Use android camera and usb mic on pc

Question

Apologies in advance if this is a very noob question - I barely know anything about video production.

I'd like to record video and use my fancy-ish USB microphone as the audio source. Unfortunately I don't have a camera (or any other equipment), and thus would like to somehow use my android phone's camera.

The setup I had in mind would use a pc app that allows me to hook my phone and USB mic up to my pc, and select them as the respective video and audio sources, and record everything into one file on my pc. What I don't want is a scenario where I'm separately recording video and audio and then I have to learn how to edit videos and try to manually synchronize the video and audio in post-production.

I've been researching for a couple of hours, but couldn't find anything that does what I want, other than the following semi-solutions.

• IP Webcam. An Android app that allows you to stream video from your phone to your pc via wifi. The problem I had with this is the terrible video resolution and lag. This put me off so quickly that I didn't even bother to look if I could select an alternative audio source.
• Open Camera. This is an Android app that allows you to connect and use a microphones other than your phone's built in mic. This seems to be the best solution, and I'd have loved to go with this, but the problem with this one is that I don't have a USB to Micro USB converter and thus won't be able to plug my microphone into my phone.
• OBS. I came across a video on youtube where a guy (seemingly) records video (with a camera - not screen capturing) using OBS, but I don't know if he's using an older/different version of OBS, coz I don't have half the settings he does (not to mention that he didn't actually show which setting allowed him to choose his video sources). And from the production quality of his video he clearly uses actual cameras and not a phone, so I'm not sure if I'd even be able to hook a phone up to it anyway.

So my first question is whether or not what I'm trying to do is even possible? If it's not, what's the closest I can get to it using only an android phone, usb mic and pc?

If it is possible, please guide me through the setup. I'm not looking for crazy bells and whistles, so the more basic we can keep it, the better.

Let me know if I need to provide any additional information.

Answer 1

There is no good way to use an Android phone as an attached camera in the way you want. Your best bet is to get a GoPro or other dedicated camera which has a USB or hdmi output, or to use a microUSB adapter to connect your mic to the phone.

Answer 2

You can buy a cheap USB to micro USB for USD$10, see if your project worth more than that. You can buy it online, so, there is not much of an excuse for not getting it. But I do not know if your mic needs power from the USB connection. You probably need to make a test.

But on the other hand, sync of an audio source and a video can be done almost automatically if your video clip has some audio references on it.

Grab your free copy of Davinci Resolve, which is, in my opinion, one of the best editing software, free or paid, and look for a tutorial on how to sync audio.