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 Open Broadcaster Software
As streaming plays a big role in the StarCraft and Dota 2 communities, I figured I'd post a blog about this. Open Broadcaster Software (usually referred to as just OBS) is a fairly new program to the streaming market that lets you stream and record your gameplay in a manner very similar to xsplit. However unlike xsplit, OBS is completely free to use and is even open source, allowing anyone to help contribute to the development - I've personally submitted quite a few pieces of code to help improve the network code and fix various bugs. There are no restrictions on things like resolution, bitrate, frame rate, etc so as long as your PC is good enough, you can stream however you like.
OBS was first announced just under six months ago by Jim, the main developer, in this reddit thread. Since then, the program has grown to support all kinds of new options and devices. The current version, 0.47a, is fresh off of a major update that improves synchronization of things like webcams and microphones, adds support for more capture cards and a mode to help reduce network latency caused by streaming.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/adCVVzo.png) Look at all the things OBS can do!
One of the main features OBS offers over other solutions is the built-in game capture plugin. Compared to xsplit's "game source" feature, the OBS game capture performs much better and is generally even better than using DXTory to capture your games. OBS also has a fast single-window capture mode and supports high speed full screen capture on Windows 8. The program is designed with performance in mind and written entirely in C++ with no fancy UI or other bloat. Some functions like color space conversion and blending are offloaded to the GPU to further minimize CPU use.
I've been encouraging streamers to switch to OBS for some time, and many people report better frame rates and reduced CPU usage compared to xsplit. The TL Dota 2 team and some of our SC2 players are also streaming with OBS full time now. If you're interested in trying it out, check out obsproject.com for downloads. If you're new to OBS, be sure to stop by the great support forum for some good setup guides.
 
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I like OBS a lot better for streaming both BW (thanks for the plugin R1ch~) and sc2, would definitely recommend to any streamers!
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I really, really enjoy OBS. It's like getting a hardware upgrade for free. Let me go from 720@30 to 720@60, or 1080@30 with no performance loss.
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OBS is a great program. Very easy to use, not as fancy looking in the GUI field when compared to Xsplit but it gets the job done and a lot more efficient than Xsplit. Free program to use with great support on their forums, whats there not to like?
I totally recommend it myself.
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oh my god what is that thing at the top of your post I could play with that for hours.
I'll look into this sounds really promising with your name on it.
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United States33705 Posts
what the fuck, that spiraly thingie o_O
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OBS is great, I'm able to stream 720p 30fps with no noticeable performance loss in both SC2 and LoL. Also very easy to use, even for someone like me who is fairly illiterate when it comes to computers!
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I had no clue how to stream, never tried and never researched the topic. Withing 5-10minutes I had OBS up and my twitch channel running. Amazing software.
To be fair I dl'd xplit first thinking that's what I was 'supposed' to use but after tinkering with it and realizing I'd probably have to pay I quickly looked for alternatives. Once I tried OBS I never looked back.
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Canada5155 Posts
On February 05 2013 08:50 crms wrote:
I had no clue how to stream, never tried and never researched the topic. Withing 5-10minutes I had OBS up and my twitch channel running. Amazing software.
Yeah honestly this was what won me over.
I could never be bothered to set up streaming with Xsplit or any other software. But with OBS it's quite literally, download, run, stream. There's so little setup... you're running in few seconds.
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Thanks R1CH! Gonna switch to OBS
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Summon Gunrun:
"Assuming direct control"
-> All settings fixed.
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I've been playing with the spinning spiral for the past 5 minutes. I'm dizzy...
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That spiral is the best part about this blog.
I've been thinking of switching to OBS for some time, but I was too lazy. Sounds like it's really easy though, so maybe I'll try right now!
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On February 05 2013 09:12 Zergneedsfood wrote:
That spiral is the best part about this blog.
I've been thinking of switching to OBS for some time, but I was too lazy. Sounds like it's really easy though, so maybe I'll try right now!
I actually dl'ed OBS a week ago but haven't gotten around to a streaming session yet. I had problems with capturing bw after I log onto iccup if I use software capture but I can just use screen capture instead.
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United States22154 Posts
used obs to record today, it worked really, really well. Really easy to set up too ^_^
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R1CH introduced me to this and I started using it a few weeks ago, have to say that so far I've been loving it and definitely see a drastically frame rate while streaming. Definitely recommend it!
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EPT
