How to stream Xbox to Twitch using OBS Studio

Xbox Series S Source: Matt Brown | Windows Central

If you lot're looking to stream to Twitch (or most any other online dissemination service) and then you're probably at least looking at using OBS Studio. The free, open-source, cross-platform application is the option of many of today's biggest streamers. Not so much because information technology's free (if y'all like information technology I highly recommend chucking them a few bucks), but because information technology's incredibly powerful, supports simply about any piece of hardware, and the plugin library is vast. If yous need to do something for your stream, you're going to be able to do information technology with OBS Studio.

The aforementioned applies if you lot're primarily an Xbox gamer, too. You don't necessarily need a monstrous PC to power your stream, nor the world's fastest internet connexion. What you demand is a capture card, a spare HDMI cable, and a few spare minutes to get prepare up.

If you're looking to stream your Xbox to Twitch with OBS Studio, here's how to get set upward for the all-time quality broadcasts.

How to connect your Xbox to OBS Studio

Xbox Series S Ports Source: Matt Dark-brown | Windows Central

The first pace is to connect your Xbox to your PC and import the video into OBS Studio. For this, you'll need your capture bill of fare and two HDMI cables. If you use an external capture carte du jour you'll as well demand the USB cablevision information technology came with to claw it up to the PC.

Connect the HDMI output from the Xbox to the HDMI input on the capture card.

Source: Windows Key
Connect the HDMI output on the capture card to an HDMI input on whichever display y'all desire to play games on.

Source: Windows Central
If using an external capture carte du jour, connect the USB cablevision to the capture card and your PC.
Power on the Xbox.
Open OBS Studio on your PC.
In the sources box, click the + button.
Select Video capture device.

Source: Windows Fundamental
Proper name the device whatever your capture carte du jour model is for easy differentiating between other hardware.

Source: Windows Central
From the dropdown box, select your capture card.

Source: Windows Central

This is the first step to using the output from your Xbox console with OBS. Depending on your capture card, the stock settings should be 1080p resolution at threescore FPS. But this but concerns the input to OBS Studio. To ensure you're getting a good-looking output, you'll need to practise some tweaks to the settings. And depending on your capture carte du jour you may still be getting 4K and HDR outputs to your display.

The good news is that the way the Xbox handles audio means you won't need to practice anything fancy to ensure both you and your stream can hear your games. It's more awkward on the PS5, but the only thing you need to practise in OBS for Xbox is lower the capture bill of fare audio slider to make sure information technology isn't drowning you out on the stream. The audio itself is pulled from the HDMI output on the console.

How to set up OBS Studio for streaming to Twitch

OBS Studio Source: Windows Key

Twitch has a number of requirements for video beingness broadcast to the platform. As a rule, here's what you will be aiming for.

Max bitrate: 6,000 kbps
Max resolution: 1080p
Max frame rate: 60 FPS
Rate command: CBR
Keyframe interval: two

Of form, this is all dependent on your PC hardware and your internet connection. If you don't have the spare bandwidth for 6,000 kbps, for example, then you can't employ that bitrate. You'll need to lower that as required based on your connection.

Likewise, if yous don't have a CPU (or GPU) that can encode a 1080p60 stream, y'all'll have to make sacrifices at that place, as well. It's of import to call up that if you're just starting out you won't take transcoding on your Twitch business relationship, either, so y'all might want to lower to 900p or 720p and a lower bitrate to ensure your viewers have a good time likewise.

But how practise you plug all of these settings into OBS? It's all done in the Settings bill of fare nether the Output and Video tabs.

Video settings

OBS Studio Source: Windows Central

On the video tab, you lot'll prepare the output resolution and frame rate you want to ship to Twitch.

Base resolution: This should be set to 1920x1080 on whichever Xbox console y'all're using.
Output resolution: This will exist specific to your PC and net connection. If you can handle 1080p, then set it to 1920x1080. If yous want to drop down to 720 then select 1280x720. If you're looking for 900p in the centre yous'll need to add this manually by typing 1600x900 in the box. Alternatively you tin can leave it the same as the base resolution and rescale the output resolution in the next section.
Downscale filter: For gaming, leaving this on Bi-cubic sixteen samples is fine.
Mutual FPS values: Your desired output frame charge per unit. If yous're looking for lx FPS select lx, if your PC and or connectedness isn't upwardly to information technology, choose 30.

These settings will ascertain the video output, just the quality volition be defined in the Output tab.

Output settings

OBS Studio Source: Windows Central

This is where yous'll set the quality of the stream y'all'll be sending to Twitch. Over again, much of this will depend on your PC specs and your internet connexion, and there'southward likely to be a chip of trial and fault involved.

The easy ones to set are the charge per unit control and keyframes, as recommended by Twitch. Set the rate control dropdown to CBR which will ensure a constant bitrate regardless of outside influences. Then set the keyframe interval box to 2.

For bitrate, this is where the trial and fault will come in. Office of this will depend on your PC, role on your internet connection. If you have a fairly modern PC with at least a quad-core CPU or you're using an NVIDIA GPU to encode, so 6,000 shouldn't be a problem. The easiest way to bank check is to set up your stream and so practice a exam recording locally and select Use stream encoder on the recording tab. You'll get an idea then if your PC can handle information technology.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 reviewNVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 review Source: Harish Jonnalagadda / Windows Central

If you're using CPU encoding, select x264 from the encoder dropdown box. If you want to use your NVIDIA GPU then select NVIDIA NVENC H.264. You lot tin also stream using an AMD GPU, simply the output won't be nearly as proficient as using an NVIDIA one. OBS Studio supports the latest NVENC encoder from NVIDIA congenital into the RTX graphics cards.

The residue of the settings will exist downward to your PC and what it tin handle. However, if you're using CPU encoding and so you don't need to prepare the speed to anything beyond medium for streaming to Twitch. At that point, you lot're using up way more system resources for no noticeable gain, especially since you're streaming Xbox games.

GPU encoding settings can also be tweaked depending on your card and what you recollect looks adept. Quality settings are fairly self-explanatory; the only ane to make sure you utilize for Twitch is setting your Max B-frames to two.

Decision

There's an atrocious lot y'all can do with OBS Studio to make your Xbox streams look amazing, merely this guide covers all the basics of getting prepare to stream to Twitch.

From hither on out the only existent limit is your imagination. Your hardware and cyberspace connexion are always going to be a factor, but aside from that, OBS Studio will let y'all get seriously creative.

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