How to Set Up OBS Studio and Stream Online

To start streaming, you need what’s called an encoder—a software tool for capturing and broadcasting content from your PC.

OBS Studio is the encoder of choice for most streamers today. OBS makes it easy for content creators to broadcast content to their streaming platform of choice. The tool is free to use, easy to learn, and comes with support for many input sources, streaming platforms, capture devices, and more.

In this article, we’ll give you a quick run-through on how to set up OBS and start streaming today.

Why Choose OBS?

OBS is an open-source, cross-platform streaming and recording tool. It takes input sources, including video, audio, images, and text, and merges them into a stream ready to broadcast on platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, or Facebook Live.

This encoder has an extensive list of features for producing, editing, and broadcasting livestreams, making it an ideal choice for both professional and hobby streamers.

Its main benefits include:

• Completely free for both commercial and non-profit use.
• Support for many different media formats.
• Easy to add new functionality through user-made plugins.
• Fine-grained control through an extensive settings menu.
• Fast and intuitive to use UI.

How to Set Up OBS: Step-By-Step Guide

OBS is not that difficult to use. What sometimes makes things tricky for beginners is the number of settings and customization options.

To help you navigate OBS and set up your first live stream, let’s go over the basic process from start to finish.

1. Download OBS

Browse to the official OBS Studio download page and choose the installer for your operating system.

There are slight differences between input sources supported by the Windows, Linux, and Mac versions. Otherwise, the tool is almost identical on all OSes.

2. Install OBS

Windows

For Windows and Mac, run the downloaded installer and follow the installation instructions.

Linux

For Linux (Ubuntu), load the terminal and enter the following commands:

1. Add the OBS repository:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:obsproject/obs-studio

2. Update app repository:

sudo apt update

3. Install OBS:

sudo apt install obs-studio

3. Configure OBS

The quickest way to configure OBS is to run the auto-configuration wizard. The wizard detects which hardware you’re using and adjusts the settings accordingly.

To customize OBS further, navigate to the File menu and select Settings.

Configure Video Settings

These settings determine the visual quality of your stream.

Note that higher settings impact performance. For example, setting the output resolution too high can result in an FPS drop during streaming and degrade the quality of the stream.

For a good default setting:

• Set the Output (Scaled) Resolution to less than your screen resolution (i.e., 1920×1080).
• Set the Common FPS Values to 30 FPS.

Configure Audio Settings

These settings determine the audio quality of your stream.

Audio settings have less impact on performance unless you have an advanced audio setup with multiple microphones, instruments, or uncompressed audio.

For a good default configuration:

• Set Channels to Stereo.
• Set Decay Rate to Fast.
• Set Peak Meter Type to Sample Peak.

Configure Output Settings

These settings define the parameters of the final output file or stream. Output settings determine the file size after encoding, which can impact stream performance if you have data limits or a slower internet connection.

For a good default setting:

• Set the Video Bitrate to 2500 Kbps.
• Set the Encoder to Hardware (NVENC).
• Set the Audio Bitrate to 192.

4. Link OBS to A Streaming Service

The beauty of OBS is that it supports every streaming service out there, including some defunct ones.

Whichever streaming service you choose, you need a stream key to connect to it. The process of obtaining a stream key is different for every service. We will cover the three most popular streaming platforms: YouTube, Twitch, and Facebook Live.

YouTube

To find a YouTube stream key:

1. Go to your YouTube Studio page.
2. Click the Camera icon in the top right corner of the screen and select Go Live.
3. Click Manage in the left-hand menu.
4. Click Copy next to the stream key to copy it to the clipboard.
5. Go to File > Settings > Stream in OBS.
6. Select YouTube from the Service list.
7. Paste the stream key in the Stream Key field.

Twitch

To find a Twitch stream key:

1. Go to your Twitch Channel page.
2. Click the Channel Icon and select Settings.
3. Go to the Channels and Videos tab.
4. Click Copy next to the stream key to copy it to the clipboard.
5. Go to File > Settings > Stream in OBS.
6. Select Twitch from the Service list.
7. Click Use Stream Key.
8. Paste the stream key in the Stream Key field.

Facebook Live

To find a Facebook Live stream key:

1. Go to your Facebook homepage.
2. Click Live Video.
3. Click Use Stream Key.
4. Click Copy next to the stream key to copy it to the clipboard.
5. Go to File > Settings > Stream in OBS.
6. Select Facebook Live from the Service list.
7. Paste the stream key in the Stream Key field.

How to Add Sources to Your Stream

The main element of an OBS stream is called a scene. Scenes can contain a variety of media sources, including audio recordings, screen capture, video files, text overlays, and more.

Let’s look at some of the sources you’re most likely to use during streaming.

Image

To add an image source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Image.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Click Browse to find the image file on your hard drive, then click OK.

Text

To add a text source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Text.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Write your text in the Text field, stylize it to your liking, then click OK.

Video

There are several types of video sources you can add to your stream. This includes video files, screen recordings of an app (or the entire desktop), and webcam footage.

The names of these sources will vary slightly based on the OS. For example, Windows uses the Game capture source for screen recordings of video game applications, while Linux uses the Windows capture source.

To add a video file source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Media Source.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Toggle Local File, click Browse to find the video file on your hard drive, and click OK.

To add a webcam source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Video Capture Device.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Select your webcam from the Device list, then click OK.

To add an application source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Window Capture.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Select your application window from the Window list, then click OK.

Audio

There are several types of audio sources that you can add to a stream, the most important being audio output capture and audio input capture. The names of these sources will vary slightly based on your OS.

To add your desktop audio as a source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Audio Output Capture.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Select your desktop audio output device from the Device list, then click OK.

To add microphone audio as a source:

1. Click the + button in the sources dock and select Audio Input Capture.
2. Toggle Create new and enable Make source visible.
3. Select your microphone device from the Device list, then click OK.

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Conclusion

OBS is easy to learn but difficult to master. The basic setup process is as easy as launching auto-configure, adding a few media sources, and connecting to a streaming service.

Once you get the hang of it, you can dive into the numerous configuration options to further fine-tune your stream.