Having the need to record a video in which you simultaneously show the desktop of your computer and the image “captured” by your webcam, you were advised to use OBS (an acronym for Open Broadcaster Software), a famous open-source program that allows both to perform streaming broadcasts that recordings locally by drawing from various video and audio sources simultaneously.
Without having to repeat it twice, you downloaded the software in question and tried to add your webcam to the capture sources, without succeeding: for this reason, you would like my help to succeed in your intent. Is this the case, am I right? Then I will be happy to help you and explain how to put the webcam on OBS.
You might also like
First, it will be my job to show you the detailed procedure to add the device in question among the video sources of the program. Afterwards, you will also find some useful information to better configure the webcam and optimize its video quality. How do you say? Is that exactly what you wanted to know? Then do not delay any further and deepen the subject immediately. All that remains for me is to wish you a good read and make you big good luck for everything!
Preliminary operations
Before explaining how to put the webcam on OBS, it may be useful to know the procedure for connecting a webcam to your computer and, in case you have not already done so, download and install OBS.
If you do not have an integrated webcam or have chosen to buy a professional external webcam, all you have to do to connect it to your computer is to insert the USB connector of the webcam into the appropriate port of the computer and proceed with the installation of the drivers. For the detailed procedure, I leave you to my guide on how to connect a webcam to your PC.
And
Once you have connected the webcam to your computer, you just have to download OBS. To do this, connect to the official website of the program and click on the option of your interest between Windows, macOS and Linux, depending on the operating system installed on your computer.
When the download is complete, if you have a Windows PC, double-click on the OBS-Studio- [version] – Installer.exe file obtained, press the Yes button, to allow the program to make changes to the computer, and click the Next button. Then press the I Agree, Next and Install buttons to start the installation, wait for the progress bar to reach 100% and click the Finish button to complete the installation and start OBS.
If you use a Mac, instead, open the newly downloaded .dmg package, drag the OBS icon to the macOS Applications folder and open the path in question; then right-click on the program icon and select the Open item twice in a row, in order to bypass the macOS restrictions regarding applications of non-certified developers (operation necessary only at the first start). For detailed steps, you can take a look at my guide on how to download OBS.
OVERVIEW OF OBS SETTINGS
The first time after installation, the program offers you an automatic optimization of the settings depending on whether you mainly want to record videos or broadcast live. Choose the option that corresponds to your needs. In this article, we will mainly talk about OBS as a tool for direct broadcasting.
OBS has a lot of settings, but below I summarize the main ones to keep an eye on, accessible from the File> Settings menu:
- Stream (” Direct” on normal OBS): here you can select the streaming service on which you want to transmit and below you will have to enter the code of the direction that will indicate you Facebook when creating the life;
- Output (” Output ” on normal OBS): in this menu, you can configure the output of your video, and the most important field is the “Video bit rate,” which determines the quality of your streaming. You must check with the streaming service you want to use what the correct values are, in the case of Facebook the maximum value (and therefore the recommended one) is 4000 Kbps;
- Video: here, you can set the size and frequency of your video. In the case of Facebook, the maximum supported in HD at 30fps, so select 1280 × 720 in the first two fields and 30 as the FPS value, but if, for example, you want to transmit on services that support Full HD or 60fps, then choose 1920 × 1080 and 60fps.
PREVIEW SCREEN
Here you will see the preview of the video that OBS will transmit, so what you see here is what you will see in your live broadcast or in your video recording. This is also the area you will use to resize and reposition the various elements of your video:
Just click on the element you want to edit directly on the screen and drag / resize it using the guides that appear. For more precise and detailed modifications, right-click on the element and choose Transform> Modify Transform.
SOURCES / SOURCES
The sources are nothing but the elements you want to insert in your video. From the webcam to the logo to a video file you want to play or the browser window you want to capture, each of these elements is a source and must be added one by one via the + button.
SCENE
The scenes are groupings of sources, a very useful tool because it allows you to create, for example, a scene where you show yourself on the webcam in full screen with the logo and the topic of your video and another where instead the webcam is reduced and in instead you can see your browser or desktop great, and you can switch from one scene to another with a simple click.
MIXER
Here you have control over the audio captured from your PC. It is difficult to explain this section in general because it varies a lot depending on your PC and your configuration, but in principle, you will find “Desktop audio,” which is, in fact, the audio of your PC, plus a “Microphone” if you have a webcam with a built-in microphone, or other audio sources such as the title of an audio/video file if you have inserted such a file as a source.
How to add the webcam on OBS
After the necessary initial premise, you are ready to add the webcam on OBS. To do this, start the program in question, locate the Sources box, click on the + button and select the Video capture device option from the menu that opens.
In the new screen that appears, make sure that Create a new source is selected, enter the name to associate with your webcam in the field where the word Video capture device appears and affix the sign next to the Make the visible source option.
Click, then, on the OK button, select the webcam integrated or connected to your computer via the Device drop-down menu and press the OK button to add it to the OBS video sources using the device’s default values (e.g. resolution, range of colours, etc.).
And
If all went well, you should see the video captured by your webcam surrounded by red. At this point, all you have to do is position and resize the box relating to the webcam video as you see fit.
For example, if your intention is to record the desktop of your computer and, at the same time, show yourself as you speak, you can place the video captured by the webcam in the corner of the main video source (in this case, the desktop). To do this, you can simply move the webcam video source by holding down on the box containing the video transmitted by the device and dragging it to the desired position.
If, on the other hand, you want to record with OBS only what captures the webcam, you can resize the box relating to the latter and set it to full screen. In this case, hold down one of the red squares visible on the screen and move outwards to enlarge the box containing the video transmitted by the webcam.
Finally, I point out that by selecting the name associated with your webcam in the Sources box, you can hide the video captured by the device in question: to do this, just press the eye icon, lock the position and size of the box containing the video transmitted by the webcam (by clicking on the lock icon ) and delete the webcam video source from the OBS sources, by pressing the button – located at the bottom. To learn more, I leave you to my guide on how OBS works.
How to configure the webcam on OBS
Setting up the webcam on OBS is a procedure that allows you to manually change some device settings, such as resolution, in order to improve video quality. Before explaining how to proceed, however, you must know that if you use OBS on Mac, you can only choose the video resolution without being able to manage all the settings that are available on Windows PC instead.
That said, to access the webcam properties on OBS, double click on the name associated with the device (or on the Video capture device item, if you have not entered a custom name) visible in the Sources box. Alternatively, right-click on the name of the webcam and select the Properties option from the menu that opens.
In the new screen that appears, select the Custom option via the Resolution type / FPS drop-down menu, set the resolution of your interest (e.g. 1280 × 720, 1920 × 1080, etc.) and make sure that the FPS Match option is set to output via the FPS pull-down menu. Keep in mind that the resolution should be the same as that set for recording/broadcasting with OBS. To check it, access the main program screen, click on the Settings button visible in the Controls box and select the Video item.
At this point, click on the Configure video button to set the brightness, contrast, hue, sharpness and saturation of the image. Unless you intend to create “strange” effects or set the webcam to black and white (in this case, enter the value 0 in the saturation field), I do not recommend changing these parameters.
And
What I advise you to do, however, is to remove the checkmark from the item White balance, thus avoiding that this option is automatically adjusted by the program. After that, move the slider to the left for a colder image or to the right for a warmer image. By moving the slider relative to the Backlight item, you can adjust the background brightness of the image.
In this screen, you can also solve any problems of “flickering” of the webcam (this occurs when bands due to the rapid variation of exposure in the frames are visible on the image captured by the device) by setting a higher mains frequency than that currently available set. I advise you to leave this parameter unchanged and change it only if you encounter this problem.
How do you say? Would you like to manage zoom and focus settings? If so, select the Camera Adjustment tab and move the slider for the Zoom and Focus options.
Furthermore, through the Exposure item (which is used to decide how much light enters the frame), you can choose how “dark” or “light” the frame should be. In the event that, by setting a clearer exposure should you experience problems with “shots” with your webcam, access the Video Proc Amp section again and move the cursor on the Gain option to solve these problems.
Conclusion
Please note that through the Exposure and Gain options. You can also resolve any changes in the brightness of the frame due to the movement of the framed subject with respect to the webcam itself. Finally, click on the OK button to save the changes, and you’re done.
In conclusion, I point out that you can also apply filters to the video captured by your webcam. To do this, right-click on the name of the webcam in the Sources box. Select the Filter option from the menu that opens and. In the new screen that appears, click on the + button relating to the Effects filters item.
At this point, all you have to do is choose the filter of your interest among those available (Sharpness, Color correction, Crop / add a frame, Scrolling, etc.) and adjust its settings. To learn more, you can take a look at my guide on how to set up OBS.
