How to Set Up OBS Studio for Streaming: Your First Stream, Start to Finish
OBS is the old workhorse — free, powerful, runs everything. It's also less hand-holdy than Meld, so here's the whole road in plain steps: install to live.
Before you start
- A computer, a camera (webcam is fine), a microphone
- Internet with decent upload — wired beats Wi-Fi, every time
Step 1: Get OBS
- Go to obsproject.com and download OBS Studio for your system. It's free.
- Install and open it. If it offers an auto-config wizard, let it run — it's a decent first guess at your settings.
Tip: right-click your OBS shortcut and try Run as administrator if game capture ever shows you a black screen. Some games only let an admin-level program see them. (Full story in the troubleshooting guide.)
Step 2: Build your first scene
A scene is a layout. A source is one thing inside it.
- In the Scenes box (bottom-left), click + and name it "Live".
- In the Sources box, click + and add:
- Game Capture — for a fullscreen game
- Video Capture Device — your camera
- Audio Input Capture — your microphone (or set the mic once for every scene in Step 3)
- Drag sources in the list to stack them: camera above game, game above background. Higher in the list = on top on screen.
- Click a source in the preview to move and resize it.
Later, add "Starting Soon" and "BRB" scenes the same way. Not today.
Step 3: Set your mic once, for every scene
- Open Settings → Audio.
- Set Mic/Auxiliary Audio to your microphone.
- Set Sample Rate to 48 kHz — and set your mic to 48 kHz in your system sound settings too. Mismatched sample rates are the number-one cause of voice slowly drifting out of sync on long streams.
Now the mic exists in every scene. Talk, and watch the Mic/Aux meter in the Audio Mixer bounce in the green/yellow.
Step 4: Connect your platform
Twitch
- Settings → Stream → Service: Twitch.
- Connect Account and sign in (recommended), or paste your stream key from your Twitch Creator Dashboard → Settings → Stream.
Kick
OBS has no built-in Kick preset — the connection is manual, and that's normal:
- On Kick, open your Creator Dashboard → Channel → Stream URL and Key. Copy the server URL and the stream key.
- In OBS: Settings → Stream → Service: Custom…
- Paste the server URL in Server and the key in Stream Key.
- Apply.
- Set your stream title and category in the Kick dashboard BEFORE you start — Kick can refuse to start cleanly without them.
The settings Kick demands
Kick is strict. Outside these lines the stream can fail or get rejected:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Encoder | H.264 only (x264, NVENC H.264, or AMD HW H.264) |
| Rate control | CBR (variable bitrate is NOT supported) |
| Bitrate | 1,000–8,000 kbps |
| Keyframe interval | 2 seconds (in Settings → Output) |
| Resolution / fps | Up to 1920×1080 at 60 |
| Audio | Stereo, 48 kHz max |
Kick's own rule: your upload speed should be at least twice your bitrate. 6,000 kbps stream = 12 Mbps upload, minimum.
Twitch's published guideline tops out at 6,000 kbps for non-affiliates, so if you multistream to both, 6,000 is your ceiling.
Step 5: The pre-flight check
- ☐ Camera framed right
- ☐ Mic meter moves when you talk, quiet when you don't
- ☐ Game capture shows the game (not a black box)
- ☐ Headphones on — speakers feed your mic and echo to viewers
- ☐ Title and category set on the platform
- ☐ Record 30 seconds and watch it back if anything changed
Step 6: Go live
- Click Start Streaming (bottom-right).
- That's it. You're a streamer. Stay awesome, humans.
🧰 Field note — from the bench: CleanDEE ran OBS for his FPV and work streams — his honest take on OBS vs Meld for different kinds of streams lands here.
Related guides: Trying the newer app? How to Set Up Meld Studio. Blurry picture? Why Is My Stream Blurry? Something broke? Stream Troubleshooting: The Big Five Fixes.
Quick answers
How do I connect OBS to Kick? There's no built-in Kick preset, and that's normal. In your Kick Creator Dashboard open Channel → Stream URL and Key, then in OBS pick Settings → Stream → Service: Custom… and paste the server URL and key in.
What bitrate should I use in OBS? Kick allows 1,000–8,000 kbps and wants your upload at least twice your bitrate. Twitch's published guideline tops out at 6,000 kbps — so if you stream to both, 6,000 is your ceiling.
Do I need a stream key for OBS? For Twitch you can Connect Account and skip the key entirely, or paste the key from your Creator Dashboard. Kick is always manual: server URL plus key, as above.
Why is my game capture black? Most often OBS needs to run as administrator — some games only let an admin-level program see them. The full hunt is in the troubleshooting guide.