OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is an open source app for Windows, macOS and Linux that enables you to configure video and audio to be broadcast live on the internet using the RTMPS streaming protocol.
OBS is a powerful app that provides huge flexibility and customization, giving you the ability to define exactly what you want to broadcast.
You can define many different sources, audio inputs, scenes and transitions - with a full suite of filters and plug-ins providing the ability to define professional-grade streams.
Setting up OBS scenes and other features is beyond the scope of this document, for more information on how to use OBS, please visit the OBS help portal.
Device(s): Desktop only to broadcast the livestream
Roles / Permissions: Livestreamer
Configuring OBS for broadcasting to Workvivo
- To go live on Workvivo from OBS, you will need to configure your broadcast.
- First, press the “Settings” button in OBS and click the “Output” option on the left navigation bar.
- With the “Output Mode” set to “Simple”, make sure that the “Video Bitrate” option in the “Streaming” section is set to 8500 Kbps (or lower). If you set this to a higher value, the livestream will not work and you will get an error when you try to broadcast.
- If you are using the Advanced output mode, it is recommended to use a “Keyframe Interval” value of 2 (you can use 1 also, but you may be more likely to encounter issues). If you set this to a different value, you will likely have higher end-to-end latency on your stream (i.e. over 5 seconds).
- You should also set the “CPU Usage Preset” to “veryfast” and from “Tune” select “zerolatency”.
You can customize the resolution and frame-rate of your broadcast under the “Video” option on the left-hand side. The Base (Canvas) Resolution defines the size of the area OBS will provide for each scene. The Output (Scaled) Resolution defines the actual resolution that will be broadcast.
If you are using a high speed network, we recommend using 1920x1080 for both of these options. If you are planning on screen-sharing or using motion video, we recommend increasing the FPS value to 60. This will ensure that viewers with high bandwidth can view the highest quality stream on Workvivo.
Workvivo uses 'adaptive bitrate streaming' to automatically switch between different resolutions for viewers depending on their network conditions at any given moment in time.
Going live on Workvivo from OBS
In OBS settings, click on the “Stream” option on the left-hand menu and configure the following settings:
- Select “Custom” from the “Service” drop-down
- Enter the “RTMPS URL” from Workvivo into the “Server” field
- Enter the “Stream Key” from Workvivo into the “Stream Key” field
- Leave the “Use authentication” checkbox unchecked
To go live on Workvivo, click the “Start Streaming” button in OBS. When you’re live, the button will change to “Stop Streaming” and you’ll see a green box in the bottom-right of the OBS screen, also displaying the bitrate of the broadcast, as shown in the screenshot below.
Within a few seconds, the current OBS scene will be live on Workvivo and the host UI will update to show the stream.
OBS is a great app for managing your broadcasts. Pair it with something like an “Elgato Stream Deck” to make it even easier to swap between different OBS scenes to deliver highly professional streams to your Workvivo audience.
Ending the Stream
To end the stream, press the “Stop Streaming” button in OBS. The Workvivo livestream will end automatically.
Alternatively, you can end the stream using the “End Stream” button in Workvivo when viewing the livestream as a host. Note that while this will stop the broadcast, OBS will still show a “Stop Streaming” button until you press it or until OBS stops trying to reconnect. You’ll know that the stream is no longer as the bandwidth will be 0 kb/s, and you’ll see a message “Disconnected, reconnecting in X second(s)” in the status bar, as shown below.