Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) is a free and open-source live video production software, and it is our favorite option for a streaming encoder! There are versions of OBS available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux, and each version is free and full-featured. Each version is also capable of perfectly meeting all of our recommended settings. Below is some information on why we recommend OBS, how to set up OBS with Subsplash profiles, and some tips for advanced OBS setup!
Requirements
An installed copy of OBS. The OBS team is great about making sure their most recent versions are reliable, so it's recommended to use a fully updated version.
Access to the Subsplash Live dashboard.
Why Subsplash Recommends OBS
Why Subsplash Recommends OBS
If you've talked about live streaming to one of our client success managers, ministry consultants, onboarding specialists, or support agents, or if you've read our article about choosing an encoder for Subsplash Live, you've probably heard us recommend Open Broadcaster Software (more commonly known as OBS). This often comes as a surprise, and for good reason: OBS is a free software encoder, and historically, hardware encoders have been considered better than software encoders by the industry. It doesn't seem intuitive that a free software would outperform all the paid software options or the paid hardware options on the market, and this occasionally causes confusion or hesitation as ministries consider switching to Subsplash Live.
That being said, when we recommend OBS, we have reason to stand by that recommendation; in fact, based on our actual data from ministries using Subsplash Live, we have arrived at the genuine conclusion that recommending OBS for most cases is the best way we can equip every church for ministry through streaming. Clients using software encoders have a better experience than clients using hardware encoders, and those using OBS above any other software encoder consistently outperform in a number of key ways. Keep reading to look at some of the specific reasons that we recommend OBS like we do!
Why software encoders over hardware encoders?
Software encoders are constantly updated and supported on a wide range of systems, while hardware encoders begin to show their age after just a few years.
The hardware within computers is developing at a very high pace, with CPUs and GPUs (the primary components used by a software encoder) making huge strides in performance each and every year. By contrast, hardware encoder technology is only changing incrementally while costs are increasing.
Software encoders generally offer near-complete control over encoding settings, giving the client every possible avenue for optimizing their stream. By contrast, hardware encoders almost always limit the settings you have control over or the values that you may select for those settings, which leaves clients stuck with a very expensive box that is doomed to experience performance issues on Subsplash Live.
If your ministry doesn't already have a computer that is well-suited to streaming, then purchasing one means you're acquiring a device that can serve you and your team in many different ways throughout the week for several years, while a hardware encoder (often for a similar price) can only accomplish a single task and is only relevant during the times when you are actually streaming.
Why OBS over other software encoders?
OBS appears to have the least computer performance impact for a given quality level.
OBS costs nothing, freeing up budget for things that have more tangible impact on the quality of the final product (like better cameras, lenses, and tripods; computer upgrades; or a faster and more stable internet connection).
OBS communicates real-time performance stats and captures extremely detailed logs for each session that takes place (a combination that no other software encoder manages to do), meaning that if something does go wrong, there’s a paper trail for it. This empowers you and us to identify the underlying issues much faster, rather than having to go through a days-long process of testing hypotheses.
The number of OBS users who write in about repeat issues is lower than with other software encoders, which means that reaching out for support has a better chance of fixing the problem in a single interaction.
Conclusion
Our recommendation of OBS as your primary streaming encoder goes against industry knowledge, but it's rooted in an earnest desire to equip you and a careful analysis of the products available on the market as well as the needs, challenges, and priorities of most ministries. We think it's worth a shot.
RTMP Streaming
RTMP Streaming
Download the Subsplash Live (720p) settings profile and the Subsplash Live (1080p) settings profile, and then unzip each file.
Within OBS, find and open the Profile menu along the top bar, and choose the Import option from that menu. This will open a file selector.
In the file selector, find the unzipped folders from step 1. Select one of the profile folders and click Open to import all of the files in that profile folder. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to import the other profile folder as well.
If you open your profile menu again, you should now see Subsplash Live (720p) and Subsplash Live (1080p) listed as options at the bottom of that menu. Be sure to select the one you wish to use!
First, make note of which settings profile is currently active by looking for the checkmark in the Profile menu. We will need to add the server URL/stream key to each profile, so it's helpful to know which one we're doing first!
In the lower-right corner of OBS, find the Settings button. This will pull up a new window with multiple settings menus, all listed on the left-hand side. Select the Stream settings menu and set the service to Custom.
Navigate to your Subsplash Live Dashboard, and find the unique Server URL and Stream name/key associated with your Subsplash Live account.
If you are brand new to Subsplash Live and have never connected an encoder before, both of those values should be displayed right in the very center of the page!
If you have connected to Subsplash Live before, but need to find your server URL and stream key again, go to Media > Settings in your Subsplash dashboard. Your server URL and stream key are stored under Streaming Protocols for convenient future reference!
Copy the server URL and stream key from your Subsplash Live dashboard into the corresponding fields in your OBS stream settings menu, and then click OK to save and close the menu. Make sure there are no extra spaces either before or after the copied text, as that will cause an error when OBS tries to connect.
Repeat the steps in this section to add the server URL and stream key to your other settings profile, and then both profiles should be ready for streaming. Now we just need to connect our media sources.
Adding Sources
Adding Sources
In the lower-left corner of OBS, you will find a list called Scenes. By default, OBS starts with a single item in the Scenes list, and that item (named Scene) should already be selected. Next to the Scenes list is a Sources list that shows you which sources have been added to the selected scene. Nothing is there yet, but you can click the + button or right-click in the Sources list to add your desired audio and video sources.
For the most simple setup, you will likely want to add a single audio input capture source and a single video capture device source, both within the same scene. For more advanced uses of scenes and sources, start here.
Advanced OBS Setup
Advanced OBS Setup
If you are feeling up to the challenge and don’t want to use our pre-configured settings profiles for OBS, you can configure the settings yourself! There are many different settings available in OBS, and many of them are deceptively important; a setting being off by only a single digit can have a major impact on your stream. This advanced setup guide will walk through every setting step by step, but it is highly recommended to take great care and double-check everything as you go through the process.
Choosing the best encoding settings
On Subsplash Live, it is entirely up to you whether or not you want to stream in 720p or 1080p, and switching between the two is as simple as making some minor adjustments in your encoder. However, there are pros and cons to each, so it is important to evaluate the options and choose the option that would best serve your congregation. You can read more about making this choice here: What encoding settings should I use for Subsplash Live?
In OBS, there are a few specific settings that differ between 1080p and 720p. They’ll be listed in the table below, refer back here as needed while you progress through the rest of the guide!
720p
Bitrate: Between 1500 and 2200 Kbps
Profile: main
x264 Options: level=3.1
Audio Bitrate: 128 Kbps
Output (Scaled) Resolution: 1280x720
1080p
Bitrate: Between 2800 and 4000 Kbps
Profile: high
x264 Options: level=4.0
Audio Bitrate: 160 Kbps
Output (Scaled) Resolution: 1920x1080
Overview of the OBS settings window
The OBS settings windows can be accessed by clicking the “Settings” button in the lower-right corner of the main interface:
This opens the settings window, shown here:
The list on the left side of the window lists out each specific settings menu, and clicking on one of those menus from the list on the side will display the relevant settings in the main portion of the window. In other words, there are 7 settings menus, but only one is shown at a time.
The General menu contains settings for personalizing various aspects of OBS.
The Stream menu contains settings for routing the stream output to a destination (like Subsplash Live).
The Output menu contains settings for specific encoding parameters.
The Audio menu contains settings for various connected audio devices and their behavior.
The Video menu contains settings for resolution and frame rate.
The Hotkeys menu contains settings for assigning custom hotkeys to various functions within the application.
The Advanced menu contains settings for various complex or experimental features.
With that overview out of the way, let’s dive in!
The Stream Menu
The Stream menu is where we actually form the connection between OBS and Subsplash Live, by supplying OBS with the unique server URL and stream key found in your Subsplash Live dashboard. The settings on this menu should be set to:
Service: Custom…
Server: [Server URL found in your Subsplash Live dashboard]
Stream Key: [Stream name/key found in your Subsplash Live dashboard]
Use Authentication: off
The Output Menu
Having now provided OBS with the means to connect to Subsplash Live, the Output menu is where you tell OBS what kind of signal to send to Subsplash Live. This is a complex menu, with many settings; however, most are hidden by default until the Output Mode setting at the top of the menu is set to Advanced. This will reveal 4 tabs with different categories of advanced settings, defaulting to the Streaming tab.
Here are the settings for the Streaming tab of the advanced Output menu:
Audio Track: 1
Encoder: [see note below]
Rescale Output: off
Rate Control: CBR
Bitrate: [see Choosing the best encoding settings above]
Use Custom Buffer Size: off
Keyframe Interval: 2
CPU Usage Preset: veryfast
Profile: [see Choosing the best encoding settings above]
Tune: (None)
x264 Options: [see Choosing the best encoding settings above]
The Recording tab does not come into play for streaming to Subsplash Live; however, we do have one recommendation: set your Recording Format to mkv instead of mp4. An mp4 recording-in-progress would be ruined in the event of a crash, while an mkv recording-in-progress would not. Also, mp4 files created by OBS have been known to have some inconsistencies. If mp4 files are needed later, OBS has the ability to convert the mkv recordings into mp4 with File > Remux Recordings.
There is only one setting of importance on the Audio tab:
(Track 1) Audio Bitrate: [see Choosing the best encoding settings above]
Finally, the Replay Buffer tab has no relevance to Subsplash Live.
NOTE: x264 is the best option in almost every case. However, in extremely rare cases, you might notice poor stream performance on x264. If so, reach out to the support team! We’ll do our best to rule everything else out first, and then we’ll work with you to optimize your OBS settings to use an encoder other than x264!
The Audio Menu
In contrast with the Output menu, the Audio menu can almost be skipped entirely. The only setting of importance on this menu is the Sample Rate at the very top:
Sample Rate: 48 kHz
The Video Menu
The Video menu is simple, but it is very important to get all of these settings right:
Base (Canvas) Resolution: 1920x1080
Output (Scaled) Resolution: [see Choosing the best encoding settings above]
Downscale filter: Bicubic (Sharpened scaling, 16 samples)
If the last line in this menu doesn’t say Common FPS Values, we recommend changing to that. Then, set your frame rate to:
FPS: 30
The Advanced Menu
Finally, we come to the Advanced menu. This menu has all sorts of settings, so many that you’ll need to scroll down to see them all. For the most part, these settings are not relevant to streaming or shouldn’t be changed unless you have a very good reason. However, near the bottom of the menu is a section labeled Network” There is one setting to look for in that section:
Dynamically change bitrate to manage congestion (Beta): off
Conclusion
The hardest part of using OBS is getting it set up correctly, but if you’ve gotten this far, you should be set up for success. And OBS’s complexity is also its greatest strength: having total control over the encoding settings gives you the ability to truly optimize your streams!