How to Setup OBS

OBS is the most versatile software, but it’s also the most confusing to set up.

Setting up OBS

First, we will need to download the program,

• Visit OBSProject.Com – Downloads and click “Download”
• Install it following the instructions in the program.
• Once you’ve done this, start the program.

Start by Adding a “Scene”

• Right-click in the “Scene” box, and select “Add Scene”
• Choose a title for your scene.

Now you will need a “Source”,

• Right-click the “Source” box
• Hover over “Add”
• Choose either Window or Game Capture.
• Name the source then select the window or game you want to capture from the drop-down menu.

Encoding

Now let’s change the stream settings

• Click on “Settings” on the top menu, and then “Settings”
• Click on “Encoding” on the right,
  • You’ll see “Video Encoding, and Audio Encoding” pop up on the right.
• Under “Audio Encoding” change “Codec” to MP3, and “Bitrate” to “128”.
• Now, the hard part. Depending on your connection and computer, you will have to experiment with “Quality Balance” and “Max Bitrate”.
  • Assuming you have a Good Computer and Decent Internet connection, a good place to start is by putting “Quality Balance” to “6” and “Max Bitrate” to “800” (Make sure “Buffer Size (kbit)” is the same as your “Max Bitrate” when you change “Max Bitrate”)
  • Experiment with these values. This would be a good time to ask a friend to watch your stream to help you find good quality or check it out on your phone.

Let’s explain “Quality Balance” and “Max Bitrate”

“Quality Balance” is the quality of your stream if you have a still picture. For instance having a high “Quality Balance” would make your stream pretty when the same image is displayed, this is not the case in games as the image on your screen is rapidly updated.

“Max Bitrate” is the rate at which stream image updates. For instance having a high “Bitrate” would make fast moving images/rapidly updating images look better.

So try to find a good balance between “Quality and Bitrate” Note that you will probably never need higher “Quality Balance” than 9 on (I keep mine at 8), but you could wrap “Max Bitrate” up all the way to “3000” If your internet and computer can handle it. If you have a kick-ass supercomputer and 100/100 Mb connection, then you can most likely put those values, and it will make your stream look pretty clean.

Video

Now for the video settings.

• Click on “Video” on the right.
  • Now you will see a drop-down box on the right side saying “Resolution Downscale”
• Set it to “1.50”, which in my case is “1280×720” since I have a “1920×1080” monitor.
  • “1280×720” is the preferred size for viewers, it’s also called “720p” or “HD” in common terms. So if you have this option, try to pick it, if not, pick whatever else you have on “1.50” Now let’s change the “FPS” to “24”. 24, is the rate at which images are displayed on TV and is accepted by nearly everyone. If you think your internet and computer is up to it, you can set it to “30”, “48” or even “60”. Unless you have a really good rig, I’d suggest sticking to 24 or 30 frames. Also, make sure the checkbox “Disable Aero at startup” is enabled.

If you want to record sound from your microphone, follow this step, else skip it. Now click on the “Audio” option on the right side. Under the “Microphone/Auxilary Audio Device” select the option “Default”. If you wish to set any hotkeys, then do so.

Now click on the “Advanced”. Under “General” on the right side, check the checkbox saying “Use Multithreaded Optimizations”. Under “Video” on the right side, change “x264 CPU Preset” to “very fast” Now click on the “OK” button.

Stream Key & Broadcast Settings

Now we only have to setup the streaming environment. Press the “Preview Stream” button in the bottom right. You should now see your screen pop up where there used to be gray. If it’s only partially showing up, click the “Edit Scene” button and drag the window so that it covers the entire stream. When you are done press “Stop Preview”. Click on “Settings” in the top menu, and then “Settings” again.

This time click on the “Broadcast Settings” on the left. You will see a bunch of settings show up on the right. Make sure “Mode” is set to “Live Stream” Set “Streaming Service” to whichever you chose earlier to whatever is closest to you. Now we have to get the stream key.

Log into your account you will be streaming from and go to the top right drop-down arrow > Dashboard > Settings. Scroll down a bit and click on “Stream Key” > click on “Show Key” and the key will show up. Copy this key and paste it in “Play Path/Stream Key” in OBS.

That’s it! You should be Good to go! Run a few test streams to fine tune your quality settings