Spout Plugin for OBS Studio

A plugin integrating Spout zero latency video sharing to/ from OBS Studio

Last updated 4 days ago

Overview

Spout is a protocol which allows you to share a video texture being rendered on your GPU between two (or more) software programs running on the same machine.

This means that it doesn’t require encoding, and so has zero-latency (max 1 frame), compression and CPU overhead.

Spout is supported by a wide range of creative software like Unreal Engine, Unity, TouchDesigner, Resolume, MadMapper, LightAct, Assimilate FX etc.

The Spout plugin for OBS Studio supports 8bit color with alpha channel.

Installation

Installer

  1. Please ensure that all versions of OBS Studio on your machine are closed.

  2. Go to the plugin Releases Page:

  3. Download the Windows Installer for your version of OBS Studio.

  4. Double-click the downloaded Installer and select Run Anyway:

  5. Run the Installer widget:

  6. Agree to the open-source License [(GNU GPL)]:

  7. Select the OBS Studio directory if not the default install location:

  8. Now when you open OBS you should see Spout2 Capture in your Sources list which you use for inputting Spout videos to OBS:

  9. You should also see Spout Filter in your Filters list which you use for outputting Spout video feeds from OBS:

Zip Installation

  1. Please ensure that all versions of OBS Studio on your machine are closed.

  2. Go to the plugin Releases Page and download the zip file:

  3. Double click the zip folder and inside copy the win-spout folder:

  4. Go to where your OBS Studio repo is located, this is normally in C Drive and paste into C:\ProgramData\obs-studio\plugins:

  5. Now when you start OBS, you should see Spout installed in your Sources options.

Usage

Receiving in OBS

  1. Ensure your Spout Sender is active in your sender software.

  2. In OBS, click the + button in Sources and select Spout2 Capture:

  3. In the window that opens you should automatically see your Spout Sender. If you have more than one, you can use the drop down to select between them:

  4. If you are sending alpha channel, ensure that premultipled alpha is selected in your Composite mode:

Sending from OBS

  • There are two ways to send, via a Filter and using Tools.

  • A filter is recommended because it allows you to send any OBS source as an individual layer and it supports alpha channel output, which allows you to add a chromakey in OBS.

  • If you want to send your whole OBS Canvas then Tools is best.

Filter

  1. Click on the OBS Source you want to send from so it is highlighted blue and then click the Filters button:

  2. In the window that opens click the + button in Effect Filters and select Spout Filter:

  3. Add a name if you need and your Spout output will now be active:

  4. In your received software, you should now see the Spout input (if not, select it from the drop down in your Spout settings):

Tools

  1. In your OBS toolbar go to Tools> Spout Output Settings:

  2. Click AutoStart if you want Spout to always output when you open OBS. Otherwise just tick Start to begin sending your Canvas via Spout (your output will continue to send until you press Stop):

  3. In your receiver software, you should now see the Spout input (if not, select it from the drop down in your Spout settings):

Trouble-Shooting

Spout has a Demo Sender/ Receiver which can be very helpful when debugging your issues which can be downloaded here.

Black Texture

The most common problem is when your Sender/ Receiver can be selected but the texture shows as black. To resolve this:

  • Download the demo Spout sender/ receiver here to see whether it is the Sender program or the Receiver program that is not working with Spout.

  • Ensure that Unreal Engine and your other program are running on the same GPU (this is an issue with some laptops). To deal with this:

    1. Check Windows Task Manager to see which GPU your programs are running on - guide here

    2. Use the guide here to force your program to use a specific GPU.

  • Ensure that the programs you are sharing between are also in High Performance mode if your computer has any performance throttling (this can be common on laptops).

  • For outputs to OBS on certain laptops you may also need to change your OBS settings here.

Clashes with other OBS Plugins

  • Certain OBS Studio plugins like prprlive can clash with Spout.

  • Uninstall them and then try Spout again if you have an issue.