OBS Studio is the most common streaming software in use. It is free, open source, runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, and works with every major streaming platform. It also has more buttons than you will ever use.
This article covers the mental model: what OBS actually does, what the main panels are for, and the smallest setup that produces a usable stream.
What OBS does
At its core, OBS does one thing. It combines several video and audio inputs into a single live output that gets sent to a streaming platform.
The inputs can be your webcam, your microphone, a game running on your computer, a browser page, an image, a video file, your desktop, or audio from a specific application. The output is either a live stream to Twitch or YouTube, or a recording saved to your hard drive.
Everything in OBS is in service of that one job. Once you understand that, the panels start to make sense.
The four panels you actually use
Open OBS Studio. The default layout has many panels, but four of them matter.
- Scenes (bottom left). A scene is a layout. You can have one scene called Live, another called Starting Soon, another called Be Right Back. Each scene contains its own set of sources.
- Sources (middle, below the preview). Sources are the things inside the current scene: your game, your webcam, your microphone, an overlay image. They are listed top to bottom in the order they are drawn (top is on top of the others).
- Audio Mixer (right of Sources). Shows the audio level of every audio source. You can mute, adjust volume, and apply filters here.
- Controls (bottom right). Start Streaming, Start Recording, Studio Mode, Settings.
The preview window in the middle shows what your scene currently looks like. What is in the preview is what gets streamed.
Build one scene
For your first stream:
- Click the plus icon at the bottom of the Scenes panel and add a scene called Live.
- With Live selected, click the plus icon at the bottom of the Sources panel and add Game Capture (for a PC game), Display Capture (for capturing your screen), or whatever your game source needs to be.
- Add another source: Audio Input Capture, and select your microphone.
- Add a Video Capture Device if you want a webcam, and select the webcam.
Drag the webcam to a corner of the preview. Resize it with the corner handles. That is the entire layout work for a first stream.
Settings worth changing
Open Settings (in Controls). Three sections matter on day one.
- Stream. Service: Twitch (or your platform). Click Connect Account and log in. Avoid pasting a stream key by hand; the account connection handles it.
- Output. Output Mode: Simple is fine. Encoder: NVENC if you have a recent NVIDIA GPU, otherwise leave it as Software (x264). Video Bitrate: 4500 Kbps is a reasonable starting point.
- Video. Base (Canvas) Resolution: your monitor's resolution. Output (Scaled) Resolution: 1280x720 or 1920x1080. Common FPS Values: 30 or 60.
Click Apply and OK. That is enough setup for a working first stream.
Audio
The audio panel deserves a closer look. Every source in OBS that produces audio shows up in the Audio Mixer. By default:
- Desktop Audio captures everything that comes out of your speakers (game audio, browser audio, system sounds).
- Mic/Aux is your microphone.
The two volume sliders should not peak at the top of the meter. Aim for the loudest moments to hit somewhere in the yellow zone, around minus 12 dB to minus 6 dB.
Right-click any source in the mixer and choose Filters to add Noise Suppression, Noise Gate, and Compressor. Set these on the microphone source. They make a bigger difference than any other audio setting.
Studio Mode
Studio Mode (the button in Controls) splits the preview into two: the left side is your "preview" (what you are about to switch to), the right side is your "live" (what is currently streaming). Switch between scenes invisibly using the Transition button between them.
You will not need Studio Mode for most beginner streams. It is useful once you have multiple scenes that you switch between during a stream.
Test before you stream
Before going live, click Start Recording instead of Start Streaming. Record yourself for 60 seconds. Play it back. Check:
- The game is visible
- Your webcam is in the right corner and not blocking anything
- Your microphone is audible
- Game audio is audible but not louder than your voice
Delete the test recording. Adjust anything that looks wrong. Then Start Streaming.
What not to worry about yet
The OBS interface has dozens of settings you can ignore for the first month:
- Scene Collections, Profiles, multiple scene grouping
- Custom hotkeys
- Advanced video settings (FPS Common Values is enough)
- Filters beyond the three on your microphone
- Plugins from the OBS forums
These are all useful at some point. None of them are necessary for a watchable stream.
When to move beyond the basics
After ten streams, you will know which limits the default setup is hitting. Common upgrades from there:
- Multiple scenes (Live, BRB, Starting Soon, Ending)
- A custom alert browser source for follows and subs
- A second monitor with the OBS preview window detached so you can see what is on stream while playing
- A Stream Deck or keyboard hotkeys to switch scenes mid-stream
Until something specific breaks, the simplest setup is the best setup.