---
title: 'How to Live Stream with a Green Screen (OBS Tutorial)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=DzS9OxUqu-A'
video_id: 'DzS9OxUqu-A'
date: 2026-07-28
duration_sec: 280
---

# How to Live Stream with a Green Screen (OBS Tutorial)

> Source: [How to Live Stream with a Green Screen (OBS Tutorial)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=DzS9OxUqu-A)

## Summary

This tutorial explains how to live stream with a green screen using OBS, covering setup, lighting, chroma keying, and background integration.

### Key Points

- **Requirements** [00:21] — You need a solid colored background (preferably bright and distinct from clothing), a camera, and video switcher/software with chroma key capability.
- **OBS as Free Option** [00:52] — OBS is free software for Mac/PC; alternatives include Roland V1-HD, Wirecast, or Blackmagic ATEM switchers.
- **Green Screen Setup** [01:13] — Use a portable green screen like Elgato's; proper lighting is crucial for consistent chroma keying.
- **Adding Live Feed in OBS** [01:55] — Connect camera via capture card (e.g., Blackmagic Ultra Studio Mini Recorder), add 'Video Capture Device' in OBS.
- **Background Options** [02:33] — Use static image, PowerPoint feed, or looping video; ensure background is layered below the camera feed.
- **Chroma Key Filter** [03:10] — Right-click camera feed, select 'Filters', add 'Chroma Key' effect; adjust sliders for clean keying.
- **Background Tips** [03:54] — Match lighting and white balance between subject and background; add blur for depth and realism.

### Conclusion

With proper lighting and OBS settings, you can achieve a convincing green screen effect for live streaming. Experiment with adjustments to refine the look.

## Transcript

Today we're going to show you how to go
from this, to this, to this while you're
live streaming.... just just look at them
So, in order to livestream with a green
screen the first thing you'll need is,
well, a green screen background, the
background doesn't actually have to be
green, it just needs to be a solid
preferably bright color that's distinct
from anything you'll be wearing so you
could even do it with a bright red or
blue background you also need a camera
and some kind of video switcher or
software that can "chroma key" your
background that's the technical term for
removing the color in the background and
replacing it with a different image. Now
there's a few different switcher options
for live chroma keying your videos but
in today's setup we'll be showing you
how to do it using OBS which is a free
software that anyone can download for
Mac or PC if you don't want to use OBS
don't worry because you can still do the
same thing using Roland V1-HD, Wirecast,
or any of the Blackmagic ATEM switchers
the process for those is very similar to
what we'll be doing today so let's get
started by setting up the green-screen
and lighting our scene. Today we're using
an elgato green-screen which we love
because it's super portable and it takes
no time to setup once your green screen
is set up you also need to light your
scene properly just setting up the green
screen and putting someone in front of
it won't look so hot when you try to key
out the background trust me I tried that
and it did not work the lighting on the
green screen has to be consistent in
order for your chroma keyer to properly
remove the green color in the background
lighting your scene properly can vary
depending on your setup but we found B&H's tutorial to be super helpful
while we were learning ourselves you can
check out their video in the description
Ok, so once your lighting is right and
your subject is framed up you can head
into OBS and add your live feed. In order
to connect our camera to our laptop
we're using Blackmagic Design's ultra
studio mini recorder this is a capture
card that converts your HDMI or SDI
signal to Thunderbolt and allows your
computer to ingest the live feed, now
that we've connected our camera to the
laptop we can add our live feed in OBS
by clicking here and selecting video
capture device you'll see the Ultra
Studio mini recorder shows up here and
if you just wanted to use your laptop's
camera for this you could select that
here now we can add a background in, here you have a few options depending on what
you're looking to do
you can use a static image, you can use
a PowerPoint feed if you're streaming
an online class or tutorial of some sort,
or a simple looping video if you just
need to place your subject somewhere
else, today we'll just be using a simple
looping video of the first floor of our
office which we can do by adding a media
source, selecting the file on our
computer, and checking loop
oh and once you've added your background
make sure it's layered below your live
video feed. Now for the last part, the
chroma key itself, simply right-click
your camera feed and select filter go
down to effect filters and select chroma
key once you've created the effect you
should see your subject appear without
the background now the default settings
do a pretty good job if everything is
lit correctly but you're still gonna
have to go in and make adjustments using
these sliders to clean it up this is
gonna take a bit of refining to get it
exactly how you want it to look and
which settings you adjust
will just depend on your specific
lighting and background setup now we
weren't able to get ours to look pixel
perfect but with some tweaking it looked
a lot better once you're happy with how
everything looks you can adjust the size
of your subject and position them
wherever it makes the most sense for
your scene if you're adding a looping
video in the background I would highly
recommend a couple of things: 1- that
the background you're adding has the
same lighting and white balance
conditions as your subject otherwise the
whole picture is going to look weird
and 2- that you add a little blur to
your background so there's depth in the
image which will help make it look a
little more realistic. So that's how it
works! You can check out all the gear we
use today in the description below and
if you have any questions about green
screening or anything else
live-streaming related you can let me
know in the comments below or reach me
anytime at techtips@boxcast.com
Thanks for watching and happy streaming!