So you wanna start streaming, but aren’t sure where to start when it comes to broadcasting software.
How do you get this?
Or this?
Or one of these?
I’ll walk you through it.
This is DIY in 5!
Welcome to DIY in 5!
My name is Trisha Hershberger and today, we’ll go over setting up popular streaming software
like OBS, Streamlabs OBS, XSplit and how to personalize and really up the production value
of your Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Live streams or recorded gameplay footage.
If you’re looking for more information on the hardware setup for live streaming - particularly
from a console like a Nintendo Switch - check out some of our previous hardware-focused
videos linked in the description.
For the purposes of today’s video, let’s get creative!
If you find the tips in today’s video useful, we ask that you give this video a like and
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In this video, I’ll go over setup for the popular free open-source software OBS Studio,
although the setup of scenes and sources we’ll cover today also applies to other streaming software
like Streamlabs OBS, XSplit and others.
I like OBS because it gives users more power and flexibility than other streaming software,
and once you have a handle on OBS, the rest are easy.
In OBS, you’ll see from left to right Scenes, Sources, Audio, Scene Transitions and Controls
as well as a preview of what you are recording or streaming in a large window above.
Scenes and Sources are the meat and potatoes and where we’ll spend most of our time today.
A scene is a combination of sources that make a whole audio/video experience for your viewers
and a source is each specific audio or video element that you add into your scene.
You add in sources one by one until you have the look and feel you want for your stream.
Most beginner streamers will start with one scene and add more as they get more comfortable streaming,
so let’s create a basic gameplay capture scene first.
When adding your sources that will make up your scene, think of the necessary items you’ll
want in your stream and add them in one by one.
Your game and your microphone are a good place to start.
Click the plus sign at the bottom of the Source section and add your gameplay by clicking
either Display capture - to capture one monitor of a multi-monitor setup - Game Capture
to capture a windowed or full screen game on either the same or a different monitor,
or Video Capture Device if you are using a capture card to play either from a console or a separate PC.
After you select the type of Source you’d like to add,
a Properties window will pop up with a few options for you to choose from.
For example, here’s the Game Capture properties screen, and I have options
like Capture any Fullscreen application, Capture specific window, and Capture foreground window with hotkey,
as well as other options like capture cursor, etc.
If there are options listed you don’t understand, I suggest keeping it on the OBS default and
only adjusting if you have any issues.
Click ok and this will now show your Game Capture video in your OBS preview window and
you have successfully added your first source.
Huzzah!
If you want to also add your game audio to your broadcast or recording, this needs to
be added separately, so again, click the plus sign under sources, select Audio Output Capture.
Select your Desktop Audio here and hit ok.
You will see your Audio Output now show up in your Audio Mixer to the right, which you
can use to adjust volume settings or mute directly in OBS.
Note: If you are using a capture card to capture your gameplay, the capture card will automatically
capture your gameplay audio for you so you can omit that step.
Speaking of Audio, if you want your stream or recording to include your voice,
you can add your microphone as a source as well.
Simply click the plus sign, add “Audio Input Capture” and choose the microphone you’d like to use.
You will also see this appear in the Audio Mixer to the right of the Sources.
Again, here you can adjust levels directly within OBS and
use this to balance out your voice vs the game audio as an example.
From here you can go wild!
If you’d like to add sources like alerts, chat widgets, donation goals, etc. there are
popular free tools like Streamlabs and Streamelements that can help you set that up and add it into
your OBS, often as a Browser source.
And because OBS is open source, there are countless plugins you can get as well, say
for an onscreen timer or otherwise.
Finally, right click on your scene name and name it whatever you’d like.
Let’s go with Gameplay for this one.
Now you have your first scene!
From here, you can really get creative.
Start a new scene, let’s say a welcome or starting screen.
Add the audio and video sources you’d like to be seen and heard, rename it and you are good to go.
What about a scene that’s just your webcam with maybe a lower third graphic?
The possibilities are endless for scenes, but some popular options are Start and End screens,
Be Right Back, Full Face Cam, Gameplay, etc.
The buttons on the right hand side include Start Streaming, Start Recording, Start Virtual Camera
if you want to use your OBS preview as a webcam source for Video Chat services like Zoom, etc,
Studio Mode, which allows you to prep or change a scene before it goes live,
settings and a way to Exit OBS when you are done.
As far as your overall OBS settings, say for Audio, Video, Stream Output and Stream Key,
these will vary depending on which platform you want to stream to (Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, etc.)
and if you stream to multiple platforms, you can even set up multiple Profiles to quickly switch settings on the fly.
We’ll go over how to find the optimal settings for your setup, bandwidth and preferred streaming platform,
as well as how to set up multiple Profiles and Scene Collections, in a separate video.
I hope this helps you to navigate streaming software a little easier and really personalize
the look and feel of the content you want to put into the world.
Feel free to drop any questions you might have in the comments,
See you next time for a deeper dive into stream settings, and happy streaming everyone!