Note: This article is specifically about Open Broadcast Software (OBS or OBS Studio) and NOT Streamlabs OBS.
The Media Source tool in OBS can significantly enhance the overall appearance of your content. This versatile feature allows you to integrate various media elements seamlessly into your broadcasts, including music tracks that play during scene transitions, videos for intermissions, or even looped background visuals. Mastering the utilization of Media Sources in OBS is a worthwhile skill.
Media Sources can be both audio or video files of a variety of formats. All of the video overlays on What What are mp4s and are therefore compatible sources.
Here's how to upload a new Media Source on OBS:
- Click the '+' icon in the Sources window and choose "Media Source."
- Confirm by clicking 'OK' in the pop-up window.
- Click 'Browse,' select your desired video file, and then click 'Open.'
- Activate the 'Loop' checkbox.
- Click 'OK.'
Sometimes things go wrong. Here are some common issues you may run into.
Troubleshooting:
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Can't find the Sources window: Typically this window is to the right of the Scenes window at the bottom of the screen. If it isn't there, go to Docks in the top menu and make sure Sources is checked.
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File not found: If you moved the download video file from one folder to another (let's say you moved it from Downloads to your Desktop) you will need to reconnect the file. You can either delete the Media Source entirely (it won't delete the file itself) and re-add it, or you can double click the source, click 'Browse,' and find the new location of the file. If you don't know where on your computer the file went or you accidentally deleted it, you can always download it again from our website.
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The video is the wrong size: Usually our vertical videos will appear as too big, because they are vertical pieces of content being added to a horizontal screen. In OBS you can click and drag the corners of anything on screen to resize it. So simply drag the corner to resize, and then click and move the video to the center of the screen. If the video is not centered, it won't look right on Whatnot.
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Not looping correctly: All of our videos that are specifically labeled as looping videos should have no issues. Double check that the video is actually meant to loop. If it is and it's still not working or doesn't look right, please let us know.
Additional explanations of the other options you see on screen:
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Loop: The loop option enables your audio or video file to restart automatically from the beginning once it reaches its end.
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Restart Playback: You can choose to restart the audio or video file from the beginning when you activate the scene containing the media source by toggling this checkbox. If left unchecked, the media source will continue playing even when the scene is not active.
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Utilize Hardware Decoding: This property is useful if you encounter CPU overload issues. Enabling it allows OBS to utilize your GPU for decoding tasks instead of your CPU.
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Show Nothing: By default, this option is enabled. When the media source concludes, OBS will display nothing, allowing other sources behind it to become visible. If you disable this option, the final frame of the video will remain visible after playback ends.
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Close File: Activating this option ensures that the file is closed when the media source is not in use, potentially reducing CPU load. However, there may be a slight startup delay when you need to play the media source.
For more information on Media Sources, you can check out the official OBS website here: https://obsproject.com/kb/media-sources
