How to Get Started With OBS

So after you downloaded and installed OBS Studio, I would recommend linking your Twitch Account. That way you don’t have to enter your streaming key, and you also have stuff like Twitch chat and your activity feed right in your OBS window. No need for another browser window.

To change what windows you can see in OBS, click on View -> Docks, and then check and uncheck what you need and don’t need.

Now onto the settings, which are really important to make your stream look good.

First we will look at the Tab “Output”. This is where you will set how good your stream will look.

First of all, change the output mode from “Simple” to “Advanced”. This way you will have more control.

If you have an NVIDIA GPU, I would highly suggest using the NVIDIA NVENC H.264 (new) encoder. This is a special encoder on your GPU. It will make your stream look better and also lower your load on your CPU.

Rate control you will want to set to “CBR”, which is constant bitrate. This will make sure, that OBS won’t automatically adapt your bitrate, which can make your stream look worse.

Bitrate is a little more complicated. It depends on your internet speed, and what you stream.

First of all, the maximum bitrate Twitch allows is 6000kbps. So go check your upload speed and see what your internet can handle.

Second, it depends on what you stream. For me, I usually stream retro SNES games, which don’t have a lot of movement on screen. So for that, something like 3000kbps is enough. But if you stream newer games, something with a lot of movement like a first person shooter, you want to set your bitrate as high as you can. If your PC and internet can handle 6000kbps, do it. It will look a lot better.

So remember: the more movement on screen, the higher the bitrate must be, in order to not look like a pixel-y mess.

Keyframe interval: I have set this to 1.

Preset: Max Quality. You can use this if you have a good computer. The lower you go, the worse your stream will look, but it will also use less resources.

Profile: High. Same as the above. You go lower, stream looks worse, but will use less resources.

I have turned on Look-ahead and Psycho Visual Tuning. If you want to know what those do, click on the checkmark next to the option.

GPU: If you have only one GPU, set this to 0. So if you have more than GPU, which most people don’t, you need to choose another GPU. But just set this to 0 and you will be fine.

Max B-Frames: 4. If you turned on Look-ahead, set this to 4. In short what this does: Your GPU will look at the previous and upcoming frame, and when needed, will insert another frame, and will make your stream look better.

So that’s all for the Output tab, we’re almost done!

Next Tab: Audio.

Most of this should be pretty obvious. Add any audio devices you have. Your desktop audio will probably already be added. With that, your stream can hear everything that’s happening on your PC, like when you watch a Youtube video or something. Mic/Auxiliary Audio: Also pretty straight forward. Just add your microphone, and maybe any extra input devices like a mixer or something.

Personally, I use the Line-in from my PC for my consoles which I added as Mic Audio 2. That way, I can hear what’s happening on my consoles without any delay, and I can change the audio level in the mixer no problem.

Next up: Video

Here you can set the resolution and FPS.

In my opinion, FPS is always more important than resolution.

Of course this highly depends on your PC hardware. Of course if your PC is powerful enough, you can stream at 1920x1080 and set the FPS to 60. If you skip frames, I would recommend lowering the resolution to 1280x720 but still try to stick to 60fps. If your PC still can’t handle that, drop down to 30fps.

In the Hotkeys tab, you can set hotkeys for muting mic, switching scenes etc. Just play around with it and look what you need.

That should be it for the settings.

Now go fill up your scenes with some nice looking Layouts, add your game and facecam, and happy streaming!