Don’t be silly to set up a 32-bit version OBS on your 64-bit PC or vice versa. Solution 2 – Run OBS as Administrator or In Compatibility Mode. In case OBS Studio doesn’t have the right to do screen capture, run it as Administrator. If you’ve installed and placed it on the C:// drive, you’d better change its driver permission by right.
Last Updated on August 6, 2020 by
Open Broadcaster Software is among the more popular tools for streaming on Twitch. Some will also use it to create video content for YouTube. It’s a powerful tool, free to use and full of features. So, how do you add your game to OBS when it comes time to broadcast?
It’s actually relatively easy. In a matter of minutes, you can start recording or going live with your video content.
Today, I’m going to show you how to add your game to OBS and what features you have available.
Add Your Game to OBS
I am using version 25.0.8 of OBS, and I’m going to assume you already have it open and running. If not, you can download the latest version from the OBS website.
These instructions should be relatively close to older and newer versions of OBS. If not, leave a comment down below and we’ll fix it for you.
In the sources window, click the “+” icon in the bottom left corner.
Select “Game Capture” from the list.
Give your source a new name and click, “OK.” For instance, I’m just going to call it “Game” for now. You can get creative with it later, but essentially it’s just a way for you to recognize what source it is from the list in case you need to make adjustments in the future.
Once you click OK, the settings window for the game will appear.
Obs For Mac Don't See Gamers
Changing Modes
By default, OBS sets the capture mode when you add your game as “Capture any fullscreen application.” This means OBS will record or stream anything you have running that uses fullscreen, such as your PC games.
This is perhaps the easiest setting for beginners. But, if you want the software to capture from a different window, click to expand the list of modes and choose one. This is found in the settings of the source we just made.
For this tutorial, though, I’m just going to keep it simple and assume you’re recording a game from the computer. I’ll go into the other settings at a later date.
OBS also supports the use of SLI and Crossfire abilities. If you don’t know what either of these are, it’s probably best to leave the box unchecked. Essentially, you can use SLI and Crossfire-enabled motherboards to use GPU power to render the video for quality.
You can also enable “Force Scaling” to improve it even further. However, not all systems support this feature. I suggest leaving this unchecked as well in the beginning. You can always come back to the settings and make changes as you see fit.
Since this is just a basic tutorial about how to add your game, we’re going to leave the rest of the settings as default as well. However, feel free to make adjustments later to improve your recording.
Third-party overlays and transparency features may add some “umph” to your video content…depending on what you’re trying to accomplish. For instance, you can choose to record the Steam overlay.
Click the “OK” button on the bottom of the screen.
Now, OBS is ready to record or stream any game you play.
Moving the Game Source
In reality, the game source should be the first thing you add to a new scene in OBS. It will be your primary backdrop whether you’re streaming live or recording to a saved file.
So, what if you add your game after you’ve already added something like Streamlabs alert box?
When you add a new source, it’s placed on top of any that came before it. This means the alert box is going to be under the game. The result is no one can see the alert box when it activates.
Think of it like this: everything on top of the source list is on top of the stuff below.
To fix this, you just simply need to move the game window down.
Click to select the game source. It will become highlighted.
Click the down arrow on the bottom to move it one space.
In my example, the game window is now below the Ko-fi Alerts window. This means Ko-Fi is no visible on top of the game so viewers can see when I get donations.
You can also drag and drop the source anywhere you wish instead of clicking the up and down arrows.
Move your game to the area you want it in the list of sources. It’s better if you move it to the very bottom as it ensures all of your other sources are visible during a recording or live stream.
Editing the Game Source
What if you decide to make a few modifications after you add your game to OBS? To open the source settings, you can double-click it. Or, select the source and then click the gear icon on the bottom.
This will bring up the same screen as before as you add your game as a source.
Now you can make your adjustments.
How is Game Audio Recorded?
By default, OBS will record the gameplay and use Desktop Audio in the mixer for sound. If you find the sound for the game is too loud, you can adjust the volume by using the slider.
This only affects the recording or live stream itself. The actual volume of the game you hear while playing is unaffected by the volume control in OBS.
For instance, I drop the volume of the game quite a bit in OBS when I live stream to Twitch. This way, viewers can hear me clearly when I speak. The game, however, is still at its original volume in my headset because I like to hear it while I play.
So the game can be as loud as you want in person, but much quieter during the live stream or video recording.
There are plenty of audio settings to go through, which I will cover in another article at a later date.
Will voice apps like Team Speak or Discord be audible when you add your game to OBS?
Not initially. If you only have the game source, no other audio outside of your own microphone is used. This means any chat program you have running is ignored by OBS unless you add it. However, voice apps will be heard if you set them to run through the desktop audio.
If you don’t want viewers to hear your chat or other audio, set those programs to use a different output other than desktop.
For instance, I can set the game and OBS to use desktop audio but Discord runs through my Corsair headset. Because the Corsair is not added as a source, OBS ignores the device.
What if the game is set to use a headset instead of desktop audio?
OBS will use the default sound settings of your computer. If you use desktop audio for one thing and your headset specifically for gaming, you will need to set OBS to record audio from your headset source instead of desktop.
Will OBS work with voice changing software during gameplay?
When I tested the system using Voicemod, OBS worked perfectly. Though, you’ll need to adjust the input so that the voice changing software is picked up correctly. I’ll make a tutorial for voice changing soon.
Knowing How to Add Your Game is the Easy Part
Out of all the things you can do in OBS, I think adding the game is perhaps one of the easiest to learn. All it really takes is a couple clicks of the mouse and you’re ready to go. Next comes the fun stuff, like adding your camera and other nuances you might want in your stream.
If there is something you’d like to learn, let us know in the comments down below. We’re always looking to add more tutorials for OBS.
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In OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software), the capture window allows you to capture what is being displayed on your screen. You can capture the footage from any window on your computer and include it in your stream broadcast.
You could use this to capture the footage from a game during a live playthrough, capture the footage from Photoshop when you’re streaming your work in progress art, or capture the footage from some software as you stream a live tutorial for it.
OBS makes it easy to capture your window and this can all be set up with just a few clicks (click “Add Source” and follow the prompts). However, sometimes OBS breaks, preventing your window from being captured properly or making it so that you can’t see (and confirm) what footage is being broadcast.
Obs For Mac Don't See Games
The OBS capture window black issue isn’t an uncommon problem. Users say that when they’ve tried to capture footage from the Chrome window on their desktop, in OBS, it just shows up as a black screen.
However, it’s not just in Chrome. Some have also said that they have experienced the problem when trying to record or stream footage of their games. The games themselves are running as expected (according to posts about the issue on forums and on social media), but they aren’t showing up properly in OBS.
The issue means that when OBS users go to start streaming on Twitch, there are large black blocks in their broadcasts. A screenshot of the black capture window issue shows how one OBS user ran into the problem when trying to capture footage from a Chrome window, in order to display their Twitch alerts.
If the issue persists then it means that your viewers aren’t able to see what you’re playing, what you’re looking at on Chrome (if that’s part of your stream), and features of your stream that rely upon Chrome Window Capture won’t be available.
You will have to fix the problem and make OBS capture the footage in your windows properly so that you can broadcast professional, good-looking streams.
How to Fix the OBS Capture Window Black Issue
There are several reasons why OBS is unable to run a capture window properly and why the footage from the window is being displayed as black. There are several different ways to fix the issue and we’ve outlined the most common reasons for the issue and the most common fixes here.
How to Fix the OBS Capture Window Black Issue With Chrome
Most people who have come across the OBS capture window issue say that they’ve experienced the problem with Google Chrome. The content of their tabs just refuses to show up and is replaced by a black screen.
The reason for this is something called “hardware acceleration.”
Chrome is a very intensive piece of software and Google uses a feature called hardware acceleration to make the most of your hardware and help Chrome to run properly. Chrome sends most of the graphical tasks to your computer’s GPU. By doing this, it frees up the CPU of your computer to handle other tasks. The GPU is also best equipped for these graphical tasks and should help to boost Chrome’s performance.
However, hardware acceleration may also be why OBS is unable to properly capture what’s being displayed in the Chrome window. Disabling hardware acceleration takes just a handful of clicks.
Click the three horizontal dots in the right-hand corner of Chrome to open the menu
Select “Settings” (it’s towards the bottom of the list)
Scroll down to the bottom of the Settings page and select “Advanced”
Under Advanced, find the category called “System” (it’s near the bottom)
Uncheck “Use hardware acceleration when available”
Once you’ve done this, restart Chrome and restart OBS so that the changes are reflected. Try using window capture on Chrome to see if the issue has been fixed.
How to Fix the OBS Capture Window Black Issue With Games
OBS users may also experience the capture window black issue when trying to capture gameplay footage. There are lots of potential causes for this problem with games, but we’ve listed fixes for the most likely causes below.
Disable Windows 10 Game Mode
When the Windows 10 Creators Update was released in 2017, it added a feature called Game Mode. Game Mode is designed to improve the process of your computer when playing games. Although it is a useful feature, many streamers have reported that it interferes with their broadcasts.
In our guide to streaming Apex Legends, we recommend disabling Game Mode because it can direct GPU resources away from OBS and cause viewer-side sluggishness. Game Mode may also be the reason for the OBS capture window black issue.
To disable Game Mode in Windows 10, you can go into the Settings menu, type “Game Mode” in the search bar, and toggle the feature off. Then, restart your computer to make sure the changes have been performed and OBS will no longer be affected by it.
Capture Footage With Game Capture, Not Window Capture
Another solution that may work, is if you tell OBS to capture the gameplay footage with the Game Capture option, not the Window Capture option. Game Capture is designed for capturing gameplay footage and is recommended.
You’ll also want to put the game in full-screen mode, not windowed or borderless.
Run OBS as an Administrator
Our final suggestion for fixing the OBS capture window black issue is to run OBS as an administrator. Running a program as an administrator in Windows 10 is a standard process.
Just right-click on the OBS icon (or wherever it’s listed in your computer’s files) and select “Run as Administrator.” Follow the prompts to run OBS as an administrator.
How OBS.Live Supercharges Your Streaming
Capturing window footage is just one awesome feature that you get from OBS Studio, but why not take it to the next level? StreamElements OBS.Live is an add-on (not an OBS alternative or a fork) that supercharges your streaming by adding lots of helpful features:
Activity Feed and Chat integrated into OBS
Media Request, to let your viewers suggest YouTube videos to play during your stream
Alerts Management (skip, replay, and mute)
Custom Bot Name
Access all of your favorite StreamElements tools like Tipping, Chat Bot, and more
Legendary Support, 24/7
For more help with streaming or using OBS.Live, message us on social media and join our fun and friendly Discord community. Other StreamElements users are happy to answer your questions and our legendary support team is on hand 24/7 too.
YouTube
Subscribe to our YouTube channel for helpful video tutorials going over the basics, features, and news on upcoming, or new features. StreamElements is always working hard to make streaming better for YOU.