Streaming from OBS to Arena

Arena supports all major live streaming studio platforms including but not limited to:

• OBS (Open Broadcaster Software)
• Streamlabs Desktop
• StreamYard

For the purpose of this article, we will be using OBS which can be downloaded for free from https://obsproject.com/.

How to Stream from OBS to Arena

1. Copy your Arena Stream Key and Server URL

Go to Arena.TV and log in to your Arena account.

Click on your avatar picture in the upper righthand corner and go to your My Account page.

Click on Streams in the lefthand side menu and then click on My Stream. Use the Copy buttons to copy the Server URL and Stream Key for pasting into OBS. You can view your Stream Key by clicking on the hide/show button.

Note: If this is your first time streaming on Arena and your Stream Key field is blank, please click on the Generate Stream Key button, then you will be able to copy your Stream Key.

2. Add your Arena Stream Key and Server URL to OBS

Open OBS and click on Settings in the righthand side Controls menu.

Click on Stream in the lefthand side menu. Change the Service to Custom and paste your Arena Server URL and Stream Key in to OBS.

3. Configure your Output settings

Click on Output in the lefthand side menu and change the Output Mode to Advanced.

Encoder - We recommend using a hardware encoder instead of a software encoder. If you have a Mac, you should choose Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, you should choose the NVENC. If you have an AMD graphics card you should choose AMF. If you are relying only on your computer’s CPU for encoding you should choose x264.  If you're unsure if you have a hardware encoder and do not have any of the previous options, look for an option similar to "H.264", the "H" indicating a hardware encoder.

Rescale Output - Do not check the box for Rescale Output. 

Rate Control - The encoder you choose will impact which controls are available to you but we recommend using CBR.

Bitrate - The bitrate typically ranges from 3000Kbps-8000Kbps and should be set based on your stream resolution and Internet bandwidth. General recommendations for resolution/fps/bitrate are:

Keyframe Interval - Always set the Keyframe Interval to 2s.

4. Configure your Audio settings

Set your Sample Rate to 48 kHz and your Channels to Stereo for the best overall audio performance.

5. Configure your Video settings

Base (Canvas) Resolution - This is the size of the game or display that you want to capture. For example, if you are playing your game in 1920×1080, then set the Base (Canvas) Resolution to that. If you are only playing at 1280×720, change it to that resolution.

Output (Scaled) Resolution - This is what you want your stream to be at. For example, if you want a 720p stream, you would set it to 1280x720. If you want it to be a 1080p stream, set it to 1920×1080.

FPS - The recommended FPS Values (frames per second) are 30 or 60. Higher frame rates provide a smoother picture but require more processing power to encode the video and more bandwidth to stream it.

Click Apply and/or OK after updating your settings.

6. Create an RTMP Arena

Log in to your Arena account. Click on your avatar picture in the upper righthand corner, then click on your username to go to your Creator Page.

Click on Create an Arena.

Add a Title for your Arena.

Select the RTMP Ingest Mode.

Select Open or Closed Arena Doors. Open doors allow public viewing of your Arena. Closed doors require an invitation to view your Arena.

Click Create.

Click on Enter your Arena.

7. Start Streaming from OBS

Go to OBS and click on Start Streaming in the righthand side Controls menu to push your OBS stream to Arena.

For assistance setting up OBS scenes and sources, please go to https://obsproject.com/kb/.

Questions, Ideas, want to chat? Join us on Discord!

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And as always, Stream Different™