OBS Studio is the free, open-source backbone of live streaming. This guide gets you from install to your first stream.

Installation

brew install --cask obs

First Launch: Auto-Configuration

OBS will ask if you want to run the auto-configuration wizard. For streaming, say yes and follow the prompts. It’ll test your bandwidth and set optimal encoding settings.

Building Your First Scene

Scenes are collections of sources (your webcam, game window, images, text). Create your first scene:

  1. Click + in the Scenes panel, name it “Main”
  2. Click + in the Sources panel
  3. Add a Display Capture (your entire screen) or Game Capture (a specific game)
  4. Add a Video Capture Device (your webcam)
  5. Resize and position sources by dragging in the preview

Audio Setup

OBS has two default audio sources: Desktop Audio and Mic/Aux. In the Audio Mixer panel:

  • Adjust levels so your voice peaks around -10dB (yellow zone)
  • Add filters: click the gear icon → Filters → Noise Suppression (RNNoise is excellent)

Going Live

  1. Go to Settings → Stream
  2. Choose your platform (Twitch, YouTube, etc.)
  3. Enter your stream key (find this in your platform’s dashboard)
  4. Click “Start Streaming”

Recording Instead of Streaming

Click “Start Recording” instead. Settings → Output lets you choose format (MKV recommended — it survives crashes) and quality.

Pro Tips

  • Use Studio Mode for scene transitions without viewers seeing your setup
  • Create a “BRB” scene with just text for breaks
  • Set hotkeys in Settings → Hotkeys for quick scene switching