How to Record With the Video Camera in Phasmophobia

What the video camera does

In Phasmophobia, the video camera is live monitoring equipment, not a camcorder that saves a file. You place cameras in the investigation area, or use a camera on head gear, then watch those feeds on the monitor in the investigation truck. There is no in-game record button that writes a video clip to your computer.

That distinction changes the task. If you want ghost-orb evidence and a view of the building from safety, use the in-game camera and the truck monitor. If you want a video of your play session to keep or share, that is a separate screen-capture job on your computer. A real webcam for calls or streaming is a third, unrelated device.

Place cameras and open the truck feed

Before the contract, add at least one video camera to your loadout. Head gear with a camera is optional and gives the truck a view from a player’s perspective. Shop prices, equipment tiers, and exact unlocks change with updates, so treat the in-game shop as the source for what you currently own.

• Start the contract and take the video camera from the truck into the building.
• Set it down with a clear view of a doorway, the suspected ghost room, or another high-traffic spot. Point the lens at the space you care about, not the floor or a wall.
• Place more cameras if you have them, so you can switch views without walking back.
• Return to the investigation truck and select the computer monitor used for camera feeds.
• Cycle through each feed until you see the room you framed.
• Turn on the feed’s night-vision, or infrared, mode. This is the low-light view, usually a green-tinted image, and it is the view used to look for ghost orbs.

How you know the camera is working

A working in-game camera means the truck can see through it. It does not mean a file is being saved, and it does not mean the ghost will show itself.

• The monitor shows the location you aimed at, not a black, frozen, or disconnected picture.
• Switching feeds changes the picture when more than one camera or head-mounted camera is active.
• Night vision visibly changes the image, typically into a green low-light picture.
• A teammate walking through the shot appears on the monitor. That check confirms the feed is live.
• If this ghost has orb evidence, small floating motes can appear on the night-vision feed. Orbs are a possible journal clue, not a guarantee on every contract.

These checks establish that the camera is placed, powered as in-game equipment, and sending a live picture you can interpret. They leave several things untested: whether this ghost produces orbs, whether a hunt or interaction will happen on camera, whether your real webcam works, and whether your computer is capturing the session to disk. No input-level targets, bitrates, or other numeric capture thresholds are supplied for this setup, so none are recommended here.

Video camera, photo camera, and a saved recording

What you want	What to use	What success looks like
Watch the building from the truck	In-game video camera or head-mounted camera	The monitor shows the framed room, including after you switch night vision on
Log visual evidence and earn photo rewards	In-game photo camera, which is a different item you still hold and shoot	A still lands in the journal or mission photos, with whatever label the game assigns
Keep a clip of the play session	Your computer’s screen recording or a capture application, not the in-game camera	A video file exists after you stop capturing; the in-game monitor will not create that file

Ghost orbs are tied to the video-camera feed with night vision on. Seeing a clear live picture only proves the camera works. You still have to watch long enough, and the ghost still has to be one that can show orbs. The photo camera does not replace that feed, and a physical backdrop, a virtual call background, and an edited still photo are separate from this in-game equipment.

If you meant recording the game on your computer

Saving Phasmophobia as a video is an outside-the-game capture task. Use your operating system’s screen recorder or a dedicated capture application, point it at the game window or display, start capture before the moment you care about, then stop and confirm a file appeared. Camera access (permission to use a real webcam), a successful picture from that webcam, and the quality of a video call are three different results. Getting a game capture does not test a webcam, and a webcam overlay does not mean the in-game truck cameras are recording.

If you also want your face in the recording, grant the capture app or streaming software access to the real camera in the operating-system privacy settings, then confirm a preview. That preview only shows that the OS allowed the device and that a picture is arriving. It does not measure call quality or microphone intelligibility, and it has no bearing on in-game ghost evidence.

Limits worth expecting

The in-game camera will not archive footage for later playback. If the feed is black, the lens is covered, the camera is facing the wrong way, or you are on a different camera index on the truck computer. Re-aim the placement and cycle feeds before assuming the item is broken. Menus, tier bonuses, and control labels can change with patches, so match these steps to the prompts on your truck monitor when something looks different.