How To Make Video Tutorials for YouTube – OBS Screen Recorder 2019

Want to record your desktop and make video tutorials for YouTube? In this video tutorial, I show you how I record my screen in full HD with OBS Studio, step by step.

OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is free and open-source software for video recording and live streaming. You can record your screen, record yourself with a webcam, or stream live, for example on Facebook. I even use it to stream an online TV station. In my opinion, it is the best free screen recorder for full HD quality.

Download OBS

In this article

1. Step 1: Download and Install OBS Studio
2. Step 2: Create a Scene
3. Step 3: Add Your Screen as a Source
4. Step 4: Set Up Your Microphone
5. Step 5: Set the Video Resolution
6. Step 6: Choose the Recording Settings
7. Step 7: Start Recording
8. OBS Studio Features

Step 1: Download and Install OBS Studio

1. Go to obsproject.com (or use the button above) and download OBS Studio for Windows.
2. Run the installer and click Next until the installation is finished.
3. Open OBS Studio.

Step 2: Create a Scene

1. In the Scenes box at the bottom left, click the + button.
2. Give the scene a name, for example Screen recorder, and click OK.

Step 3: Add Your Screen as a Source

1. In the Sources box, click + and choose Display Capture.
2. Click OK.
3. Choose the display you want to record. If you have two monitors, select the one you use for your tutorials, then click OK.

Step 4: Set Up Your Microphone

Look at the Audio Mixer. Your microphone normally appears there as Mic/Aux. Speak and check that the level bar moves.

If you don’t see any microphone in the Audio Mixer:

1. In the Sources box, click + and choose Audio Input Capture.
2. Click OK, select your microphone or line-in device (for example High Definition Audio Device) and click OK.

Warning: Only keep one active input for your microphone. If both Mic/Aux and Audio Input Capture record the same microphone, your voice is recorded twice and sounds robotic. Mute all the other inputs in the Audio Mixer.

Step 5: Set the Video Resolution

1. Click Settings (bottom right) and open the Video tab.
2. Set the Base (Canvas) Resolution to the best resolution your screen supports.
3. Set the Output (Scaled) Resolution to the highest option, the same as your screen.
4. Leave the other options at their default values.

Step 6: Choose the Recording Settings

1. Open the Output tab and change Output Mode from Simple to Advanced.
2. Open the Recording tab and set Type to Custom Output (FFmpeg).
3. Set Container Format to mp4.
4. Set Video Bitrate to 10000 Kbps and keep the default video encoder (libx264).
5. Set Audio Bitrate to 160 Kbps and keep the default audio encoder (AAC).
6. Click OK.

Note: Menu names can differ slightly in newer versions of OBS Studio.

Tip: If OBS or your PC crashes while recording to MP4, the file can become unreadable. That is why many people record in MKV and convert the file afterwards with File > Remux Recordings.

Step 7: Start Recording

1. Click Start Recording.
2. Do your tutorial on screen.
3. Click Stop Recording when you are done.

By default, OBS saves your recordings in your Videos folder. You can also open the folder from File > Show Recordings.

OBS Studio Features

• High-performance, real-time video and audio capturing and mixing. Create scenes made up of multiple sources, including window captures, images, text, browser windows, webcams, capture cards and more.
• Set up an unlimited number of scenes and switch between them smoothly with custom transitions.
• Intuitive audio mixer with per-source filters such as noise gate, noise suppression and gain. Take full control with VST plugin support.
• Powerful and easy-to-use configuration options. Add new sources, duplicate existing ones, and adjust their properties easily.
• A streamlined Settings panel gives you access to a wide range of options to tweak every aspect of your broadcast or recording.
• The modular “Dock” interface lets you rearrange the layout exactly as you like. You can even pop out each Dock into its own window.

Ready to go live? See how to live stream on multiple platforms with OBS for free. To check which video formats your graphics card can encode, see the NVIDIA NVENC GPU support matrix.