Question / Help Use Macbook as second monitor?

[Sandw1chPlease]

Hey guys, i've read that it is easier to control your stream, if you got a second monitor.
So i was thinking if i could use my Macbook, to control it from there, while i stream my gameplay?
Like changing music and updating the topic of my stream and thinks like that.
Could someone tell me what the pros would be for a second monitor.

Also i am looking for a guide, that shows how to setup something fancy on your stream, like figures around my self (i use webcam while streaming, so people can see me). I just think it looks cooler, when the video recording me, isn't just a square. If you look at a lot of streamers, they got something around it and their names in the stream at places, that is empty.

Please help me and sorry for the bad spelling.

 

[FerretBomb]

Control from a second machine is possible using the OBS Remote plugin (check the plugins forum), but can be tricky to set up.
Using a laptop as a second monitor is less possible unless the laptop is designed specifically to allow its monitor to be used in a passthrough mode. I don't follow Apple kit, but would doubt they would allow this functionality.
A second monitor allows you to keep OBS and chat on-screen and read it/preview what is going out on the stream in real-time, even while playing a fullscreen game. Really, once you've used a multi-monitor setup, it's almost impossible to go back to a single-monitor system.

Overlay images are normally created in an image editing program (GIMP, Photoshop, etc) and used as an image layer positioned over your webcam. You can use the alpha layer to make it transparent (or partially-so) and save as PNG to allow gradient transparency (letting you do things like false drop-shadows, fade-borders, etc) or GIF if you only need hard transparency (on or off, no gradient).
You'll need to create those yourself though, or commission an artist/designer to make them for you.

 

[Sandw1chPlease]

Thank you for your answer!
I have another question about a second monitor.
If i want to buy a second monitor, does it then have to be same inches as my current monitor? Or could i just buy a cheap one? What would you prefer?
Thanks and Happy New Year!

 

[dodgepong]

You can buy a second monitor at whatever resolution you want. Resolutions do not have to match.

 

[FerretBomb]

Sizes also do not have to match. I'll say though, getting a matching-resolution monitor (1920x1080, 1280x720, etc) will make life MUCH easier when using an 'extend' mode desktop. I used a smaller secondary for a while, and only being able to mouse past part of the edge of the main monitor was far more infuriating than I'd expected.

 

[Sandw1chPlease]

Alright! Thanks for the answers guys!