Open Broadcaster Software, popularly known as OBS Studio, has been one of the most popular choices when it comes to screen recording, and online streaming. OBS Studio serves various purposes that may fit your virtual assistant needs.

The program boasts an easy-to-learn and simple interface that will get you recording in a jiffy! Moreover, OBS studio is free (as it is an open-source software), saving you from the hassles of creating online accounts. In this article, we will help you set up your screen recorder!

1. Download and install OBS

To download the free software, you must visit the website. https://obsproject.com. From there you will be greeted with three buttons that will automatically redirect you to the install link. Be sure to click according to the operating software your computer’s currently running on.

After installing the program, open OBS (as administrator). You are now in face to face with this simple yet slightly intimidating recording software.

Just a quick overview of what is happening on your screen right now. The black screen you see will be where your scenes will be projected. Think of scenes as like different PowerPoint slides you can move from time to time (if you are planning on doing streaming or anything which utilizes a lot of scenes), your source will be the program windows or images on your computer that you wish to project. The audio mixer helps you monitor the levels of your audio inputs –desktop audio for the desktop sounds and Mic/Aux for your microphone inputs.

So, what now?

2. Add a scene

To get you started with your screen recording, first click on the “+” sign on the lower left corner of the Scene bar.

After which, the program will ask you to name your scene:

I named my scene “Screen.” Now you may opt not to follow my naming schemes. You can name your scenes what you want. 

Once done, press “Ok.”

3. Select your source

Now hover your mouse over to the “Sources” tab just beside the Scene and click the “+” button on the lower left. 

After clicking, you will be met with a lot of sources that you may use in your scenes. For virtual assistants, we will only need the “Display Capture” feature.

4. Start recording

After clicking the Window Capture feature, you will encounter the properties window which will let you select the programs your computer or laptop is on. Be sure to put on the programs that need the monitoring. 

From here, you are good to go! To start recording, press the “start recording” button found on the lower right portion of the interface.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

1. To set your recording path (the file where the recording will go), simply click “Settings” on the lower right portion of the interface and go to “Outputs” tab. You can also change the recording quality and format in this tab to your preference.

2. If this program’s too hardware demanding for you (experiencing lags, etc.) I would suggest the other recording programs in the Top 3 Best Free Recording Software article.

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