Using a webcam for facecam during a gaming session or live stream is a great way to build
a stronger connection with your audience and make your content better.
But moreoften than not, there’s just so much wasted space in your camera’s field
of view.
People want to see your face, not your entire bedroom blocking precious gameplay and eating
up precious compression bandwidth.
We previously covered methods of background removal for your webcam, but today we’re
going to cover another trick - using a mask to turn your square or rectangular webcam
view into a circle that just focuses on your face.
It’s pretty neat.
To get started, go on and set up your normal gameplay scene, but don’t add your webcam
just yet.
Next, you’ll need an image editing program such as Photoshop.
A great, free alternative that works perfectly fine for this use case is Paint.NET, linked
in the video description.
I’ll walk you through both of these options, so use the timecodes in the video description
to choose your program.
Photoshop We’ll start with Photoshop.
Make a new image.
The image resolution needs to be the same as the resolution you’re using for your
webcam - such as 1920 by 1080 or 1280 by 720.
For me, it’s 1920 wide by 1080 high.
You want to make sure your background is transparent by choosing from the dropdown of “Background
Contents” and choosing “transparent.”
Hit OK.
Next, use one of the shape tools from the toolbar - in our case, the circle or ellipse
- and make a circle in the center of your canvas.
You’ll want to make it a solid black color filled in, and big enough to take up most
of the center of the canvas.
Make sure it’s centered.
Now go to the File menu, and save this image as a PNG image file, place it with your other
stream assets.
Paint.NET In Paint.NET, make a new image.
The image resolution needs to be the same as the resolution you’re using for your
webcam - such as 1920 by 1080 or 1280 by 720.
For me, it’s 1920 wide by 1080 high.
Click OK.
Make a new transparent layer and delete the background layer.
Next, use one of the shape tools from the toolbar - in our case, the circle or ellipse
- and make a circle in the center of your canvas.
You’ll want to make it a solid black color filled in, and big enough to take up most
of the center of the canvas.
Make sure it’s centered.
Now go to the File menu, and save this image as a PNG image file, place it with your other
stream assets.
In OBS Now that you have your image file, go back
to OBS Studio.
Add your webcam via Video Capture Device source to your scene, choose your webcam, adjust
your resolution if need be, and so on, and hit OK.
Right click the webcam source and click “Filters.”
Under “Effect Filters” click the plus and choose “Image Mask/Blend.”
Give it a name and hit OK.
Change the “Type” from “Alpha Mask (Color Channel)” to “Alpha Mask (Alpha Channel)”.
Then next to “Path” click “Browse” and find your image.
Hit close.
Shazam!
Now your webcam is a circle.
… Or a star!
Or an arrow!
Or anything you like.
All without needing to record your webcam separately and edit the shape in later.
This is super handy and can do a lot to make your stream stand out and add that little
extra bit of polish to your stream.
I
hope this episode of my OBS Studio tutorial course has been helpful for you.
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Until next time, I’m EposVox, Happy Streaming!
Thanks for watching this episode of my OBS Studio tutorial course.