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Checklist for OBS Setup (for use with ROOM TV Studio streaming events)

  • Updated

PRE-EVENT CHECKLIST

for OBS Studio Streaming Event (through ROOM TV Studio venue)

This article/checklist has been optimized for printing through your browser's print dialog.

 

TUTORIAL ARTICLE REFERENCE - New! TV Studio (for Streaming & Recording):  https://room3d.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/7470174282897-New-TV-Studio-for-Streaming-Recording-

 

The reason OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) Studio requires a walk-through before pressing “Start Recording and/or Start Streaming” is because of the many settings required to make sure that it works well with your desktop system, your intended streaming provider’s service and that it outputs at the quality that you need for your event.

After ensuring that this checklist’s critical items have been properly set, it is strongly recommended that you test all settings before streaming/recording, and adjust them as needed to ensure the streaming signal is truly optimized to your audio/visual needs and to your device’s output capacity. Generally, leave OBS settings at their default values for any cases not specifically recommended below.

 

# SETTING ITEM ACCESSIBLE IN REMARKS
1. Language of choice Settings panel/ General tab, General category  
2. Confirmation Popups when you start/stop streaming Settings panel/ General tab, Output category Not required; useful as a reminder, however.
3. "Automatically record when streaming" Settings panel/ General tab, Output category Only if needed, otherwise you can decouple by un-checking the box.
4. Service Settings panel/ Stream tab/ Refers to your streaming service (Twitch, YouTube, etc.). You can check "Show all services" checkbox or select "Custom Streaming Server" in the pulldown list.
5. Server Location Settings panel/ Stream tab/ Your streaming service’s server either: geographically closest to you or the most bandwidth-currently optimized based on the recommended “Twitch Download Bandwidth Test Tool” at http://goo.gl/tKDCsZ
6. Stream Key Settings panel/ Stream tab/ Available from your Account page on your streaming service’s website.
7. Connect Account Settings panel/ Stream tab/ If your version of OBS has a “Connect Account” box, check it to ensure you can sign into your streaming service through OBS and easily toggle back to continue entering your settings.
8. Video Bitrate Settings panel/ Output tab/

Streaming and/or Recording video quality sent to your streaming Service.

Generally, your internet speed must be at least twice your OBS bitrate if you want to avoid buffering issues (e.g. if your internet upload speed is 2000 Mbps, then your OBS setting for streaming, audio, and video bitrates should not exceed 1000 Mbps).
9. Audio Bitrate Settings panel/ Output tab/ Streaming and/or Recording audio quality sent to your streaming Service. Around 160 kbps for streaming, or lower (128 kbps) if you have a low upload speed.
10. Hardware Encoder Settings panel/ Output tab/
  • Select a Hardware Encoder (if option is available) - only if you use a different preset than "same as stream" and if a Hardware Encoder is available in your system, such as from a recent AMD or NVIDIA graphics card to select this computationally-intensive option without degrading the video stream.
  • Encoder option will not show up until you select a recording quality other than “Same as stream”.

Relevant message will appear at the Output tab’s footer…

  • "Warning: Recording with a software encoder at a different quality than the stream will require extra CPU usage IF you stream and record at the same time".
11. Recording path Settings panel/ Output tab/ Keep this at its default value unless you have chosen FPS settings of considerably high quality, which will consequently require more storage space (and possibly another higher-capacity hard drive to record to). For example, "Lossless" is for extremely high quality videos which require considerable hard drive space, perhaps even prompting you to choose an alternative recording path to a high-capacity hard drive. See “Recording Quality”, below.
12. Recording Quality Settings panel/ Output tab/

CHOICES:

  • Same as Stream
  • High Quality, Medium file size
  • Indistinguishable Quality, Large file size
  • Lossless Quality, Tremendously Large File Size
13. Recording Format Settings panel/ Output tab/ Select either mp4 or mkv  (Caveat: mp4 is more likely to get corrupted during streaming drops; FLV cannot handle recording audio from multiple sources).
14. Desktop Audio Device Settings panel/ Audio tab/ This represents what sounds from your computer to pick up. Note that this will typically play all the sounds your computer makes – including ROOM guests' conversations, music, chat popup sounds, etc. You should either close/disable all other necessary windows/apps and reminders.
15. Mic/Auxiliary Device Settings panel/ Audio tab/

Select the microphone you’d like to use here, often just your computer's default mic. 

Other fields are available to add multiple microphones and desktop devices if we need to.
16. Audio Input/Output Capture source Settings panel/ Audio tab/ CAVEAT: Audio Input/Output Capture source  can cause an echo effect if you have the same device selected in Settings -> Audio AND Controls -> Settings. If you plan on adding audio devices directly to your scenes, make sure they are disabled globally, first.
17. Base (Canvas) Resolution Settings panel/ Video tab/

Same as your desktop/Laptop's screen resolution (often 1920 x 1080 or 1280 × 720).
18. Output (Scaled) Resolution Settings panel/ Video tab/ This is the resolution which your streaming service's servers will receive from your video feed. It can theoretically be the same as the Base Canvas Resolution (which is the default setting), but might tax your system’s computing power, so you might have to downscale your aspect ratio (Output Resolution).
19. Common FPS (Frames Per Second)  Values Settings panel/ Video tab/ Usually 30 or 60 FPS (24 or under is not recommended), depending on how much computational power and bandwidth you have at your disposal. Sometimes a compromise, such as a higher Output Resolution can be used if you select a lower FPS. Alternatively, you can select a lower Output Resolution with a higher frame rate to ensure smoother streaming with fewer frame drops.
20. Downscale Filter Settings panel/ Video tab/ Leave the downscale filter at its default value.
21. Hide Cursor Source panel/

If you don't want your cursor to distract your viewers as an unwanted part of your event/presentation, here's how to omit it from view:

  • Go to the OBS Source dock panel at the screen's bottom, then right-click on the Window Capture Source in the list. This opens a long menu popup window, from which you'll select "Properties" (last item on list).
  • After the Properties window opens, you'll see a checkbox labeled "Capture Cursor". It will be checked by default. Uncheck it, if you don't need it as part of your streamed event.

CAVEAT: If you have unchecked the "Capture Cursor" option, and the cursor still appears, you may have to disable hardware acceleration on the application you are capturing; in other words, capturing via a capture card using the "Video Capture Device source". This means that if you are employing a dedicated streaming PC to manage your encoding, then hiding your cursor is not an option.
22. Select “Window capture”… Sources panel/ (low on the popup list)

… to match your ROOM TV Studio event, that is, what you ideally should display from your monitor, without revealing anything more outside that “frame” and to make sure nothing gets cropped.

  • In the subsequent popup, rename the source to match your ROOM TV Studio event.
  • Be sure to tick the "Make Source visible" box.
23. “Enable the Replay Buffer” Settings panel/ Output tab/

IF YOU ARE NOT RECORDING; consider checking the "Enable the Replay Buffer" checkbox at the panel's bottom. This will enable you to record a preset time (say, 30 seconds) of an interesting event that you might be streaming (for example, an interview's soundbite) at the press of a button. For this you need to also:

  • Specify the length of time (Select "Advanced" at the top of this panel if checking the box doesn't automatically provide you fields to enter your time)
  • Save the buffer: You must set a hotkey for Save Replay under Replay Buffer.
You can set hotkeys for Start Replay Buffer and Stop Replay Buffer, but they are unnecessary as you can start and stop it from the UI.
24. Stream delay Settings panel/ Advanced Settings tab/ Remember that there might be a preset Start/Stop streaming delay that you might have entered in this tab if your streaming doesn’t respond immediately. Or alternatively, you can enter said delay if you find that you need one after testing your streaming setup.
25. Automatically Reconnect Settings panel/ Advanced Settings tab/ Select the “Enable” box and indicate how long of a delay you would like before each attempted reconnect effort as well as a maximum number of attempts (to ensure a reasonable number of ties before resorting to hands-on troubleshooting).