Using Multiple Scenes in OBS Studio: A Deep Dive into Scene Nesting
In our previous video, we explored the importance of utilizing multiple scenes in OBS Studio. As we delved deeper into the world of live production, it became clear that scene nesting is a game-changer for those looking to take their streaming setup to the next level.
Scene Nesting: A Game-Changer for Live Production
One of the most advanced tricks when it comes to OBS Studio is scene nesting. This involves using a scene as a source within another scene. At first glance, this may seem like a silly idea, but trust us, it's super useful. For those high-tier live productions, having a variety of scenes to show and quick, precise switching between them is crucial.
The Elgato Stream Deck: A Powerful Tool for Scene Nesting
One of the most powerful tools when it comes to scene nesting is the Elgato Stream Deck. This device gives you 15 keys with customizable LCD screens behind each one, allowing you to execute macros, application launchers, scene switching, and source muting for OBS all at once. But that's not all – you can also nest folders for even more actions.
The Benefits of Scene Nesting
So, what are the benefits of scene nesting? One of the most significant advantages is that it allows you to get around the annoying issue of sources being "global" and showing any changes you make to them in all scenes. For example, let's say you want to create a layout with gameplay footage full-screen and then overlay a facecam in the top right-hand corner.
Workaround for Sources Being Global
However, there's one problem – when you go to make a full-screen webcam view, it will apply the crop filter to this usage of the webcam as well. This can be frustrating, especially if you've spent time creating a layout that looks perfect. That's where scene nesting comes in.
Creating a "Webcam Nest" Scene
To overcome this issue, we create a "Webcam nest" scene with the full-screen webcam. We then add this scene as a source to our "Gameplay Facecam" scene instead of adding the webcam directly. By doing so, we apply the crop filter only to that specific usage of the webcam, rather than affecting all scenes.
Another Advanced Use of Scene Nesting
Scene nesting isn't just limited to simple layouts and webcam configurations. It can also be used to handle more complex elements like stream alert overlays. Instead of adding individual browser sources, image files, and text reads to each scene to compose our layout, we create a single "Overlays" scene that we can add to each scene we want it on.
Passing Updates to Nested Scenes
By doing so, if we update the "Overlays" scene, any updates are passed to every scene it's nested in, saving us a lot of time. This means we can hide or show our bottom bars, recent follower counts, and other elements with ease.
Hiding Elements with Scene Nesting
Sometimes, we don't want the bottom part of the screen covered. That's where scene nesting comes in handy. By creating separate scenes for our bottom bars and overlays, we can easily hide or show these elements as needed.
Hierarchy of Scenes
So, how does this hierarchy work? We have a main "Overlays" scene that has several nested scenes within it. These include the "Bottom Bars Overlay" scene, which contains our PNG for the bottom bars and three text sources for the text that goes in the bars. We also have other browser sources like Twitch alerts and donation tickers.
Hotkeys and Scene Nesting
One of the best parts about scene nesting is the flexibility it offers when it comes to hotkeys. By assigning individual hotkeys to show or hide these sources based on what we're doing, we can create an alternate layout where our normal webcam view is next to live chat, or our normal gameplay view with overlays is next to someone else's stream view.
Endless Possibilities
The possibilities are endless when it comes to scene nesting. If you're creative enough, the options seem limited only by your imagination. We hope this episode of our OBS Studio tutorial course has been helpful for you. Don't forget to like and subscribe for more awesome tech videos, and follow us on Twitch to drop a message in chat.
Conclusion
Scene nesting is a powerful tool when it comes to OBS Studio. By using multiple scenes within each other, we can create complex layouts with ease, hide or show elements as needed, and save time by passing updates to nested scenes. Whether you're a seasoned streamer or just starting out, scene nesting is definitely worth exploring further. Join us on Patreon to help keep tech education free, and check out our full master class linked in the playlist in the video description.