Marie Gardiner
• 14 min read
Livestreaming OBS
OBS.Ninja is an open-source and free web-based programme designed to bring live video from an external source into OBS Studio. It does this using WebRTC, a framework within browsers and mobile applications that lets you communicate in real time with little to no lag. OBS.Ninja also claims to offer privacy and ultra-low latency. In this tutorial you'll learn how to use OBS.Ninja to add a remote video stream to your live broadcasts, how to add a remote screenshare, and how to add a group video chat feed.
How to Add Video From Remote Locations With OBS
OBS.Ninja has a variety of interesting uses. Here are some examples:
- Pull in other people's video and audio into your own podcasting or live broadcast, for things like interviews, guest hosts, performers, or simultaneous sign language translation
- Bring a friend's remote game stream into your OBS and do side-by-side gaming together
- Publish to YouTube with your smartphone even though you don't yet have enough followers to broadcast to Youtube with the mobile app
- Watch videos with friends, via screen sharing, privately, and with low-enough latency to talk on the phone together while watching
- Use as a remote low-latency teleprompter feed
The tools are very straightforward to use, and the creator of OBS.Ninja, Steve Seguin, has put together a great explanation of how to add remote cameras to OBS Studio, if you'd like to learn more via video. We'll get into how to use it with OBS, below.
How to Use OBS.Ninja with OBS Studio
If you’re new to OBS Studio, you might want to read our Quickstart Guide to Livestreaming with OBS Studio. This covers how to add sources, which you’ll need to know to use OBS.Ninja.
Getting Started with OBS.Ninja
Here’s what OBS.Ninja looks like when you open up the website. We’ll take a quick look at each option available, except Create Reusable Invite, which is exactly how it sounds really, a link you can create and reuse rather than having to start from scratch each time – this is particularly useful if you’re planning on doing a series of broadcasts.
How to Add a Remote Camera to OBS via OBS.Ninja
This is really easy and a nifty way to add another camera to your stream. OBS.Ninja will detect your camera and audio setup automatically.
Once it’s done that and you’re happy with it, you can hit Start and it will give you your camera and audio feed, along with a URL.
In OBS Studio, add a Browser Source and call it OBS Ninja or something else appropriate.
You’ll see some properties telling you you’ve added a browser source and letting you make some customisations if you want to, things like the frame size, as well as access to the CSS.
Paste your OBS.Ninja URL into the URL space and hit OK.
You’ll see your external feed now added a source.
How to Add a Remote Screenshare in OBS
This is much like adding a camera source but you can choose which screen (if you have multiple) to share, and can decide to include audio or not.
Click on Select Screen to Share.
Your existing screens will appear, as will the choice of choosing an application window or specific browser tab, which will anchor the casting to that particular programme or window. When you choose your screen you’ll be given a URL in the same way as the camera source was above.
Just add that as a Browser Source in exactly the same way as in the previous section, and it will appear in OBS Studio.
How to Add Group Video Chat to OBS via OBS.Ninja
If you’re not a fan of Zoom, Teams and the like, try OBS.Ninja. There’s no reason why you can’t stream and record group chats in OBS Studio using remote sources.
With OBS.Ninja, you can have each person have a link to the chat, who will all be able to see each other in lower quality, to preserve bandwidth.
Each group room can take up to 30 guests (though keeping it under 10 is recommended). The quality of course depends on the bandwidth of the users. The ‘director,’ or person overseeing all of this in OBS Studio, can see all the participants but doesn’t have to be on screen themselves. They can also hide and mute participants in the chat.
As each person joins the chat, they’ll get their own slot on the page, including a link which you can use to add them as either separate or group in Scenes in OBS Studio. If you use Group, it will auto-mix the videos into a layout for you.
Get More Help to Make Awesome Live Streams
- How to Record Your Screen for Free With Open Broadcaster Software (OBS)Kezz Bracey17 Oct 2022
- OBS Quick Start: How to Create Live Video for Free With Open Broadcaster Software StudioMarie Gardiner03 Aug 2022
- How to Set Up Streamlabs OBS for Live Stream Video Broadcasts (Quickstart Guide)Marie Gardiner22 Jul 2020
- How to Add Chat and Live Audience Widgets to Video Streams With Streamlabs OBSMarie Gardiner31 Jul 2020
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Marie Gardiner
Photographer and writer based in north east England.
Marie Gardiner is a writer and photographer from the North East of England. After gaining her degree in Film and Media, Marie worked in the media industry, before leaving to set up the business she runs with her partner: Lonely Tower Film & Media. As well as writing about visual practices like photography and video, Marie is also the author of Sunderland Industrial Giant (The History Press, 2017), Secret Sunderland (Amberley Publishing 2019), and Celebrating Sunderland (Amberley Publishing 2023). Her photographic work focuses on landscapes and industrial ruins, particularly those of the North Pennines as she continues to work on her long-form documentary project Changing Landscapes.
