OBS: Open Broadcast Software

Live Streaming WITH OBS

A Crash Course For DJs

Let me just start by recommending that you NOT use Streamlabs OBS otherwise known as SLOBS as that application is a cynical rip off of the open source version of OBS. Instead, download OBS from here: https://obsproject.com

INTRODUCTION

Essential Plugins

Source Switcher: moves between sources within a scene  https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/source-switcher.941/

Advanced Scene Switcher: moves between scenes (1 camera per scene) https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/advanced-scene-switcher.395/

Computer Specs

While I did get an old version of OBS running on a 10 year old Intel I7/16GB RAM and SSD this would be the absolute minimum spec but it did support three web cameras so was more than I expected however the CPU ran at around 80% so was fairly fragile once I introduced additional video sources.

The more USB interfaces your PC or Mac has, (that are on their own USB bus) the more sources you can connect.

What Cameras and How To Connect?

A combination of one or more cameras targeting 1080P output is the minimum content quality I would aim for with YouTube. 720P looks terrible on modern large screen TVs and 4K requires a much faster internet connection during a live broadcast (since it’s literally 4x the number of pixels compared 1080) so 1080P is a good compromise. Set the canvas in OBS to 1920x1080 and ensure that all content is the same size. Tip: Resizing 4K content down to 1080 will  make it look crisper as long as the source is high quality.

Web Cams

Are USB connected so easy to manage. They traditionally output 1080P but web cams have very poor low light performance so unless you are using for a face cam close up with a lot of light you’ll need one of the latest models to get anywhere near acceptable video for your decks.

The best options in this space are newer model of 4K camera that you can run in 1080P mode that produce a far superior video quality and can handle some low light conditions. If you use a 1080P web cams you’ll need lot’s of light, way more than you think. The cheaper you go the more difficult tuning these cameras becomes.

DSLR Cameras

This includes DSLR, mirrorless and APC style digital full-frame and micro four-thirds cameras. They often have USB interfaces for streaming or require an HDMI to USB capture device to connect to your computer. Either of these options effectively makes these cameras look like a web cam to your computer so typically no drivers are needed on a Mac (YMMV).

Media Sources

Media sources are the video content you want to loop through during the broadcast. I use three different sources:

  • Cameras (see how to switch between them)

  • Online videos (see how to autoplay YouTube videos from a certain start point)

  • Local Videos (see how to run them in a loop)

The local video are the VJ loops I purchased online. The important thing to note here is that you need enough computer power to run all of these ALL at the same time. This understandably puts a strain on older CPUs with weak GPU performance so the more power you have, the more video sources will run at the same time.

OBS Settings

Bear in mind that there is no one setting that will work on your PC/Mac because it depends on CPU/GPU/RAM/SSD and how much load the various media sources place on these things. With that in mind these settings have been tested on a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro Max 64GB RAM - please understand that just copying these in may or may not work for you depending on many factors. In future editions, I’ll try to provide a more detailed performance guide.

Recording: 7000

Profile: High

Recording:

Filter: Bicubic

Format: Matroska/MP4

Bitrate: 8000/16000

Preset: MaxQuality

Rate: CBR

Encoder: X264

Priority: above normal

Color: NV12

Space: 709

Range: full

Streaming:

Set the Bitrate to 4,000.

Set the CPU usage to veryfast.

Select X264 as your encoder.

What Else Do YOU NEED TO KNOW?

Future crash courses….

Overlays: Displaying track title etc e.g. Prolink software (not to be confused with Pioneer Pro DJ Link)

Lighting: Programming DMX another crash course

Ethernet: ProDJ link and an Ethernet crash course

Audio: Side chain compression for the voice-over mic - how and why

Recording: video with a high quality audio track

Recording: audio as a wav file to external PC/Mac

Image and Video Resolution

Horizontal x Vertical = Pixel Count where the ratio of horizontal to vertical is 16:9

Name Pixels H x V Pixel Count

HD 1280 x 720 0.5K

Full HD 1920 x 1080 1K

Quad HD 2560 x 1440 2K

Ultra HD 4K 3840 x 2160 4K

Ultra HD 8K 7680 x 4320 8K

Camera Models

I have tested these and can recommend the following

2020 Logitech 920e x 2 1080P webcams on USB-A port 1 (bus 1) and USB-A port 3 (bus 2)

2021 Logitech Brio x 2 4K webcams on USB-C hub 1 on port 1 and USB-C hub 2 on port 3

2022 Sony A5000 APS 4K x 2 DSLR on HDMI-USB3 converters

2023 Sony ZV-E10 APS 4K x 1 DSLR USB-C hub

Lighting Gear

Future update on…

DMX Lights

Gig bar

Par, Bar and Laser

Old Versions of OBS

If you are running an older PC/Mac you may need an older version but I would try the latest one first.

Older binaries: https://www.videohelp.com/software/Open-Broadcaster-Software/old-versions

OTHER

Read more: https://www.movavi.com/learning-portal/best-obs-settings-for-recording.html © Movavi.com

OBS Chat Widget:

https://streamlabs.com/widgets/chat-box/v1/9A649EF8026AFB3D1C7F

OBS Viewer Count Widget:

https://streamelements.com/overlay/61219648129051612d409220/eRMM4UVLqZHjXSrzxvzUfL5J4c7lUOSPU1KUkvFAuoPczbq6

Test nested scenes

Custom output FFmpeg audio format AC3 + OBS audio AAC (max bitrate = 320kbps)  AC3 (max bitrate = 640kbps)

Browser Source for Visualisations...

For browser source not visible try Settings, Advanced, scroll to bottom, then uncheck enable browser source hardware acceleration in sources.

Test1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jlhqNxRYk

Test2 https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6jlhqNxRYk

Test3 https://www.youtube.com/embed/t6jlhqNxRYk?autoplay=1

Test4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jlhqNxRYk?t=60m00s

Test5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jlhqNxRYk?start=3600

Test6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6jlhqNxRYk?t=3600

Test7 https://youtu.be/watch?vWM50XTPkb3g

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM50XTPkb3g?autoplay=1

OBS "browser" source with youtube. Some suggestions:

- enter the video URL in the "browser" popup box

- if you want the video to start, do you have to add this to the end of the URL “?autoplay=1”

- if you want the video to start in full screen you must replace the text “watch?v=“ with “embed/“ in the URL

  • If you want to start at a certain add “?t=00m00s” to the end of the URL

  • If you want to view at a specific resolution, add “&vq=hd1080” for 1080P

EXAMPLE:

URL = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1llpdzed2OE

becomes https://www.youtube.com/embed/1llpdzed2OE?autoplay=1

- now put the check mark on "route audio to OBS"

- also select "reload the browser page when the scene becomes active"