Here’s a guide on how to use Streamlabs OBS for live streaming. Streamlabs OBS provides a more efficient way to start streaming on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, etc. It is open source software and free.
Once the setup process is complete, you can launch and start streaming in a few minutes. It also provides various streaming-related features like adding overlays like chat box, viewer count, donation ticker on your stream, auto game detection, built-in chat control, etc.
Also read: 4 Webcam Applications To Change Faces When Live Streaming on OBS
Difference Between OBS Studio and Streamlabs OBS
Streamlabs OBS is built on top of OBS Studio as a skin. While OBS is used for streaming and recording, Streamlabs is mostly useful for live streaming.
Streamlabs comes with some extra features like automatic game detection and built-in chat control that even OBS Studio doesn’t have. Streamlabs is easier to use and the UI feels much more organized than OBS Studio.
The only downside with Streamlabs is its platform availability. Unlike OBS which also supports Linux, Streamlabs only works on Windows and macOS for now.
Streamlabs can only stream to 7 services such as Twitch, YouTube, DLive, NimoTV, and Facebook. While OBS supports up to 90 streaming services.
Also read: How to Remote Control OBS From Browser
How to Use Streamlabs OBS
1. First, go to the Streamlabs site from here and click on the Download button to start downloading the compatible application with your operating system.
2. Now open the downloaded file and install the app.
3. Once installed, open the app and sign in with Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, or any other streaming service supported by Streamlabs that you want to use.
4. Next, select the main microphone and camera to start right away from the setup process. Later you can change it in settings.
5. Then select the theme that you like. This theme will not apply to the app, instead it is applied to your stream that people can view.
6. Then you can choose between free and prime subscriptions. With prime, you get the option to multistream to multiple platforms at once, more themes, apps, etc and it costs $19/month.
Once done, you will go straight to the Streamlabs editor. But before starting streaming, you need to configure settings like resolution, frame rate, speed control, bit rate, etc.
Configuring Settings in Streamlabs OBS
Using high settings can cause performance issues when streaming live while low settings will hurt the streaming quality.
So customizing everything according to your system hardware and network connection is important. To make it easier, Streamlabs has a feature called Auto Optimize which detects your hardware and internet speed and adjusts the settings automatically.
To do so, click the gear icon at the bottom left to open the settings. In the General tab, scroll down and click Run Auto Optimizer to set everything from video settings to output automatically.
Alternatively, you can also click on Import From OBS option to import all OBS Studio settings into Streamlabs.
Or, if you like tinkering, go to Video settings to adjust resolution and frame rate, Audio settings to set channel and sample rate, Output Settings to change bitrate and encoder options. Also, check out other features like Hotkeys, Notifications, and Appearance.
Set Scenes and Sources to Start Streaming Through Streamlabs
Once done with the setup, you are ready to start streaming. Open the editor by clicking on the video icon at the top left. Here you will find 5 tabs namely scenes, sources, mixer, mini-feed, and display.
sources
sources is where you can add the sources of what you want to stream. This could be a webcam, screen, windows, game, browser, media, audio input or output, VR, or something else. All sources that you add here will be shown for streaming.
For example, if you want to add a webcam:
1. Click the + icon in the sources tab.
2. Then select the Video Capture Device option in the pop-up window.
3. Then you can select the camera, here you can also change some settings like resolution and click Done.
4. Once you add the sources, it will appear on the screen. Now adjust the size according to your needs.
Similarly, you can add as many sources as you like and adjust their size to show them all in your stream.
Scenes
Scenes is nothing but a group of sources. If you have added webcam as sources and want to convert them to screenshots, you don’t need to remove camera and add screenshots as sources every time. You can create new scenes and add some sources here.
By default, Streamlabs will give you scenes to add sources directly. To create a new scene, follow the steps below:
1. Just click the + plus icon above the Scenes option.
2. Name the scenes and start adding sources to the scenes that you have created.
Mixer
Mixer to manage desktop audio and mic audio. Just click the gear icon on it and adjust the volume separately.
Display
Display is a preview of what appears while streaming to your viewers. By default, it will be completely black. But when you start adding sources, they will appear in the stream. Once the sources are added, you can click on them and customize their layout.
Mini Feeds
The Mini Feed shows the most recent activity happening on the stream. Activities like when someone subscribes, donates or creates a chat, etc.
How to Set Up Streamlabs Widget
On the stream, you might want to add some things like alert notification when someone donates, chat box, donation goal, subscriber goal, viewer count, poll, etc. All of these can be added as widgets.
To add a widget to your stream:
1. Click the dashboard icon in the sidebar. This will open the Streamlabs dashboard in the browser.
2. Now select the All Widgets option in the sidebar.
3. Here you can find all the widgets supported by Streamlabs.
4. Just select the widget you want to add and configure it. Then you will get widget URL, copy it.
5. To add the widget to the stream, add sources by clicking the + sign, select Browser Source, give it a name, and paste the URL.
This will add that widget to the stream and be visible in the display tab. You can customize the layout by clicking on it.
How to Customize Streamlabs Layout Editor
If you want, you can change the layout of the editor and place the panels where you want them. To edit the layout, click the layout editor button represented by four boxes.
Here you can choose from 8 default layout styles. Just drag and drop a tab to change its position in the layout. When finished, click the Save Changes button to apply the changes.
How to Change Theme for streaming on Streamlabs
Themes in Streamlabs do not change the appearance of the app. They change the theme of your stream.
For example, if you are playing a game, choose a theme that represents the game so that all animations, countdown screens, offline screens, etc. will display the same theme.
When you install the theme, it automatically adds some scenes like starting, live, be right back, ending, offline, etc. and also the required sources in those scenes.
So you can easily change it because the basic template is already there. To change the theme, follow the steps below.
1. Click the theme icon in the sidebar which is represented by a pencil and scale icon. On the themes page, select the theme that you want to install on your stream.
2. On the theme page, click Install. Once installed, it will open an editor with scenes and sources in place.
How to Start Live Streaming Using Streamlabs OBS
Once you’re done setting things up, live streaming on Streamlabs OBS is a breeze. Here’s how to live stream on Streamlabs OBS.
1. Just click on the Go Live option at the bottom right.
2. Now give title, description, thumbnail, etc., to your live stream. These options will change according to the service you are streaming.
3. When finished, click Confirm & Go Live. This will start the live stream on your linked account.
To connect with another account, go to settings and select Streaming. Here you can connect with other accounts.
Note that you can only stream to one account at a time unless you opt for a pro subscription which allows you to stream to multiple accounts at the same time.
That’s how to use Streamlabs OBS. I hope this article helped you! Thank you for visiting and don’t forget if you find this article useful, please share it with your friends too.
