A number of people have asked me recently why I like OBS Studio. Some of them admitted that they found OBS Studio quite daunting.
It is true that OBS Studio is certainly extremely powerful. It has a lot of features and functions, but the thing I always tell people is that they don’t need to know all of the settings to get started!
So I wanted to unpack the reasons I use and like OBS Studio.
OBS Studio is literally free, open source and cross platform
OBS Studio is literally free. It is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can download it from OBSProject.com.
There is no financial outlay required for this software. No ongoing monthly subscription, no purchase required. This is especially good news if you’ve recently spent money on hardware (such as cameras, microphones, etc.).
Video recording, livestreaming and the virtual camera in OBS Studio
There are three basic things you can do with OBS Studio:
- You can record video locally.
- You can livestream to a destination.
- You can use the Virtual Camera feature to adjust how you appear within applications like Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Google Meet.
In short this software can be incredibly useful even if you do not intend to livestream.
Whether you’re making a simple video for a colleague demonstrating some software, or including branding and promotional messages on your screen during online meetings, OBS Studio can really help you in business.
You can run OBS Studio portably
It is possible to run OBS Studio portably from a flash drive.
You can also run multiple versions of the software at the same time, which can be quite useful in terms of recording or livestreaming tutorials about OBS Studio.
There’s a community of developers extending its core functionality with plugins and scripts
A community of developers create plugins and scripts that help extend the core functionality of OBS Studio.
Learn about some of our favourite OBS plugins:
- OBS ASIO
- Waveform Visualiser
- Scale To Sound
- Source Record
- Move Transition
- Directory Watch Media
OBS Studio is something you can grow into
While you can get started very simply in OBS Studio it gives you a lot of flexibility and lets you grow into it as you keep using it.
As my Video and Livestreaming Show co-host, Sam Proof, noted:
“And OBS is amazing. It is on par with legit production software at this point.”
“It’s just one of the most beautifully crafted I’ve ever seen.”
“And every year it’s been going and getting better and getting better.”
“And it is just an open source broadcasting software with just a multitude of abilities.”
“I’ve used it for a very long time. I’ve done some very complicated things with it, and I don’t think I know the entire depth of what it can do.”