How to Record Screen with OBS Studio? + Realization methods – Performing live can serve us both to record said session and to post it later, or broadcast it in streaming. Today we will see how to record Screen with OBS Studio.
Table of Contents
To Record Screen with OBS Studio
With all our scenes designed, the sources configured, the transitions decided and the audio prepared, we can now propose to perform a live show in conditions.
Realization methods and keyboard shortcuts
Performing means simultaneously and successively coordinating different audiovisual sources in the same flow, choosing what is shown in the final mix. It’s basically like editing, but live . It has the advantage of being in real time and the disadvantage that, in the event of an error, it cannot be corrected.
Obviously, there are methods that allow corrections a posteriori, but the grace of the realization is that the decisions are made live and are made at the moment.
To perform, then, we need different coordinated sources and the ability to select and blend them into a final product. And that is precisely the specialty of OBS.
There are different ways of approaching the realization in OBS, different methods, and each one has its advantages and disadvantages.
Simple Mode
The most basic method is to simply click on a scene and it will be displayed on the canvas . The scene that is shown on the canvas is the scene that will be broadcast or recorded when we are performing. We can also hide or show fonts during the realization as a more advanced realization.
Its simplicity makes it very suitable if there are few scenes, but it forces us to have everything well prepared beforehand, since if we want to make a change in full broadcast, being on the canvas, these will be seen in our direct.
Study Mode
What if we need to modify a scene and its elements while we’re making it and we don’t want viewers to be able to see it?
For this we have the “ Study Mode” . It is activated in the “Controls” panel.
By activating this option, we will see that the Canvas area completely changes its appearance.
On the right we have the “Preview” and on the left the “Program” monitor, while in the center we add “Transition” options.
Now when a scene other than the one in the “Program” monitor is clicked it will not be sent directly to the realization, but will be opened in “Preview” first . In this way we can make sure that the scene is correct and apply changes if we wish without the viewers seeing it.
Once we want to send the scene to the public, we will click on the central “Transition” button and the change will be made with the transition that we have by default.
We can also go to “Settings > General” and in the “Studio Mode” section check the box “Transition with double click” so that when doing so, the scene is sent to Program.
Another advantage is precisely that it allows us to have several transition types instead of just the default one. Under the transition button we have the so-called “Quick transitions” , which if we press, will apply said transition.
We can also add more fast transitions using the + icon and if we use the slider at the bottom, we will manually control the speed and rhythm of the transition.
Multiview
There is an even more complete method of realization, which is also more similar to a production in a television studio; use “Multi View” .
To do this, we go to “Menu bar > View > Multiple View”. We can choose between “Full Screen” or “Window”.
A view will open that will contain both “Preview” and “Program” as well as thumbnails of the rest of the scenes. By default in OBS we are shown 8 scenes. (If we go to “Settings > General > Multiple View” you can choose to display up to 24).
If we do not have “Studio Mode” activated when we use “Multi View”, clicking on a scene will see both “Preview” and “Program” simultaneously.
On the other hand, if we have it activated, it will behave in the same way; clicking on a scene will place us in “Preview” and we will have to press “Transition” in OBS to send it to “Program”.
That’s why we recommend activating the “Double click transition” option in “Settings” to send it directly from “Multi View” and not rely on fetching the button.
This mode is ideal to have all the scenes controlled at a glance and in a very visual way to choose which one we want to go to.
Of course, it consumes more resources of our system, it must be taken into account.
Keyboard shortcuts
All these production styles are based on using the mouse and visually looking for where to click, which can hinder our performance.
That is why we remind you of the possibility of creating custom keyboard shortcuts for various actions and transitions.
In “Settings > Shortcuts” we will see a long list of actions that can be assigned to keys, and also for each new scene or source that we add, new customizable actions will also be added.
We can assign keys to things like “Start/Stop Streaming” or even shortcuts to activate “Study Mode” or the default “Transition”.
But at the production level, what gives us an advantage is being able to “call” a scene at will by simply pressing a button.
In general, every scene allows us to add a shortcut for “Change Scene” and also shortcuts for each “Show/Hide” each of its sources.
It is highly recommended to do so, since a lot of agility is gained in the production, especially when the process and structure of our scenes and production are well designed and internalized.
EYE! The use of keys for shortcuts can interfere with other applications and programs that you have running at that moment, or on the contrary, that you are in another application and when you press a certain key, it affects the execution of OBS.
That’s why in one of the latest OBS updates they added a parameter found in “Settings > Advanced > Shortcuts” in which you can select the “Behavior of the hotkeys” , to prevent them from having an effect on other programs if OBS is in the foreground, or conversely, prevent OBS from being affected if it is not in the foreground.
Gaining agility in performing live is perhaps the most complicated task when using OBS, but all these tools that the program offers us will make it very easy for us to learn based on practice.
So we encourage you to try some of these techniques, even mix several methods and start practicing before launching to broadcast or record a performance.
Advanced Recording settings
Entering now to record our realization, the first thing we are going to do is review the recording settings, but this time we are going to go deeper.
We go to “Settings > Output” and this time we change the “Output Mode” to “Advanced” . The tab that interests us is the “Recording” tab .
The first option is “Type”, in which we can select “Standard” (for simplified controls) or “Custom output” (to control absolutely everything).
In the “Standard” method we can select the “Recording Path”, the “Format” (we recommend MKV), the “Audio Tracks” that we want to have, the “Encoder” and if we want to “Change scale” of output in resolution with respect to to the canvas.
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We can also select the “Frequency control” (we recommend CBR) and the “Bit rate” that we want to use (for recording we recommend a high rate, at least 15,000 Kbps). The rest of the options do not affect the configuration much.
The thing changes if we put the “Type” in “Custom Output” .
It lets us define the “Container Format” among many more options (we still recommend MKV – here called “Matroska”).
In turn, apart from the “Video Bitrate” it allows us to define the “Keyframe Interval” (better to leave what comes out by default) and above all, it allows us to define the “Audio Bitrate” (at least 128Kbps) and your “encoder”.
Once we have the desired settings, we click “Apply” and “OK”.
Start Recording
With everything configured, recording locally is no secret, we will go to the “Controls” panel and press “Start Recording” .
We will see that in the lower part the REC counter will begin to count how long our recording is lasting.
Now every change shown on the main canvas will be reflected in our final file , and we can even import new fonts live.
Some recording formats allow us to pause and resume the session, which can be very useful.
When we want to finish the recording, we will click on the “Finish Recording” button and in the folder designated as “Path” we will find the file for your use and enjoyment.
Recording Considerations
The most important thing is to keep in mind that we are configuring local recording, so our only limit will be the power and space of our computer.
A local recording allows us to configure both higher video and audio qualities , since the resulting file will be recorded on our computer and we will be able (and often we will want) to edit it later.
It should also be noted that the frame rate in which it is recorded is determined by what we configure in “Settings > Video > Common FPS values”, and that it should be the one we want beforehand .
The recommendation to use the MKV format is motivated by the fact that this format allows you to recover a video in case of system failure .
Remember the issue of choosing the number of desired audio tracks , which combined with the track assignment in “Advanced Audio Properties” allow us to generate files in which each sound source is on different tracks , and thus be able to redo volumes in post-production if we wish.
It is good to always keep in mind how we are going to later edit the segment in which we find ourselves, if the ideal would be to be able to take an almost definitive video , the advantage of being recorded and edited is that we can repeat without cutting a part if it does not go well .