Hi dudes and dudettes,

Throughout this update I will be showing what Open Broadcaster Software (or OBS for short) is, instructions on how to set it up and how it can also be used to educate others.

What is OBS?

OBS is free software released in 2012 whose goal was to allow users to record a users screen and display it live for others to see, to live stream. As of writing this update, it allows users to record their screen and upload it live to an external website so it can be displayed to others.

How to set up OBS?

When first starting the program you are presented with a bleak screen as nothing is set up.

First Launch of OBS

We need to first initialise a scene. A scene is essentially what we plan to show our users, which is comprised mainly of sources. Sources is what makes OBS shine as it allows the user to customise a lot of items.

List of sources

The above image are the options we are presented with. It might look a bit questionable as to why some of them are on that list, but I can assure you that people make use of most of them. I will start by adding a display capture. This will add my selected display (monitor) to the scene.

Adding a display

So here I would choose display 1 as it is the one I want to show to my “viewers” and click OK. Now, theoretically, all my viewers would be able to see me working on my update.

Preview of my screen

Now see that red border around our preview? It’s the source resizer, it’s what makes OBS a great tool for streaming, it allows any source that isn’t audio to be resized. For example, I want to add a source, like a webcam, and I want it to be a small box on the right corner of my screen. All I’d do is add the source of my webcam, resize it and just drag it to the desired location.

Adding my webcam

Success! There are many ways we can use OBS to attract the attention of our viewers, like adding a gif of a dancing cat to our scene. It has a multitude of sources that can be added, the rest would be up to your imagination to see how to use them.

All that’s left, after you have made a scene that you are happy with, is to set up the streaming service so others may… gaze upon your stream. OBS offers a few out of the box options that would require you to follow a few simple steps to add them and be ready to stream.

Stream services

For demonstration purposes I will be using OBS to record locally as it’s not really possible to demo a broadcasting service in an update.

How can OBS be used to educate others?

Now after showing you how to set it up, all that’s left is to demo how it can be used to educate others. As OBS is similar to zoom, most of the AI students are already aware that it can be used to hold lessons online, but another use here would be to demonstrate how to play a particular game.

The setup

The above sources are what I will be using to record myself explaining how to play Beat Saber, which is a music based VR game.

Beat Saber

Please enjoy :)

Demo Clip

(In case the above doesnt work, here is the video uploaded to google drive)

Bonus clip, slight epilepsy warning (took more tries then I’d care to admit to):

Bonus Clip

(Again, in case the aboce doesn't work, i uploaded it to google dirve again)

Hope you’re all having some great holidays, peace.