The Ultimate
OBS Studio
Tutorial
by LESLIE SAMUEL
WWW.BECOMEABLOGGER.COM
Our Goals:
Familiarize you with the software.
Teach you how it works.
Make you an OBS Pro in under an hour!
www.becomeablogger.com 2
Table of Contents
An Introduction to OBS Studio 4
A Tour of OBS Studio 7
Understanding the Settings in
your OBS Studio 9
How to Use a Webcam Using
14
OBS Studio
How to Share Your Screen Using
OBS Studio 15
Set Up 4 Basic Scenes in
16
OBS Studio
How to Use Studio Mode in
19
OBS Studio
How to Stream to Facebook Live
Using OBS Studio 20
How to Stream to YouTube
22
Using OBS Studio
How to Stream Live to Periscope
Using OBS Studio 23
How to do a Skype Interview
and Stream it Live Using OBS 24
Studio
www.becomeablogger.com 3
An Introduction to
OBS Studio
What is OBS Studio?
OBS stands for Open Broadcaster Software.
It is a FREE open source software that you can use for
live streaming on any social media platform - Youtube,
Facebook, Periscope, etc
Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux
Where can I download OBS?
https://obsproject.com/
www.becomeablogger.com 4
Scenes and Sources
SCENES
These are specific layouts for how you want your sources to
be displayed.
SOURCES
These are the things / elements shown on your screen.
Examples:
One scene and one source.
Source: Webcam video.
One scene with two sources.
Sources: Webcam video and lower thirds image on top of the video.
www.becomeablogger.com 5
Scenes and Sources
Examples (continued):
One scene and one source.
Source: Browser window.
These are the things / elements shown on your screen.
One scene with two sources.
Sources: Browser window and webcam video.
www.becomeablogger.com 6
A Tour of
OBS Studio
The Preview Section
This is what you're
going to see what
your audience are
going to be seeing.
The Tools Section
Scenes. These are made up
of multiple sources. This
allows the user to add or
remove scenes or change
their order in the display.
www.becomeablogger.com 7
The Tools Section
Sources. Shows the user a list
of your sources and allows you
to set specific settings for each.
Mixer. This allows the user to
control the audio settings of the
devices or sources that you add.
Transitions. Allows the user to set
how to transition from one scene
to the next.
Other buttons.
Start Streaming. Allows the user to
choose from options to stream
through different social media
platforms.
Start Recording. Allows a user the
option to record the video locally on
the hard drive instead of doing a live
stream.
Studio Mode. Allows the user to
preview the video before streaming it
or publishing it.
Settings. Allows a user to set a
number of different settings for the
video.
www.becomeablogger.com 8
Understanding the
Settings in your
OBS Studio
The General Settings
The general settings allow a user to control a whole bunch
of different options such as:
www.becomeablogger.com 9
The Stream Settings
The stream settings allow a user to connect to whatever
service to live stream.
For example, this is the settings I use for streaming live to
Facebook using Facebook Live.
The stream key is a key that you'll need to get from the
different platforms you'll use to stream your video.
www.becomeablogger.com 10
The Output Settings
The output settings allow a user to adjust the quality or type of
output video.
Simple Output Settings:
Different options are available for live streaming or recording
your videos.
Tip: If you plan of re-purposing your videos, it is best to record it in MP4 format so it will
be compatible with almost any application.
www.becomeablogger.com 11
The Output Settings
Advanced Output Settings:
Note: The higher the bit rate used, the better the quality of the video and audio.
Depending on the service streamed to, OBS will tolerate different levels of bit rates.
The Audio Settings
This allows you to set your input audio devices.
www.becomeablogger.com 12
The Video Settings
Here, you can set your the canvas (the work area) resolution and the
output resolution. If you're streaming live to Facebook, the maximum
resolution you can have is 1280 x 720.
The Hotkeys Settings
This allows you to create shortcuts to switch between your different
scenes.
The Advanced Settings
www.becomeablogger.com 13
How to Use a
Webcam with
OBS Studio
Steps on How to Use a 2
Webcam with your OBS
Studio
1. Create your first scene. Click on
the "Add" (+) button under the
Scenes area.
1 3
2. Enter a name for the scene.
3. Add a source to your scene. Since you're using
a webcam, select "Video Capture Device."
4
4.Choose whether to create a new video capture
device or use an existing one.
5. Choose the actual webcam you're using to
capture your video.
5
6. You're webcam is set! But, don't forget, you
need to set up your audio as well using the
Audio Settings option.
Note: This VU meter appears once
you've successfully set up your audio.
www.becomeablogger.com 14
How to Share Your
Screen Using
OBS Studio
2
How to Share Your Screen Using OBS Studio
1 3
1. Click "+" to add a new scene.
2. Enter a name for the new scene.
3. Click "+" to add a new source. You can choose to add either a Browser
Source, Display Capture, or a Window Capture.
BROWSER SOURCE. This option allows a user to share a website by
loading it within OBS. A URL has to be specified if you want to do this.
DISPLAY CAPTURE. Allows a user to display everything shown in your
monitor including all mouse actions.
WINDOW CAPTURE. This allows a user to display only a specific
active window.
www.becomeablogger.com 15
1
Set Up 4 Basic 2
Scenes in 3
4
OBS Studio
2
Types of scenes to create:
1. Scene with webcam only.
Create a scene and give a name for it.
Add a source. Use "Video Capture
Device" to capture your webcam view.
Select the webcam you're using from
the dropdown menu.
Your scene with your webcam is set!
2. Scene with webcam and image overlay.
Create a scene and give a name for it.
Add a source. Use "Video Capture
Device" to capture your webcam view.
Add another source. Use "Image" to
add to the lower thirds of the screen.
Browse to select an image to add.
Make sure that everything fits within
your screen. Right click on the source
> transform > fit to screen.
Select the webcam you're using from the dropdown menu.
Your scene with your webcam and image on the lower thirds is set!
www.becomeablogger.com 16
Types of scenes to create:
3. Scene with browser only.
Create a scene and give a name for it.
Add a source. Use "Window Capture."
Give a name for it.
Select from the dropdown list which
window you want to be displayed.
Again, make sure that everything fits
within your screen. Right click on the
source > transform > fit to screen.
Select the webcam you're using from the dropdown menu.
Your scene with your webcam is set!
4. Scene with browser and webcam view.
Create a scene and give a name for it.
Add a source. Use "Window Capture."
Click to add an existing window or
create a new one.
Make sure that everything fits within
your screen. Right click on the source >
transform > fit to screen.
Add another source. Use "Video Capture Device" to add your webcam view.
Select the webcam you're using from the dropdown menu.
Resize and transform your webcam view using the red toggle bars on the red
frame around the webcam preview and move it around to the lower right
corner of the screen.
Your scene with your webcam and browser is set!
You can now easily switch from one scene to another scene with your preferred
layouts by clicking on the different scenes.
Tip: One way to make it easier to shift from one scene to another is to set up your
hotkeys settings as illustrated on page 13. An example is given in the next page.
www.becomeablogger.com 17
Setting up your Hotkeys Settings
Specify the shortcut
keys you want to use in
shifting from one
scene to the next.
Don't forget to
click 'Apply'
when you're
done
www.becomeablogger.com 18
How to Use
Studio Mode in
OBS Studio
2
Studio mode allows a user to preview scenes before actually taking them live. To
use this feature, click on the 'Studio Mode' button on the lower right of the screen
You'll see two screens come up -- the preview and live screens.
Preview Screen Live Screen
Click this button
to select Studio
Mode
Set transition
settings here
Using this feature, you can check your scene in the preview screen first before
you let it go live. When the scene is ready, click 'Transition'.
You also have the option to set your transition settings between scenes.
www.becomeablogger.com 19
How to Stream to
Facebook Live
Using OBS2 Studio
How to Go Live to Your Facebook Page
1. Connect OBS Studio to Facebook.
Log in to your Facebook account.
Go to your Facebook page (not
your personal profile page) and
click on 'Publishing Tools.' >
'Video Library' > 'Live' buttons.
Look for your unique secret
Stream Key and copy.
Copy the stream key.
Go back to your OBS
account. Go to the
'Settings' > 'Stream'
page.
Tip: The stream key will be valid for seven days. After previewing the video, the user
has upto five hours before going live.
www.becomeablogger.com 20
How to Go Live to Your Facebook Page
Paste your stream key here.
OBS Studio and Facebook are now connected.
Click 'Start streaming.'
2. Preview the stream
then, go live.
Go back to Facebook on the
page where you left it and
click 'Next.'
Fill these fields with the
necessary info needed.
You can click 'Go Live' when you're ready to
stream; click 'End Live' when you're done.
www.becomeablogger.com 21
How to Go Live to Your
Facebook Profile or Facebook Group
I've created a workaround for doing this. You'll need to go to
becomeablogger.com/golive. Click on 'Click here to go Live on Facebook'
button. Determine where you want to post the video (your own timeline, in a
gruop, etc) and proceed as indicated in the prompts that will come up. The
process is basically the same for the rest of the steps.
How to Stream to
YouTube Using
OBS2 Studio
Go to your YouTube account. Click on 'Creator Studio' as seen below.
Click on 'Live Streaming.' Scroll down until you find the stream key. Copy the key.
Go back to OBS Studio. Click on the following path: Settings > Stream. Choose
YouTube as the service for streaming your video and update the stream key with the
one you copied from your YouTube account.
Your YouTube account is now connected to OBS Studio and you're ready to go live.
www.becomeablogger.com 22
How to Stream Live
to Periscope Using
OBS Studio
You need to have access to Periscope Producer. You can go to this link to apply for it:
Click the 'Advanced
Sources' menu to set your
live stream options
Go to your Periscope
profile. Scroll down and
click the 'Settings' menu.
Copy the info from your Periscope settings to the Stream
settings in OBS Studio.
URL = Primary Server
Stream key = Stream name
Click on 'Start Streaming' in OBS Studio. When you do, you'll have an option to
preview your video in Periscope.
www.becomeablogger.com 23
Go back to your Periscope
account to preview the
video and enter all
necessary information
needed.
Click 'Start Broadcast' when
ready to go live and 'Stop
Broadcast' when you're
done.
How to do a Skype
Interview and Stream it
Live Using OBS Studio
If you're on a PC, you can open and add a Skype window just like you normally would.
If you're on a Mac, you'll need to do some additional adjustments for the audio
because the audio portion of the Mac does not stream to any platform using OBS
Studio. Programs like Loopback may need to be installed to resolve this issue.
Loopback may be downloaded from:
www.rogueamoeba.com/loopback/
This allows a user to create a virtual device used to stream live.
1. Set up your audio using Loopback (Mac)
Inside your Loopback app, create a new virtual device. Name that device and select a
source for your device.
www.becomeablogger.com 24
2 Name your new
virtual device
3 Add a source
Unmute your device
1
Add a new virtual device
Go back to OBS Studio, go to 'Settings' > 'Audio'. Set the audio as the one set up in
Loopback. Add it as another auxiliary device.
Tip: Make sure that your scenes are ready before you make the Skype call.
www.becomeablogger.com 25
2. Set up your scenes for the interview.
Before you make the call, make sure to set up the scenes already.
Once you have your interviewee on the line, you can then add sources using Window
Capture to specific scenes depending on how you would like the screen to look like.
Arrange the windows in your screen as you like.
Tip: You can remove default frames in a Skype window by clicking on the source >
Transform > Edit Transform You can start cropping out the edges that you don't want
included in the frame.
You'll see the edges gets cropped here
Adjust until you've cropped out
the frame from the window
www.becomeablogger.com 26
