OBS-HUD README
by CobaltDragon
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OBS-HUD is a standalone software utility that provides customizable, on-screen status icons to indicate OBS streaming and recording activity. Monitoring these OBS functions no longer requires looking to the system tray icon or main window. Instead, users have complete control and freedom to place visual icons wherever desired on their monitor(s). OBS-HUD works by monitoring the OBS application directly. When OBS starts streaming or recording, OBS-HUD automatically displays the appropriate icon on-screen. When streaming or recording stops, the icon disappears. For video recording, OBS-HUD also automatically switches the recording icon to a paused icon when the Pause function is used in OBS.


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Features
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• Position the status icons anywhere on your screen(s) with single-pixel precision
• Adjust transparency setting per icon
• Lock icon positions to prevent accidental movement
• Create and use custom icons from PNG files
• Easy usage. Once configured, using OBS-HUD is as simple as launching it when needed and closing it when done
• Standalone and portable. OBS-HUD makes no changes to system files, the registry, OBS, or any other applications
• Icons will not appear in broadcasts or recordings unless you choose an OBS recording mode that captures them
• Works offline
• No data collection or reporting

NOTE: Icons will not display over games/programs that render in a fullscreen or exclusive mode. If you want the icons to appear over a game window, you will likely have to set the game to Windowed or Borderless Window rendering mode.


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System Requirements
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• PC running Windows 7+ x64
• OBS Studio v26.1.1 - v31.1.2


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Installation & Updating
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• Manually extract all files from the ZIP archive to desired location. (Recommended directory: C:\Programs\OBS-HUD\)
• To update to a new version, extract the latest ZIP archive over the current installation and overwrite all files. Your settings file and custom icon sets will not be affected.

NOTES:
	• OBS-HUD must have file read/write permissions in the installation folder to load image files and save settings.
	• Multiple versions of OBS-HUD can be installed simultaneously when placed in different folders.


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Uninstalling
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Delete the OBS-HUD installation folder, all subfolders and files.

NOTES:
	• If you wish to save your settings, do NOT delete the obs-hud_settings.ini file. Copy it to a safe location before removing the program folder.
	• To preserve custom icon sets, backup the appropriate subfolder(s) and files from within the 'IconSets' directory.


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Custom icon creation
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OBS-HUD supports loading custom icon sets using PNG image files. The process is simple:
1. Create a set of custom image files.
2. Create a new folder inside the 'IconSets' subfolder where OBS-HUD is installed (example path: ..\OBS-HUD\IconSets\your_folder). Copy your custom images to this new folder. 
3. In the OBS-HUD main window, click the folder icon in the Settings box to open the folder selection dialog and choose your newly created custom icon folder. OBS-HUD should load the custom images and display them immediately (position and transparency values will not change). 


Technical Details:
• Custom icon images must be in the PNG file format
• A full icon set requires 5 PNG images with these exact file names:
	streaming.png
	recording.png
	buffering.png
	paused.png
	virtualcam.png
• Fully transparent pixels are supported. Translucent pixels are not. Any pixel with partial opacity/transparency will show as grayscale shaded relative to its alpha channel.
• 100% black pixels (RGB 000, hex #000000) will be interpreted as fully transparent. Adjust by at least 1 bit, e.g. #000001, to have the color black be visible in your custom image(s).
• Icon folders use an [author-name-version] naming convention. For example, the default icon set is 'stock-text-01'. Naming custom folders with this convention is recommended, though not required.


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License
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By using the software, the user agrees to the following terms:

• The author retains all ownership rights to the software.
• The software may be used for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
• The user may not resell or redistribute the software in any form, modified or unmodified.
• The software is provided as-is, without warranty of any kind. The user accepts all responsibility and risks associated with use of the software.


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Changelog
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Legend:
[+] Addition
[*] Update/Change
[!] Fix
[-] Removal

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2025-08-03     v0.9.11
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.1.2

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2025-07-12     v0.9.10
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.1.0 - 31.1.1

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2025-06-30     v0.9.9
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.0.4
[+] Added support for OBS v25.0.8 (Special request)

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2025-03-31     v0.9.8
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.0.3

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2025-03-11     v0.9.7
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.0.2

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2025-01-22     v0.9.6
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.0.1
[*] Changed Auto Update Check to show notification dialog only when new version detected

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2024-12-17     v0.9.5
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[+] Added support for OBS v31.0.0
[+] Added optional Auto Update Check feature
[!] Fixed detection routine to properly reset after an unsupported version of OBS is reported

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2024-08-20     v0.9.4
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.2.3

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2024-07-26     v0.9.3
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.2.0 - 30.2.2

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2024-04-07     v0.9.2
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.1.2

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2024-03-26     v0.9.1
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.1.1

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2024-03-16     v0.9.0
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.1.0
[!] Fixed Pause icon not resetting in some circumstances

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2024-01-23     v0.8.9
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[+] Added function to reset icon position(s) via context menu (right-click any icon preview image in the main OBS-HUD window to access)
[*] Improved version check function
[!] Fixed errant cursor switching when mousing over certain controls

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2023-12-11     v0.8.8
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.0.2

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2023-12-10     v0.8.7
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[+] Added support for OBS v30.0.0 and v30.0.1
[+] Added option to Start OBS-HUD minimized in system tray
[+] Added manual update check via Help menu -> OBS-HUD Online -> Check for updates...
[*] Updated tray menu background color
[*] Set default GUI font to Microsoft Sans Serif (override by appending any font name to the 'MainGUIFont=' line in obs-hud_settings.ini. e.g. 'MainGUIFont=Times New Roman')
[*] About dialog set to Always on Top
[!] Fixed detection routine so OBS-HUD will detect OBS when "Minimize to system tray when started" option is enabled

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2023-08-11     v0.8.6
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[+] Added link to OBS Forum Resource Page
[*] Internal code cleanup

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2023-08-01     v0.8.5
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[+] First public release


