OBS Studio
OBS Studio is free, runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, and streams to Cardinal over RTMPS, an encrypted connection. Use version 22 or later.
1. Install
Section titled “1. Install”Download OBS Studio from obsproject.com and run the auto-configuration wizard if it offers one — then change the settings below.
2. Point OBS at your stream
Section titled “2. Point OBS at your stream”Open Settings → Stream and choose Service: Custom…
Paste the stream’s server — it starts rtmps:// — into Server, and
its stream key into Stream Key. They are two different values; the
stream key on its own in the Server field does not work.
3. Set the quality
Section titled “3. Set the quality”In Settings → Output, choose Output Mode: Advanced, then on the Streaming tab:
| 1080p | 4K | |
|---|---|---|
| Video Encoder | your GPU’s H.264 encoder (NVENC, QuickSync, Apple VT) or x264 | the same |
| Rate Control | CBR | CBR |
| Bitrate | 6000 Kbps | 16000 Kbps |
| Keyframe Interval | 2 s | 2 s |
In Settings → Video, set the output resolution to 1920×1080 (or 3840×2160 for 4K) and 30 FPS. In Settings → Audio, 48 kHz.
In Settings → Advanced, turn on Automatically Reconnect with a Retry Delay of 1, and Stream Delay at 2 seconds with Preserve cutoff point when reconnecting: OBS then re-sends what a dropped connection lost.
4. Go live
Section titled “4. Go live”Add your camera and audio as sources, press Start Streaming, then start the stream in the console. The status turns live within a few seconds.
If something goes wrong
Section titled “If something goes wrong”- OBS can’t connect: check the server starts
rtmps://, that you copied the whole stream key, and that it’s the current one — a new stream key replaces the old one at once. - Dropped frames: your upload can’t keep up. Lower the bitrate.
- Live, but viewers see nothing: make sure the stream itself was started, not only OBS.