Tutorial for Open Broadcaster Software or OBS

MadsWorld

New Member
This guide is half from (http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmes ... _id=372629)

Not only it is free to use, but uses less resources than the commercial alternative. This results in a user allowing to utilize their computer more when streaming; for example, with XSplit I couldn't stream 1080p/30fps or 720p/30fps smoothly, but with OBS, I can do both without taking as much of a performance hit as with XSplit or FFsplit.

And i have no high end gaming pc. Here is one of my test runs with OBS. 3000kbps/720p/30fps.
For reference, I have a Core i5 2500K overclocked to 4GHz, GeForce GTX 460 and 8GB of RAM.

Anyway, let's take a look through the program.

First of all, download the program from the main website : http://obsproject.com/download

Install/extract then run OBS.

You will have to create scenes manually.
To do this;

1. Right-click in the 'Scenes' box.(red 1)
2. Select 'Add Scene'
3. Name your scene.

Also in this box, you can add a hotkey to quickly switch between scenes. To do this;
1. Right-click the Scene you wish to hotkey.
2. Select 'Set Hotkey'
3. Input the key(s) you wish to use.

Now lets add some sources to the scene. You can do this one of two ways;
1. Adding sources individually to each scene.
2. Adding sources as a global function.

I'm not sure whether either makes a difference, but lets go through both options.
For individual;
1. Right-click on the 'Sources' box. (red 2)
2. Select which kind of Source you wish to add. Software Capture Source is the OBS equivalent of Screen Region from XSplit, Bitmap is to add an image file (overlay) and Video

Capture Device is to add a webcam or third-party screen capturing device (e.g. Dxtory, Camtasia).
3. Name your source whatever you wish.
For global, click on global sources, then click add. Repeat steps as above.

Once you have added your sources, click on 'Edit Scene' to start adjusting each source (size/placement). A rectangular, red border should come up, where you can begin to adjust the source.

Rinse and repeat for every scene and every source you need to do.
For those that use overlays/webcams, you'll have to mess around with the source priority list. To do this, click on a source, then right-click, and depending on what sources you would want on top/below, you can move them up or move them down.

To see these scenes in effect, click 'Show Preview'. You can adjust scenes while preview is both on or off.

Now lets look at the settings menu.
General - Self-explanatory.

Encoding - Self-explanatory as well. For those unsure on what to set, refer to this and this for a rough idea on what bit rate you can stream at. For audio, I personally use AAC/128, but it's personal preference.

Broadcast Settings - Unless you are only using OBS to locally record, the mode should be set to Live Stream. Streaming service is self-explanatory, but if you are not using Twitch/Own3d, you'll have to manually input the Channel Name/Stream Key/Server. For those on Twitch, your Stream Key can be found on Twitch. For server, select the one that provides the best ping for you. Leave the rest of the settings alone unless you know what you are doing.

Video - Your base resolution should be the resolution of the main monitor you are streaming. If you wish to downscale your resolution for streaming (for example, down to 720p), you can select it with the dropdown. FPS is self-explantory. Aero should be disabled if you are planning to stream with the software capture option.

Audio - All self-explanatory.

Advanced - Do not touch unless you know what you are doing.

Let me know if you found this guide useful. If you have any problems regarding the software itself.
 
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