecting a USB microphone or placing the laptop closer to the VRTEX machine.