Blended Learning Toolkit
A benjanefitness.com resource for designing blended learning resources
OBS Studio
OBS Studio is an advanced Screencasting tool that is widely used by YouTubing Gamers as it allows the user to combine and brand a number of inputs as desired. If you're struggling with screencast basics then it might be too much but if you've got screencasting nailed and you're looking for something a bit more advanced this might be the tool for you.
The video below is one of my latest videos using OBS and includes an opening scene, a headshot scene, an embedded screencast and an ending. There is also a transition for thinking tasks along the way.
Resources below are a collection of the videos I used to get me to this stage. it took lot's of practice and experimentation but now I feel I can produce good quality interesting videos with no more effort than a regular screencast tool.
Getting Started with OBS Studio: Helpful Resources
Initial OBS tutorial (below) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2HzbY8E4yQ
Filter out background of a google slideset (below) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBR0YjMjW6s
Making presentations with OBS Studio - Good section on sound halfway through - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk7W9ECtpZE
Linking up OBS with Teams - https://www.amandasterner.com/post/how-to-get-a-moving-background-in-a-microsoft-teams-meeting-other-fun-things
Directing your own online classes https://timdams.com/directing-your-own-online-classes/
Learning from online - https://medium.com/@tlowdermilk/running-a-workshop-remotely-part-3-the-learning-9df390425880
Advanced Set-up (with audio mixer) https://medium.com/@tlowdermilk/running-a-workshop-remotely-part-2-the-technology-ab0a2ad11214
Record a skype interview in OBS (within a frame) (below) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g_TLoeNgZxs
Random Tips
OBS Studio offers a great way of setting up a Visualiser which could be used to present live handwritten images/notes from your desk. You can play around with the zoom of the external webcam and also fix the focus to avoid your hand changing it when writing.
Better Sound - A common improvement recommended for Audio quality is to highlight your audio source in the scene > right click > filters > + > then add the Compressor and Noise Supression filters. Stick with the default settings and it will most likely be better than without the filters.
An extract from a blog post...
- to remove low volume noise while you are not speaking, use the noise gate on your mic source
- to duck an audio source while you speak (lower the volume of game audio while you speak), use the "Sidechain/Ducking source" option of the Compressor filter applied on the game audio source and set the mic source in the "Sidechain/Ducking source" option.
- if you're unable to speak with a constant voice, use the compressor filter on your mic source to amplify the parts with a low voice
- to make the signal use the complete volume range, use the expander filter on your mic source
- to avoid clipping of loud parts, use the limiter filter on your mic source
- the usual sequence is noise filter (only required with noisy microphones) -> noise gate -> compressor -> expander -> limiter
Making a Circular Webcam & Other Tricks
A vision only screencast of the circular camera https://youtu.be/jhVf5foIQ8c (Try this link to access the circle file)
Adding the green border to the circle https://youtu.be/IjtRQ_PDic8
It's most likely that doing the above messes up the original camera that you already had in another scene. This video explains how we managed to get two filters on the same camera input - The trick is to create a new scene just for the camera and then use that scene as an output. Mind bowing but not that tricky https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqmzmgevE6Y
Click here to produce an animated gradient border for the screen or the inset cam
Use https://pixlr.com/x/ to make a transparent border for the scene