Upgrade questions

[KYSteve]

I am currently running OBS 27.2.4 (64) and the PTZ Controls plugin v0.7.0 By Grant Likely. What I need to know is how to appropriately update to the latest versions of both OBS and the plugin.
I tried updating to the latest OBS without getting the plugins updated and lost my PTZ controls. I recovered back to a working version, the ones above, and am a bit shy to jump to the latest and greatest in one main jump. I don't want to be down for next Sunday church.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated! Thanks Steve

 

[AaronD]

Specifically from v27 to anything higher, changes the graphics engine from an outdated version of Qt to one that is actively maintained. That change breaks a lot of plugins. If you don't also update the plugins at the same time, and you open OBS, they'll fail to load, which also makes them not save when OBS closes. That wipes out the settings that you had for those plugins, even if you do update them later so that they work again.

For all the plugins that you want to keep, either use their Export function or screenshot them, then update, then Import or manually rebuild from the screenshot.

---

I'm getting ready to update my church from v25 (yes I know!) to v29. Also changing flavors of Ubuntu while I'm at it, to match my home rig. So I bought a second hard drive (actually an NVMe card, same as what's in it now) with the idea to shut it down after service, pull the old one and set it aside (no risk of wrecking what's already there), put the new one in and install from scratch. We'll see how that goes.

If it all goes south, I can just swap drives back, and it's like nothing ever happened.

 

[Lawrence_SoCal]

@AaronD - no need to 'apologize'. My church still on v26 (I haven't needed any new features, and my setup is solid/stable... and the whole latest OBS versions and Windows OS code quality/consistency, etc... I'm ok with sitting still for a while.) Fortunately, my NDI PTZ camera maker provides its own free control software (not tied into OBS and with my setup, not needed), which is adequate.
And agree with system backup before a major update .. I use a bootable USB with backup s/w to write backup image file to separate HDD {price/TB}

@KYSteve - the question I'd ask, is why updating? if to get a new or updated plugin, written for Qt6, then yea... you have to make sure there is a Qt6 (OBS v28 or newer) version of the plugin. Aaron's advice is spot-on. To get more specific, for each individual OBS plugin you use, you'll have to check with the plugin thread/author for specifics on upgrading and maintaining (or re-doing settings.

Good luck, and give yourself enough time to troubleshoot before next service

 

[AaronD]

@AaronD - no need to 'apologize'. My church still on v26 (I haven't needed any new features, and my setup is solid/stable... and the whole latest OBS versions and Windows OS code quality/consistency, etc... I'm ok with sitting still for a while.) Fortunately, my NDI PTZ camera maker provides its own free control software (not tied into OBS and with my setup, not needed), which is adequate.
And agree with system backup before a major update .. I use a bootable USB with backup s/w to write backup image file to separate HDD {price/TB}

@KYSteve - the question I'd ask, is why updating? if to get a new or updated plugin, written for Qt6, then yea... you have to make sure there is a Qt6 (OBS v28 or newer) version of the plugin. Aaron's advice is spot-on. To get more specific, for each individual OBS plugin you use, you'll have to check with the plugin thread/author for specifics on upgrading and maintaining (or re-doing settings.

v25 mostly works for us too, but I have scripts in several different places (hard to maintain) that can all be combined into the modern version of Advanced Scene Switcher.

We also have PTZ cameras, but after using an existing app on an Android tablet, I ended up writing my own for a Raspberry Pi touchscreen. First with NodeRED (not a real-time system: it worked, but dismally slow), and then C++ and wxWidgets (much better!). More presets, more controls available at once, and it also controls the post-fade aux feed from the digital FOH console.

Good luck, and give yourself enough time to troubleshoot before next service

Absolutely! Nothing like updating just before crunch time, and finding out that the update broke something with 5 minutes to figure out what changed and cobble something together to get you through. (likewise for a clueless manager to update the gear without consulting or telling anyone, but I digress)

The concept of a "critical time" or "lockdown time" is important for something like this. Even if something else promises to be better, you still need to reject it if you're inside of that time.

 

[KYSteve]

I am always one to upgrade to the latest but I am retired now and don't want to spend the entire week trying to get it running again. This is the reason I have asked these questions. I don't know to try to update the plugins first or export the settings, if I can, or just sit where I am on V27.
One of my operators saw the prompt for the update and I found myself afraid that one Sunday I'm not there and they click to update. The what a mess to recreate.
Oh well, Thanks to everyone for the advice! I'm always open to more.

 

[AaronD]

Once I get the automation to the point where ALL of the manual steps are art, not function, I think I can stick with that version. If you're already there, then you can use the --disable-updater flag on the command line so that the other people aren't tempted.

Edit the shortcut, or the relevant line in a startup script, or whatever you have, from obs to obs --disable-updater.

Lots more options there too. obs --help in a terminal (Command Prompt) to see them all. It'll just print the list and exit.

---

For example, I have two lines in a setup script to run a combination local and remote meeting:

obs --disable-updater --multi --studio-mode --profile "Meeting_Master" --collection "Meeting_Master" --startvirtualcam > /dev/null &
obs --disable-updater --multi --studio-mode --profile "Meeting_Slave" --collection "Meeting_Slave" > /dev/null &

The script does a lot more than just that, like a browser-based remote meeting and external audio processing on Ubuntu Studio Linux, but that's the OBS part. Advanced Scene Switcher in the Master also has an Init macro that waits a while and then switches to the first scene, in lieu of the --scene flag on the command line, so that it also triggers my scene-sync automation and thus initializes everything. (Master and Slave both do more than just scenes)

Some of the automation that I already have in the church broadcast rig in various scripts, and needs to move into Adv. SS:

• Trigger: Wall-clock time
  • Switch Scene: Announcement loop, HDMI-captured from projection PC, with start time underneath
  • Start Streaming
• Trigger: Play welcome video to the stream
  • Change HDMI matrix switch: Live Stream to Back Wall TV (so the pastor can see the switch to the camera)
  • Wait for video done
  • Switch Scene: Back wall camera
  • Wait a few seconds
  • Change HDMI matrix switch: Confidence Monitor to Back Wall TV (guitar tabs, etc.)
• Etc.

Some of the automation that I want to add:

• Trigger: Just played the welcome video, and the pastor is talking (audio is up)
  • Change setting in FOH console: Noise Gate for audience mics, from function-active to always-on (Note 1)
  • Change setting in OBS: Noise Gate for analog line input, from function-active to always-on (Note 2)
• Trigger: Current Scene: Send-off
  • Undo the previous trigger in this list
• Etc.

Note 1: This gate has a side-chain connection to the speaking-mic submix, so the room reverb and audience response actually follow that instead of itself...until this setting change, after which those mics just stay on. The way that I'm using it is really just a mute button with automatic timing and a nice fade.
Note 2: The reasoning here is to handle a low-level ground loop and allow complete silence before and after the service, but disable that function during the service because this congregation can be quiet enough to hear that, at which point it's more distracting to have the gate cut on and off than to just keep the noise.