Investigation 4/26: Introduction To Open Broadcast Software

Open Broadcast Software (OBS) is one of the most commonly used solutions for screen recording and live-streaming. With it being difficult being able to go out and film outside of my home during quarantine, I decided to try and learn to use OBS as I feel it may be a useful tool for some of the projects that I have ideas for. The following is what I have learned so far about using OBS.

OBS Basics

When first launching OBS the program at first may seem intimidating. However, after a little set-up, it begins to make sense. The first step in the process to work in OBS is to create a scene. Scenes allow for an easy way to have different preset formats for the content you are recording. Once you create your first scene, the next step is to add your different sources. There are a variety of different sources that you can input into a scene such as window capture, display capture, game capture, video device capture, and media capture. Once sources are entered into the scene, you are able to arrange them within the confines of the capture preview window. This allows total freedom with recording your different sources. The audio mixer allows you to change the recording levels for the audio for each of your sources. With these tools within OBS, you are able to import any desired type of media to be recorded on your screen easily and effectively. 

My Tests Using OBS

After I understood the basics of using OBS, I decided to attempt a screen recording to see if I could achieve what I think I would need for one of my project ideas. For my test, I played a round of the game Counter-Strike Global Offensive in order to record some live video. I used display capture as my source to record the game play on my screen and video capture in order to record my webcam. I shrunk the webcam feed down to an appropriate size and moved it to the side of the screen. I then let the recording begin and go for about fifteen minutes. After I felt I had recorded enough test footage, I stopped the recording and observed my test footage. The recording came out well with the only issues being hardware issues for my microphone and webcam. Otherwise, the video came out clear in 1080p quality without any visual issues and audio recorded from the game and voice chat were clear as well. With my testing complete, I feel that OBS will be a useful tool in one of my next projects which will incorporate footage captured both "on set" (not on my computer) and footage captured on my desktop.