Why do I need to install NDI?

NDI is a free tool that lets video move between programs on your computer — it's how BobbleHub hands your finished show to OBS so you can stream it.

Why BobbleHub needs it#

BobbleHub builds your show: it takes your players' cameras, cuts out their heads, and puts them on the bobbleheads in the scene. But BobbleHub doesn't stream — OBS does that, the same as it does for everything else you broadcast.

Something has to carry the finished picture from one program to the other, and that something is NDI. Without it, BobbleHub still runs and you can still see your show — but OBS can't pick it up, so there's nothing to stream.

If you've ever used a capture card to get one device's video into another, NDI does that job in software, between two programs on the same computer.

Is it safe? What is it, really?#

NDI is made by Vizrt, and it's the standard way video moves around in professional broadcast — it's used in television studios, in church A/V booths, and by a lot of streamers who already have it installed without thinking about it much. It's free, it doesn't require an account, and it isn't specific to BobbleHub in any way.

It's a normal, widely-used piece of production software. If you already stream with multiple machines or use NDI cameras, you may well have it already.

You might already have it. BobbleHub checks when it starts up and will tell you. If it says NDI is found, you can skip this page entirely.

Installing it#

ndi-downloadthe ndi.video Tools download page with the download button visible

Go to ndi.video and download the NDI Tools package. It includes the runtime BobbleHub needs.
Run the installer. It will ask for administrator permission — that's expected, because it installs into Program Files where other programs can find it.

ndi-installerthe NDI installer's component selection screen with defaults selected

Accept the defaults. You don't need to change anything.
When it finishes, restart BobbleHub if it was already open.

How to check it worked#

Open BobbleHub and click Setup in the top bar. NDI should show a green tick.

hub-setup-okthe BobbleHub Setup dialog showing all four items found with green ticks

Troubleshooting#

BobbleHub still says NDI is missing#

Close BobbleHub completely and reopen it. It looks for NDI when it starts, so it won't notice a fresh install until then.

The installer asked for an administrator password I don't have#

NDI installs for everyone on the machine, so it needs administrator rights. On a work or school computer you may need whoever manages it to install it for you.

I have an older version of NDI#

BobbleHub needs NDI 6 or newer. If you have NDI 5, install the current version over the top — you don't need to remove the old one first.

This matters more than it looks: the DistroAV add-on you'll install for OBS refuses to run on anything older than NDI 6, and it does so silently.

Do I need to keep NDI updated?#

Not urgently, but it's worth taking updates when NDI offers them. Updates arrive a few times a year and come from Vizrt directly — BobbleHub doesn't bundle or manage them, so you always have whatever version you chose to install.

NDI® is a registered trademark of Vizrt NDI AB. Learn more at ndi.video.