Use OBS
OBS Studio is free, open-source software for recording and live streaming. OBS provides real-time source and device capture, scene composition, encoding, recording, and streaming.
Last updated
OBS Studio is free, open-source software for recording and live streaming. OBS provides real-time source and device capture, scene composition, encoding, recording, and streaming.
Last updated
Follow these steps to get up and running quickly with OBS Studio:
Download and install OBS: https://obsproject.com/download.
Run OBS Studio. On the main screen, click Settings (bottom right).
In the Settings window, click Stream on the left.
In the Service box, select Custom… Then, enter the Stream Server and Stream Key:
5. In the Settings window, click Video on the left.
6. Configure the Output (Scaled) Resolution and Common FPS Values (frame rate). We recommend 852×480 and 30 (480p30), respectively. Later, in step 13, you can adjust these settings, if necessary.
7. In the Settings window, click Output on the left. In the Output Mode field, select Advanced, then click the Streaming tab.
8. Specify the following values:
Encoder | x264 |
Rate Control | CBR |
Bitrate | 1500 Kbps (later, in step 13, you can adjust this setting, if necessary.) |
Keyframe Interval | 2 (seconds). Set to either 1 or 2, otherwise the end-to-end latency is >5 seconds. |
CPU Usage Preset | veryfast |
Tune | zerolatency |
9. Click OK to close the Settings window.
10. In the OBS main window, go to the Sources area, right-click, select Add, and add the following sources:
Video Capture Device, which is your webcam.
Text, if you want to add a title to your streaming session.
Browser, with a URL of https://www.clocktab.com/, which you can use to observe the end-to-end latency of your stream.
11. Click Start Streaming at the bottom right to start the live stream.
Note: The square in the bottom-right corner should be green during the streaming session: this means that the video encoder is sending the stream to the video backend successfully. If the status is orange or red, go to step 13 to lower your bitrate and/or adjust your video settings.
12. Click Stop Streaming to end your live video stream.
13. To improve performance, you can adjust your video settings and bitrate according to your estimated network connection speed. The settings used earlier in steps 6 and 8 assumed a medium network connection speed. See our Minimum Upload Speed connection recommendations for making adjustments fr Output (Scaled) Resolution and Common FPS Values in step 6, and Bitrate in step 8.
