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Streaming from OBS

OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming. Getting started is easy, and in this guide, we will show how to configure OBS for ingesting RTMP into Vindral.

Configuring OBS​

Note that the below configuration is only an example. Depending on the hardware, it is possible to configure OBS in many ways.

Stream Settings​

Select Vindral in the Service dropdown or use a custom RTMP output with your designated Vindral ingest server and your private Stream Key.

OBS stream settings stream settings

Output settings​

There will be different Output settings depending on the encoder chosen.

x264​

x264 is a very capable software encoder. We recommend using x264 if you have no GPU/Asics accelerated encoders such as NVENC, QuickSync, or NetInt.

Set Output Mode to Advanced

  • Encoder - x264
  • Rate Control - CBR
  • Bitrate - 2000
  • Use Custom Buffer Size - not set / unchecked
  • Keyframe Interval - 1, set to 1 or 2 seconds (for faster channel switching, lower value is preferred)
  • CPU Usage Preset - veryfast
  • Profile - baseline
  • Tune - zerolatency
  • x264 options - bframes=0

OBS output settings x264 x264 ouput options

nvenc​

Nvidia NVENC is a hardware-accelerated encoder.

Set Output Mode to Advanced

  • Encoder - nvenc
  • Rate Control - CBR
  • Bitrate - 2000
  • Keyframe Interval - 1, set to 1 or 2 seconds (for faster channel switching, a lower value is preferred)
  • Preset - Performance, depending on load, you might be able to use Quality
  • Profile - baseline
  • Look-ahead - not set / unchecked
  • Psycho Visual Tuning - not set / unchecked
  • GPU - 0 (or the index of the GPU of your choice)
  • Max B-frames - 0

OBS output settings nvenc nvenc ouput options

Quicksync H264​

Many Intel CPUs have a built-in GPU (iGPU) with a hardware-accelerated encoder chip.

Set Output Mode to Advanced

  • Encoder - Quicksync H264
  • Rate Control - CBR
  • Bitrate - 2000
  • Target Usage - balanced
  • Profile - baseline
  • Keyframe Interval - 1, set to 1 or 2 seconds (for faster channel switching, a lower value is preferred)
  • Latency - low
  • B Frames - 0

OBS output settings quicksync quicksync ouput options

Audio output​

Audio settings will not impact latency and stability as much as video settings. Configure a sensible audio bitrate, usually around 96-160 depending on the content.

OBS output settings audio audio ouput options

Video settings​

We recommend using 30 FPS or less for most live streams. Configure the resolution as needed.

OBS video settings video settings

Streaming​

When streaming, verify that the status light is green. If it is any other color, something is wrong. Potential causes for this include a jittery connection and encoding performance drops.

If the ingest status is unstable, all viewers could get a bad experience.

OBS streaming settings streaming settings