Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio : First Time Using Green Screen

I’m not sure if you know this, but a lot of people are using video conferencing, and not all video conference tools allow you to use virtual backgrounds. 😱 That’s a bit of a problem if your washing is permanently on display in the background.

I finally took the plunge and ordered a green screen, but how do you go about using it? Fortunately Samuel Nitsche mentioned Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio, so like the obedient sheep that I am, I gave it a go. This post contains some quick notes to get you up and running if you want to try it.

You can download the software from here.

Add Your Camera

• Open OBS Studio.
• Click “+” in the “Sources” panel.
• Pick “Video Capture Device” from the popup menu.
• Type in the name you want for your device. Using all the powers of my imagination, I decided on “WebCam”.
• Click the “OK” button.
• Your face should be on screen now. If you have multiple cameras connected, select your camera in the “Device” dropdown.
• Click “OK”, and your camera will be in the “Sources” list.

Enable Green Screen (Chroma Key)

• Right-click on your Source (WebCam) and select the “Filters” option from the popup menu.
• Click the “+” under the “Effect Filters” panel.
• Pick the “Chroma Key” option, and on the subsequent dialog click the “OK” button.
• Select the background colour under the “Key Color Type”. The default is green. It will also allow you to set a specific colour using a colour picker from the background. The default “Green” option worked for me.
• Adjust the settings until the background is all grey, and you still look clear. The “Similarity” setting seems to make the most difference for me.
• Once you are happy with the look, click the “Close” button.
• You should now see yourself on screen with a black background.
• Position and stretch your image as required. For things like Teams/Zoom meetings, you probably want to make yourself full screen. You can zoom in a little if the edges of your background are showing.

Green Screen Tips:

• Try to remove big creases from your green screen. Small creases won’t make a big difference.
• Try to have even lighting on your green screen. Shadows, including any caused by you, will make the green screen less effective. Another tip from Samuel Nitsche.
• The background images can have a big impact on how good the green screen effect works.
• Play around until your are happy. It doesn’t have to be perfect!

Add Background Images

• Click the “+” in the “Sources” panel.
• Select the “Image” option from the popup menu.
• Enter a meaningful name for the background image, and click the “OK” button.
• Click the “Browse” button and pick a background image from your file system.
• Click the “OK” button.
• The image will be in the “Sources” list, and it will be higher in the list than your camera.
• Use the up and down arrows in the source panel to move the image below the camera.
• You should now be in front of the image of your choice.
• Add multiple images and use the “eye” icon next to them to switch between them.

Start Using It

• Click the “Start Virtual Camera” button.
• In your conference tool (Team, Zoom etc.) select the “OSB Virtual Camera” device as your video input.
• Everyone will now see your studio quality green screen. 😉

As the title says, this is my first time using this, so my suggestions and advice are probably not worth much. 🙂

Cheers

Tim…

PS. I’ve posted a quick breakdown of the equipment I’m currently using here.