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OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

obsproject.com

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Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#31

Post by yellowapple »

naikrovek wrote: post #16
phkahler wrote: post #12

Does it have a freaking equalizer yet? Seriously. I don't want to research plugins or pay for one of the most fundamental signal processing blocks.

> Does it have a freaking equalizer yet? > Seriously. I don't want to research plugins or pay for one of the most fundamental signal processing blocks. It’s amazing how often I see this “I am owed feature X” attitude… and I don’t get it. If it isn’t useful for you, then just don’t comment. OBS is a VST plugin host, so there are probably a million equalizers, but you seriously don’t want to research plugins.

OBS is a VST plugin host

I had no idea. The idea of something other than a DAW being a VST host seems bonkers to me, yet in the case of OBS makes perfect sense.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#32

Post by minimaxir »

phkahler wrote: post #12

Does it have a freaking equalizer yet? Seriously. I don't want to research plugins or pay for one of the most fundamental signal processing blocks.

So there's recently been a fun development in this area.

Other comments mention VSTs; they work, but are typically Windows only and I suspect more on HN use macOS.

Elgato Wave microphones (https://www.elgato.com/en/wave-1 , $100/$150), which are good quality for the price, allow access to the Wave Link software which can be used to mix audio before piping it into OBS. A recent update allows users on macOS to use the native Audio Units (including equalizers/gates), and offers an audio stream that's just the added effects for easy use in other apps. https://help.elgato.com/hc/en-us/articles/4416040077069-Wave...

Alternatively, you can get Loopback for $100 (https://rogueamoeba.com/loopback/) for mixing or Soundsource for $40 (https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/) for AUs both of which I believe is what is what Wave Link uses regardless, so might as well get a good microphone out of it if you do not have one already.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#33

Post by eropple »

crysin wrote: post #29
eropple wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of real alternatives. I'm partial to vMix for live-streaming; I ran Demuxed 2020 and 2021 through my vMix deck from the comfort of my office and through 2020-21 ran about sixty high-production fighting game tournaments off of the same. I like vMix because its audio mixing is excellent and WebRTC-integrated chat comes out of the box, plus data-driven lower thirds and good remoting solutions and MIDI c…

It may be that it’s more of the defacto to the casual audiences. I’ve heard of and have used OBS many times for streaming and screen recording. Never heard of the other solutions you listed and never felt the need to search for alternatives as OBS and it’s reskins satisfied my needs and as a casual person to the streaming community the only program I had heard of to use was OBS.

That's a totally reasonable point of view! OBS is a great recommendation at the entry level and while the work it takes to build a show around it does scale upward pretty quickly, it's eminently doable. GDQ is a good example of running a complex, high-production streamed show through OBS. They operate a pretty heavy software stack and they get away with a lot by pushing it into HTML5. That's not my preferred way to go about it, but you can absolutely go that route.

Why I responded at all was the maximalist dismissal of a pretty large industry of smart people doing interesting things in the video mixing space.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#34

Post by bityard »

fernandotakai wrote: post #27
TechSquidTV wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to find a way to better integrate UI/UX designers into open source.

first time i showed my wife calibre (she had to convert some amazon ebook format to epub), she was scared. so many buttons, so many labels, so many options. nothing makes sense unless you understand the developer that did it.

I'm normally one who vastly prefers function over form and UIs that get out of the way of someone who knows what they're doing instead of catering _strictly_ to the use cases of the lowest common denominator.

But even I think the Calibre UI is pretty awful.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#35

Post by eropple »

oneplane wrote: post #30
eropple wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of real alternatives. I'm partial to vMix for live-streaming; I ran Demuxed 2020 and 2021 through my vMix deck from the comfort of my office and through 2020-21 ran about sixty high-production fighting game tournaments off of the same. I like vMix because its audio mixing is excellent and WebRTC-integrated chat comes out of the box, plus data-driven lower thirds and good remoting solutions and MIDI c…

As far as I can tell none of the products you mention are free or run on Linux. That does of course not mean that they are not real alternatives if you aren't using Linux, but if we scope OBS to include "free, open and cross-platform", there really aren't a lot of alternatives.

ManyCam, mentioned by the top-level poster, isn't free and doesn't work on Linux either, so I'm not sure where that scoping comes into play. Past that, not focusing on Linux would be because, for both amateur and professional live video, I can think of relatively few people not using Windows. The overwhelming remainder are using Macs, where there are some options like Wirecast, even if they're not my favorites. (I too use OBS on a Mac or Linux, though it doesn't come up very often. As for me, with WSL2, I don't run a Linux desktop anymore.)

As far as "free" goes--OBS is great where it fits. It's exceptional where it fits. And if that's what you need, you absolutely should use it. When it doesn't fit, you start getting into build-versus-buy territory, and once you pop the cork on buying you can buy a lot for relatively little.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#36

Post by ocdtrekkie »

xen2xen1 wrote: post #22
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #19

As a note, OBS is a really solid capture tool for... anything. I do a lot of old VHS conversions and found OBS is vastly superior to the in-box garbage with most capture devices.

Do tell? I need to be doing that. Have a million VHS from my parents.

I use a roughly $6 HDMI capture dongle <- a $10 RCA to HDMI adapter <- an old VCR, and OBS is the capture software I use. Comes out pretty well, though you do basically end up watching each tape doing it.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#37

Post by Night_Thastus »

It's very solid software. Extremely flexible and functional, but not too hard to pick up, and they've made it easier over the years. Free too. Can't complain about it. If I ever need high-quality recordings, I use CQP and it comes out fantastic, none of the awful compression artifacts.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#38

Post by zamadatix »

eropple wrote: post #26
bgro wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oldie? Goodie? OBS is currently the defacto standard in streaming software. There is no real alternative. Any alternative is a reskinned OBS. Streaming aside, it's a (the?) category leader in screen recording and audio manipulation.

There are plenty of real alternatives. I'm partial to vMix for live-streaming; I ran Demuxed 2020 and 2021 through my vMix deck from the comfort of my office and through 2020-21 ran about sixty high-production fighting game tournaments off of the same. I like vMix because its audio mixing is excellent and WebRTC-integrated chat comes out of the box, plus data-driven lower thirds and good remoting solutions and MIDI c…

vMix is amazing software for events, it really opened my eyes to how much more there could be in OBS. Prior to using it I thought OBS did about everything one could expect to ask of a software mixer.

Re: OBS – Open Broadcaster Software

#39

Post by reilly3000 »

When I was half my age, OBS was unfathomable. I was shooting video on digital 8, editing in Final Cut Pro 4 which was the new hotness, and trying but failing to use DSS on my college network. Actual streaming at scale required a massive server and a massive license from RealNetworks. If I wanted to do anything with animation, it was all $$$$$ software. This all took place in a shared lab at my college with stuff I could never afford on my own.

Today, people at that age are making lucrative careers out of streaming then doing the things they love out of their bedrooms using OBS. Blender has enabled all kinds of amazing creators, from animation to video editing to 3D printing and even (basic) architecture. Kicad makes EDA! approachable. My teen son has been able to dabble in all of the above in his spare time without spending a dime.

I’m in awe of the power of free software and the amazing engineering work that has enabled these projects to be good enough for real professionals to choose first. I hope we see Godot achieve world domination in gaming, GIMP in graphics, and Libra Office + Collabra in productivity. The people who have given us these tools deserve the highest accolades.

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