OBS Superuser Course: Master Open Broadcaster Software

Once you have become comfortable with OBS, you may want to start customizing the OBS software. OBS allows users to customize many settings including the overall theme and positioning of each major user interface element. You will notice the ability to resize areas of OBS with your mouse by hovering over the edge of a particular area. For example, if you hover your mouse under the main video area you will notice you can click and drag the side to resize the element. You can also click and drag the top bar of an element to drag the entire element into a new space to reorganize the OBS interface. You can also click and drag entire interface elements outside of the main OBS application in order to create a dedicated space in a new window. Some core OBS elements such as Scenes and the Audio Mixer offer alternate layout options. For example, the image below shows the default audio mixer moved to the side and put into a vertical mode.

To further customize the OBS interface you can use a feature called Browser Docks which allows you to add new interface elements to OBS by adding web-browser sources. A popular way to use this feature is to add a panel to display the chatroom from a live stream. To do this you can click View, and select Docks, and click Custom Browser. This will open up the custom browser docks area where you can add an unlimited number of web-browser sources with names you can reference. Once you create one it will appear in a window you can place anywhere you like in the OBS interface.

In this chapter, you will learn how to optimize your OBS production by using the settings available in OBS to fit your specific needs. Most users of OBS are using the software for live production, live streaming and/or recording. The more that you plan to do with OBS, the more important it will become to use the correct system settings. In general, OBS will allow you to customize your project to fit almost any resolution or frame rate. Therefore, OBS is capable of pushing your computer beyond its limits and a good understanding of your hardware and its limitations is required to optimize OBS properly. While you are using OBS, you should keep an eye on your computer's resource management tool. Windows computers can use Task Manager, and Mac OS uses Activity Monitor.

The process of encoding video is very CPU intensive. In fact, you may get a warning from OBS that says “Encoding Overload!” when you have maxed out your computer's processing capabilities. The first tool you should have open is “Stats.” Stats is a tool that is available from the View dropdown menu which keeps tabs on your CPU usage, disk space availability and memory usage. In the Stats, one area you should keep an eye on is dropped frames. There are two main reasons for dropped frames and OBS breaks them out into “Frames missed due to rendering lag” and “Frames missed due to encoding lag.” Frames missed due to rendering lag are caused by your graphics processing unit (GPU) and this is common when OBS uses a graphics card that is also being used for other graphics intensive software such as video gaming. Frames missed due to rendering lag refers to your computer's inability to actually create each frame of video in real time. “Skipped frames due to encoding lag” has to do with your computer's processing capabilities when you are streaming or recording. Encoding is the process of recording or streaming the rendered video inside of OBS. Encoding requires your computer to compress the video you are working with and either stream or record it.

Before you can determine the source of dropped frames or other processing related issues you must make sure that your OBS system is set up properly. The first step is to put your “Output Mode” into the “Advanced” mode in the Output tab found in Settings. This allows you to have full control over the streaming and recording profiles used for encoding. It is here that you can set the bitrate which is the amount of compression OBS will use to encode your video. The lower the bitrate the lower the quality of your video will be. The first step is to choose the correct Encoder. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, you should choose the NVENC option from the encoder drop down menu. If you have an AMD graphics card you should choose AMF. Some newer Intel processors also have a QuickSync option you can use without the need for a dedicated graphics card. If you are relying only on your computer's CPU for encoding you should choose x264.

Pro Tip: Windows computers will sometimes require you to specifically enable OBS to work with your graphics card. For NVIDIA graphics cards this can be done using the NVIDIA Control Panel. In this control panel, you can click Manage 3D Settings and add OBS to the list of programs which should use the NVIDIA graphics card.

Unless it’s necessary for your production, you should avoid having OBS scaling your video content because it adds unnecessary video processing. Inside the Video tab of the Settings menu you should set your Base (Canvas) Resolution to the same Output (Scaled) Resolution. In the Video tab you can also set your project's frame rate. The higher the frame, the more processing power it will take to encode the video. If you do not need 60 frames per second, reduce this frame rate to 30 or 24. Going from 30 frames per second to 60 almost doubles the amount of bandwidth needed to live stream your video.

Pro Tip: Always make sure that your cameras are set to the same resolution and frame rate as your OBS project.

In this chapter, you can learn about the core features of OBS every user should know about. OBS is full of powerful filters and audiovisual enhancements that are available in the core software package without the need for plugins. Many OBS features are overlooked because they are somewhat hidden in a busy interface or otherwise not explained to users. Other features, take a decent amount of know-how to make them useful or require a plugin to make them work smoother for some users. For example, the Image Mask/Blend filter can be used to turn a rectangular webcam video into a circle or another shape. Another example is the Color Correction filter, which can be used with a color-checker card on the camera to color match multiple cameras together.

One commonly overlooked area of OBS is the source lock and visibility buttons. These two buttons can be used to toggle between on and off states for locking and viewing an individual source. The lock button is ideal for locking one source in place so that it cannot be accidentally moved. The visibility buttons can be used in a few interesting ways especially with the use of the Move Transitions plugin and Hotkeys. For example, you can set up a move transition animation to slide a source into the screen when the visibility button is clicked. You can also create an animation to remove the source when the visibility state is off. This allows you to animate portions of your OBS production based on visibility states. In an upcoming chapter, you will learn how to use this feature with a variety of remote control applications such as Touch Portal. Touch Portal will allow you to create custom buttons to toggle visibility states on and off which can include animations once you have the Move Transitions plugin setup.

Video filters can be applied to any Source or Scene by right clicking on the title and selecting Filters. New Filters can be added to OBS when specific plugins are installed. Similar to Sources, Filters can have their visibility toggled on and off in the Filters management window. By default, OBS organizes Filters into Audio/Video Filters and Effect Filters. You can add a filter by selecting the “+” plus button, which will open the Filter and allow you to adjust the Filter settings. There is a plugin called OBS Filter Hotkeys that will allow you to toggle the visibility on and off for Filters using Hotkeys without having to open the Filters management window.

• Scene and Source Filters

  • Image Mask/Blend - This filter can be used to apply a mask to any source. The mask is uploaded to OBS in the form of a file which should only have two colors or a transparent background. You can then choose the color or mask/blend type.

  • Crop - This filter allows you to resize the input by removing the top/bottom/left/right sides.

  • Color Correction - This filter allows you to adjust the colors in your source. This filter is especially useful in combination with the OBS Color Monitor plugin.

  • Scroll - This filter will move your input (generally text) across the screen. You can choose between vertical and horizontal movements.

  • Color Key & Chroma Key - Color and Chroma Key filters are used to select a color in the source and make it transparent. Both have similar functions but work differently, so experimentation with each is necessary in most cases.

  • LUT Filter - LUT stands for Look Up Table. LUT filters can be applied to sources in order to apply a visual filter to the source.

  • Sharpen - This filter can be used to sharpen the source image.

OBS is a great tool, but it has some limitations, especially when it comes to audio monitoring and control. An audio feature desired by many streamers has been a way to create a separate headphone mix that will allow users to monitor and send any source within OBS to any audio device they choose.

Over the years, there have been several workarounds, but the Audio Monitor plugin for OBS offers all the functionality producers need in an easy-to-use interface. Audio Monitor gives you the ability to send the audio of any OBS source to any audio device just by adding the Audio Monitor filter to the source. With this, you can create your own custom headphone or monitor mix or even create a separate mix to feed your host or guests headphones. The Audio Monitor plugin will be shown with several examples in this book including how to use OBS with Zoom and also creating closed captions with Web Captioner.

OBS has become a popular production solution for people who use video communications software such as Microsoft Teams and Zoom. Many people who use video communications software, would like more control over their audio and video, but only have the ability to use a webcam and microphone as audio visual inputs. This is where virtual video and audio cables come into play with OBS. OBS is capable of outputting a virtual video camera which can be used with software like Zoom as the webcam input. OBS is also capable of using virtual audio cables to connect audio from OBS to other applications on the same computer. These virtual audio and video connections allow you to use OBS with any software that leverages a standard webcam and microphone input.

Use cases for virtual audio and video connections vary widely. One of the most popular ways to use a virtual webcam output from OBS is with software such as Zoom. Zoom does offer some visual enhancements such as blur effects and filters, but OBS offers much more flexibility. The latest version of OBS now includes a usable USB webcam driver by default which you can select inside of any software that uses webcams. Using the Start Virtual Camera button inside of OBS, you can send the video directly from your OBS output to any software that is using the OBS Camera webcam input.

VST 2 plugins are a great way to add more clarity to your voice and increase your production capabilities.

The OBS Audio Sync Tool can be used to synchronize your audio and video sources inside of OBS.

OBS Studio comes standard with filters. You can add filters to any source, scene, or audio source. However, there was no way to quickly and easily turn these filters on and off. Filter Hotkeys adds the ability to turn filters on and off using assignable hotkeys or even a Stream Deck or Touch Portal controller. Filter Hotkeys make it easier to control your favorite filters.

Background removal tools, which allow you to remove or replace a video background without a green screen, are more popular than ever. They are showing up as an included feature in popular video conferencing applications like Google Meet and Zoom. However, background removal was not available in OBS directly until this plug-in was developed. Fortunately, with the Background Removal plug-in for OBS studio, you can remove backgrounds without a green screen. It is easy to set up and absolutely free.

Many OBS plugins build off the functionality provided by others and PTZOptics camera control plugin is one that works well with NDI for those using an IP based video production workflow. PTZOptics is a live streaming camera manufacturer who is an active OBSProject supporter and developer of the PTZ camera control plugin. The plugin allows users to take control of PTZ cameras inside of OBS and use Hotkeys inside OBS to automatically call PTZ camera presets for a camera when you use an OBS scene.

A “PTZ” or pan, tilt, and zoom camera preset is a saved camera position stored inside a PTZ camera which can be recalled during a production to get the perfect view in a particular space. The PTZOptics plugin that allows you to control up to eight PTZOptics cameras directly from inside OBS. The plugin also features Xbox joystick and Hotkeys support. Using only an Xbox joystick, plugged into your computer via USB, you can fully control PTZ robotic cameras over an ethernet connection on your local area network.

Have you ever wanted to control your lower thirds on the fly? With Animated Lower Thirds you can control four different lower thirds simultaneously with an easy to use dockable control panel. Even better, you can include logos, have total control over formatting, and trigger the lower thirds using hotkeys.

Move Transitions is an amazing plugin that allows you to create custom transitions for OBS.

Adding captions to your production is a great way to improve the accessibility and reach of your video content. Closed captions can remove language barriers, make content accessible for those with hearing limitations, and allow people to watch videos when it isn't practical to have the sound on. Captioning also offers SEO (search engine optimization) benefits as Google and other search engines can index the captions and improve your performance in search results.

Many video production professionals have learned how to color grade video with professional tools such as waveform monitors, vectorscope, and histograms. These tools are available in non-linear editing (NLE) software programs such as Adobe Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, and Final Cut Pro but also in live video production software solutions such as vMix and the NewTek TriCaster. Live color grading tools help aid professionals who are color grading video sources. While monitors and scopes can look intimidating, once you understand how they work, you will wonder how you ever used color correction tools without them.

VDO.ninja (formerly known as OBS.ninja) is a quick and easy way to add live video into your OBS production from a smartphone, a tablet or a remote computer. VDO.ninja is totally free and available as a free web service but it can also be customized and deployed on your own private server. The nice thing about VDO.ninja is that it has been designed around the OBS use case and has great documentation on how to use it to bring remote guests into your OBS production. The technology behind VDO.ninja is called WebRTC which is a free and open source standard for online communications.

At the heart of NDI® connectivity is your local area network (LAN). A LAN is a group of computers and other hardware or devices that are connected using established networking protocols. These devices may be connected using ethernet cables or via WiFi connectivity. A LAN can be as simple as a computer, tablet, or printer connected on a basic home network, or as complicated as hundreds of computers and devices in an office building. All computers and devices connected with networking equipment are considered part of a local area network. Outside of the LAN is the wide area network (WAN). An Internet Service Provider (ISP) provides LANs with a secure connection to the WAN which delivers internet access.

Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is a convenient way to connect video sources to OBS because it is widely available on network connected cameras. From simple security cameras to advanced production encoders, you will likely find that most network connected video devices have the ability to produce an RTSP video feed that you can pull into OBS as a source. RTSP video sources can be connected using the “Media Source” source type. Using RTSP video requires some networking knowledge because the device you are connecting to should have a unique IP address for communication.

Secure Reliable Transport (SRT) is an open source video transport protocol released by Haivision in 2013. The SRT Alliance is a group of broadcast and streaming companies that have adopted the standard and promote its use for streaming video over the public internet (or Wide Area Network). The SRT Alliance includes hundreds of companies who have built software and hardware solutions for streaming video with SRT making it easy to find solutions for streaming with SRT.