Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

1 

“All the world’s a stage” – the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) as enabling 

technology to overcome restrictions in online teaching 

Gerhard Kristandl 

University of Greenwich, UK 

 

 

Abstract 

The Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio is free software that enables tutors to 

overcome the restrictions typical of video-conferencing software like MS Teams or Zoom. 

This paper develops from a real-life situation where the pandemic-induced move to online 

teaching has put severe restrictions on otherwise engaging teaching and student activities – 

specifically role-plays and use of props – hitherto run in the classroom. The goal is to 

demonstrate how OBS Studio was set up and employed to overcome this situation. In doing 

so, the paper offers, against this background, a simple set-up tutorial for two scenes to show 

that using OBS Studio is straightforward and intuitive. 

 

Introduction 

When William Shakespeare had melancholy Jaques exclaim in As You Like It that “All the 

world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players”, he likened human beings to 

actors on the stage of life. As we ‘act out’ our lives (to stay in that perspective) and assume 

many roles, so do we learn, not just by sitting and listening, but by doing, as “action begets 

learning” (Alkin and Christie, 2002, p.210; Cavaliere and Sgroi, 1992, p.7). It may be a long 

way from Shakespeare’s past to our current present and future, but as COVID-19 removed 

us from the classroom stage and put us firmly in front of a computer screen, most of our 

‘stage of life’ moved online in turn. More often with dread and anxiety than optimism and 

hope (Sycamore, 2020), many of us sat in front of that ever-watching webcam and MS 

Teams/Zoom platform, trying to figure out how this ‘online teaching stuff’ actually works. Or, 

to pursue the bard’s own metaphor, how can we make this new ‘online stage’ work for our 

teaching and our students’ learning? How can we overcome the restrictions imposed by the 

technology that seemingly limits or even obstructs what we would typically do in the 

classroom to engage our students? 

The purpose of this case study is to present the Open Broadcaster Studio (OBS) software as 

an enabling technology that can help address the questions above. In the remainder of this 

paper, I shall show how OBS can help to overcome the tight technological restrictions of 

typical video-conferencing software in terms of screen layout and design. I shall demonstrate 

this against the backdrop of a specific situation I was facing in terms of moving a student-

engaging classroom activity – role-playing – to online. 

The situation 

Technology might be either restrictive or enabling, but a mere screenshare functionality and 

a face below it in video-conferencing software like MS Teams or Zoom felt restrictive in 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

2 

terms of what we could show to our students and do with them (remember that it took a 

considerably long time for the much desired breakout-room functionality to finally become a 

feature in MS Teams). ‘Natural’ did not come to mind – a tight technological corset with little 

control over the instruments and aesthetics. This was especially true for many of my classes 

where, under regular circumstances, we would perform a lot of role-playing, often supported 

by the use of such props as poker chips to mimic products or cash, teddy bears and flags to 

convey the concepts behind business process capabilities or Lego bricks to demonstrate the 

difference between data and information. Over the course of my long career as a teacher, I 

learned to hold such role-playing activities in high esteem owing to their potential to have a 

lasting impact on student learning (Rao and Stupans, 2012). I define ‘role-playing’ in this 

context as assuming/acting out various positions and perspectives in pre-defined scenarios 

to encourage learning both interactively (from application) and passively (from observation of 

others, as Rao and Stupans, 2012, Lauber, 2007, Baruch, 2006 and Eitington, 2001 likewise 

believe). In this definition – inspired by Baruch’s (2006) inclusion of drama in role-play 

teaching – I include the stage props I’ve referred to already as a dramatic element to add 

realism and tangibility to my scenarios. 

It is straightforward to imagine such role-plays being acted out in an actual classroom in front 

of and with students. But what about the digital ‘stage’ of a video-conferencing platform? Of 

course, we can try to do as many of these things as possible in front of one webcam – that 

may as well be the one built into that laptop the online teacher is cramped over during 

sessions (both live and recorded). We can hold up props to the camera, or – if the tutor is 

tech-equipped enough – move an external webcam around. However, this seems not very 

practical and rather distracting in the moment. Certainly, to me at the outset, it appeared that 

the alternative was a dim one: having to give up my popular role-playing intermissions and 

props – the very things that tended to stick in students’ heads long after they graduated.  

Abandoning these in-class role-playing games in favour of ‘traditional’ teaching from the front 

(and now … to a camera!) was a big ask and seemed a few pedagogical steps backwards. I 

needed an alternative – an instrument enabling me to keep my role-playing, even in a 

digitally adapted form. That would entail a change of perspective: from the ‘view from the 

front’ to one more suitable to my purposes. In particular, I wanted to create a view similar to 

that of a visualizer in a regular classroom, where an overhead view of the person presenting 

would show the desktop as a stage for demonstrations or games and as visual base for role-

playing online in the absence of a physical in-class presence. At the same time, I wanted the 

students still to see me ‘performing’ – reactions, facial expressions and gestures included – 

to mimic the in-class experience as closely as possible. 

Use of such a perspective is not unheard of and can be observed in many videos distributed 

by online content creators on platforms like YouTube (a video distribution platform) and 

Twitch (a live-gaming channel platform) where video-in-video and overhead shots are 

commonplace. These views often show presenters ‘doing’ something with their hands (e.g., 

repairs, unboxing of new smartphones, drawing) and provide an ‘over-the-shoulder’ angle for 

the audience to feel physically present. The software that enables these content creators to 

achieve this effect is the Open Broadcaster Software (OBS) Studio, where the change in 

perspective could be employed to evoke in students that feeling of being physically involved 

in the role play, even though they are not because it’s online. 

 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

3 

Implementation 

‘Tangibility’ of the learning experience is key to running successful role plays and games in a 

classroom. For the online context, this means evoking tangibility by means of props (toy 

figurines) that can be moved around to help develop the concept of internal controls and 

segregation of duties, following a scenario from a paper by Groff (1989). In my case, the 

students who participate in this role play are Year 2 (level 5) Accounting Information 

Systems (AIS) students studying on an Accounting and Finance (BAAF) or Accounting and 

Financial Information Systems (AFIS) programme. I run the game half-way into term 1, at a 

stage when students have had an introduction to various types of employee and 

management fraud and segregation of duties, an internal control concept that can be difficult 

to grasp but is pivotal in preventing a wide range of fraud schemes that may threaten the 

business and its processes. In brief, the segregation of duties ensures that no single 

employee should be able to perform several steps in a process that entails physical custody 

of an asset, keep records for the asset and have authorisation to approve transactions and 

decisions regarding the asset (Romney et al., 2021). If these duties are only partially or not 

at all separated and assigned to different people, roles, departments (or similar), then there 

is a risk that individuals could engage in fraudulent activities (e.g., theft, larceny, lapping, 

embezzlement, etc.). It is a crucial learning outcome that students not only understand the 

concept per se, but understand how the absence of internal controls, even partially, may 

pose a considerable financial risk to an organisation. However, as students at this stage of 

their studies do not have much exposure to business process thinking or risk to business 

processes by fraudulent activities, they tend to struggle with this, a concept that has 

relevance to and is of significance in most other AIS topics. When I realised that in-class 

teaching would no longer be possible, I had therefore to exert the utmost effort to ensure that 

this crucial learning outcome was not compromised. 

The game itself focuses on a fraudulent manager whose intention is to steal products from 

her/his company, from the warehouse where the manager is located. The students are not 

instructed before the actual session except for the fraudster – played by a student – about a 

week before class. Just as a company may be unprepared for fraud occurring, so is the rest 

of the class – thrown into the role-play unawares. Figure 1 below shows the basic process: 

 

Figure 1. Basic process (Round 1) 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

4 

Over three rounds, the manager attempts to steal goods and falsifies records to avoid 

detection. 

Basic process: Three students are randomly named customers and given purchase orders 

(POs) with pre-defined quantity and price printed on them. Each customer approaches the 

manager, who checks the PO, processes it into a sales order (SO) and checks whether 

there is enough in stock. If the order can be fulfilled from current stock, the customer is 

handed the number of products ordered (represented by poker chips; see also figure 2). If 

the manager cannot fulfil the order, s/he authorises the re-supply order that the supplier 

(typically played by the tutor) fulfils in turn. The manager returns with the items and fulfils the 

customer’s sales order and the process ends. 

In each round, the manager attempts to steal a portion of the items procured from the 

supplier and allocates the total purchase cost to the items s/he officially records as 

purchased. The remaining students keep a tally of revenue and cost of goods sold, as well 

as inventory levels based on the transaction they observe (the ‘true’ figures). All figures 

(sales prices, quantities, purchase prices, etc.) are called out loud to enable students to 

calculate the true figures. A round ends when all three sales orders are fulfilled. At the end of 

each round, students report the figures they calculated. The manager writes their figures 

(profit, closing stock) on a piece of paper and hands it to the reporting official (not shown in 

the flowchart in figure 1). The reporting official (another student or the tutor) reads out the 

figures reported by the manager – unsurprisingly, these figures will differ (lower profit, lower 

closing stock) from the ‘true’ figures the remaining students observe. Each round will see 

changes to the duties that ought to be segregated: 

Round 1: This corresponds to the basic process as described above. In this round, the 

manager holds all duties in her/his hand – physical custody of the asset, authorisation to 

purchase re-supply and record keeping. The manager is able to steal without detection. This 

scenario is devoid of any internal controls. 

Round 2: In this round, a student will be randomly selected to be the accountant who takes 

over the record-keeping duty. Physical custody of the asset and authorisation to purchase 

re-supply remains with the fraudulent manager. As the accountant is not privy to the 

transaction itself, s/he can only rely on the figures reported by the manager, who can 

continue to steal items and allocate the costs to the remaining items. When compared, profit 

figures and closing stock again differ between figures reported by the accountant and figures 

the students calculate based on their observations. This corresponds to a partial 

implementation of internal controls. 

Round 3: In the last round, a procurement manager is introduced, who authorises (or 

rejects) purchase requisitions issued by the fraudulent manager and turns them into 

purchase orders. Without this authorisation, the supplier cannot hand over the items required 

to fulfil the customers’ orders. As such, it has become impossible for the fraudster to steal 

inventory or hide the cost. 

Because of the tangible experience and direct involvement of the entire class in the role 

play, students experience first-hand the concept of internal controls and how their absence 

or presence can affect the degree of vulnerability of the system. As the fraud unfolds (for 

they can observe and catch the manager in the act), they start to develop an understanding 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

5 

of the fraud scheme and how internal controls act as preventive and detective 

countermeasures against it. In a way, everybody except the fraudster also acts as an 

auditing observer. They need to calculate the correct profit and closing stock and determine 

how the fraud happened. On stage, there unfolds not a Whodunnit, but a Howdunnit. 

The OBS set-up (procedure described in appendix A) supports the delivery of the role-play 

to the students, using figurines as tangible stand-ins and schematics on a board (figure 2). 

 

Figure 2. The set-up for the internal controls game via overhead cam 

The scenes set up in OBS featured an overhead view, flipped so that the students were put 

in such a position as enabled them to look over my shoulder (the ‘watch somebody doing 

something’ view I’ve already referred to). To achieve this, I installed a second web cam and 

positioned it above the desk at an adequate distance. I happen to have the luxury of a shelf 

behind my computer screens, but without this advantage, a clamp and bendy holder for web 

cams may be attached to the computer screen). 

For visual cues, I drew a board that indicated what roles the figurines represented in the 

role-play – as figure 2 shows, there are the three customers, the fraudulent manager and a 

supplier. When first the accountant and then the procurement manager entered the stage, 

additional figurines were added to the view. As I went through each step in each round of the 

play, explaining what was happening in real time, students were able to follow the events on 

screen through this overhead view and communicated, either via microphone or chat, with 

one another and me. A second view (not shown here) featured the same overhead view as 

seen in figure 2, but with me as a ‘talking head’ in the bottom left corner, allowing me to 

come in between rounds to discuss with students the events of the preceding round. 

Did it work? - Making in-class role-plays work as desk-cam plays 

Using this set-up had clear advantages, as students, in lieu of ‘acting’ on the stage 

themselves in a classroom, could refer to the figurines as stand-ins and actors on their 

behalf (the ‘drama’, as Baruch, 2006, puts it). This set-up allowed them to observe the 

events being played out as a desk-play as well as the reactions of other students in the chat 

(learning passively from observation) and still actively participate by taking the perspective of 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

6 

customers, accountants, procurement managers, or suppliers (learning interactively). This 

observation is fully in line with Rao and Stupans (2012), Lauber (2007), Baruch (2006) and 

Eitington, 2001): in their assumed role as auditing observers especially, they assumed both 

passive and interactive positions across the three rounds. Dramatic elements and equal 

opportunities to learn passively and interactively created a tangible experience, despite them 

taking place online, as action indeed begot learning (Alkin and Christie, 2002; Cavaliere and 

Sgroi, 1992). This pulled students in and had a similar effect to that of the in-class role plays 

before. 

Linked to the ‘learning by doing’ nature of role-plays (Alkin and Christie, 2002; Cavaliere and 

Sgroi, 1992), the students experienced a learning curve throughout the play – the first round 

with its basic set-up and small number of roles allowed students to learn the game play 

mechanics. By calculating basic accounting figures (revenues, cost of goods sold, profit, 

opening and closing stock), students could apply previous knowledge from their 

programmes. In each additional round, students gained more confidence in their 

understanding of the process, as complexities were gradually added. As such, there was no 

discernible difference in the online version from the same role-play performed in the 

classroom. If anything, the online delivery, with its focus on an auditing experience, enabled 

students to achieve the learning outcomes quicker than in class, where at times the 

distinctions between the roles were at times overlapping: for example, students who played 

the customers also needed to be auditors. This clearer distinction of the roles and which 

individuals are playing them is a great takeaway from the online performance. 

From my perspective as a lecturer and host of the role-play, the online delivery enabled by 

OBS allowed a much better focus on a smooth delivery of the process. The need to focus 

even more on the roles and the process led to a highly satisfactory session. Student 

feedback during and after the session was extremely encouraging, as figure 3 shows:  

 

 

Figure 3. Student feedback in teams during the session 

 

It appealed to this age group, owing to their familiarity with this type of media (Headleand, 

2019), but, most importantly, it was fun for all involved. Based on that experience, I 

consequently put all my in-class role plays and games online, using my overhead cam 

enabled by OBS. 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

7 

Limitations 

New technologies can be daunting at any point. The overwhelming wave of software and 

hardware considerations, alongside the plethora of training and how-to sessions after our 

teaching moved online, put an incredible amount of pressure on all of us. OBS Studio, used 

purely as virtual camera feed into video-conferencing software, as described above, does 

demand some basic system requirements (see above), but it can be reasonably run next to 

the MS Teams or Zoom if the computer is not too old or under-specified. When OBS Studio 

is used for direct streaming and/or recording, the system resources are much more taxed 

because of the video encoding requirements. For example, I had many issues when running 

OBS next to MS Teams with my four-year-old laptop with 8GB RAM, even with a quicker 

solid-state drive (SSD) installed. However, as it is a free software, tutors can quickly find out 

if their computer can, or cannot, run OBS Studio without issues. I recommend investment in 

a strong graphics card with a corresponding graphical processing unit (GPU) that enables 

hardware encoding, as well as good-quality microphones and additional webcams. I also 

suggest – especially for tutors new to the basics of video production and scene layout – 

adequate help and training in the use of software like OBS, which might otherwise be a 

daunting and even off-putting experience. 

Conclusions 

What can other tutors take away from this? This paper aimed to establish OBS Studio as an 

enabling technology to overcome restrictions otherwise imposed by video-conferencing 

software used in teaching. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the move to hybrid and 

full online teaching and has caught out tutors who have found themselves no longer able to 

apply such engaging classroom activities as role-playing, a learning activity that fosters 

interactive and passive acquisition of knowledge (Rao and Stupans, 2012). As the case 

study demonstrates, such activities can still be made to work and achieve their purpose by 

using the right enabling technology. I found OBS Studio a very useful tool that enabled me to 

take full control over what I can show my students on screen, down to a very granular level if 

so required. This case study highlights the set-up of a visualizer-styled overhead camera 

(the ‘desk-cam’) that can easily be switched to and from other scenes. Student feedback 

generally supported the impression that the possibilities of this free software helped 

generate a variety of ‘stages’ on which the tutor can break free from the restrictions of full-

frontal cam teaching, especially useful in an activity like a role-play, where observation and 

interactivity are key. OBS is easy to set up initially and a basic layout (such as shown in 

appendix A) with a second webcam does not constitute a prohibitive barrier. 

Of course, running OBS Studio may be demanding on the system requirements that the 

individual tutor might not be able to meet at home. While using OBS Studio as a virtual 

camera does not place an overly heavy burden on the computer’s CPU, GPU and memory, 

the workload does increase considerably should the tutor wish to expand using OBS towards 

direct live-streaming and/or direct recording. Added investment in peripheries, such as high-

quality microphones and webcams, might also be required but, given their added value, 

these may find financial support from the institution. 

Future research could focus on a wider range of different learning situations both online and 

in the classroom to evaluate its full impact yet further, but also possible limitations to be 

factored into future applications. 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

8 

Reference list 

Alkin, M.C. and Christie, C.A. (2002) ‘The Use of Role-Play in Teaching Evaluation.’ 

American Journal of Evaluation. 23(2), 209-218. Available at:  

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F109821400202300210 (Accessed: 25 January 2021). 

Baruch, Y. (2006) ‘Role-play Teaching: Acting in the Classroom.’ Management Learning, 

37(1), 43-61. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507606060980 (Accessed: 25 

January 2021). 

Cavaliere, L. and Sgroi, A. (1992) ‘Active learning: Perspectives on learning that leads to 

personal development and social change.’ New Direction for Adult and Continuing 

Education, 53, 5-10. Available at:  

https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-1526-

1rttkpx.pdf (Accessed: 18 March 2021). 

Eitington, J.E. (2001) The winning trainer winning ways to involve people in learning. 4th ed. 

Boston, MA: Butterworth Heinemann. ISBN: 978-0750674232 

Groff, J.E. (1989) ‘A Game To Introduce Accounting Information Systems Students To 

Certain Internal Control Concepts.’ Developments in Business Simulation & Experiential 

Exercises, 16, 165-168. Available at:  

https://journals.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/1887 (Accessed: 18 March 2021). 

Headleand, C. (2019) ‘Streaming with Students.’ Manual. University of Lincoln. Available at: 

https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/44688/  (Accessed: 15 June 2021).  

Lauber, L. (2007) ‘Role-play: Principles to increase effectiveness.’ In: Silberman, M.L. (ed.) 

The Handbook of Experiential Learning. San Francisco, CA: Wiley, 185-201. ISBN: 978-

0470117392 

Rao, D. and Stupans, I. (2012) ‘Exploring the potential of role play in higher education: 

development of a typology and teacher guidelines.’ Innovations in Education and Teaching 

International, 49(4), 427-436. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879 

(Accessed: 15 February 2021). 

Romney, M.B., Steinbart, P.J., Summers, S.L. and Wood, D.A. (2021) Accounting 

Information Systems. 15th ed. Harlow: Pearson. ISBN: 978-0135573006. 

Sande, S. (2020) ‘Video Production with OBS: What it is and why you should use it.’ [Blog] 

Rocket Yard. Available at: https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-with-

obs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/ (Accessed: 15 March 2020). 

Sycamore, R. (2020) ‘Anxiety during COVID-19.’ Journal of Paramedic Practice, 12(6), 247-

247. Available at https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2020.12.6.247 (Accessed: 15 Feb 2020). 

  

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F109821400202300210
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1350507606060980
https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-1526-1rttkpx.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/download/47016690/ace.3671992530320160704-1526-1rttkpx.pdf
https://journals.tdl.org/absel/index.php/absel/article/view/1887
https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/44688/
https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2012.728879
https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-with-obs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/
https://eshop.macsales.com/blog/62755-video-production-with-obs-what-it-is-and-why-you-should-use-it/
https://doi.org/10.12968/jpar.2020.12.6.247


Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

9 

Appendix A 

OBS is a free open-source software that enables live video production 

(https://obsproject.com). It is used by online content creators for both live-streaming and 

recorded videos and is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. It allows 

for the creation and management of a variety of screen layouts (so-called ‘scenes’) where 

the presenter has full control over source/s, size, and location of its elements on screen. To 

start understanding how OBS can be used in conjunction with video-conferencing software 

like Microsoft Teams or Zoom, or recording software like Panopto, I will demonstrate how to 

set up two simple scenes, a shared-screen one both with me as a talking head in a bottom 

left corner and an overhead-cam one. 

1. Technical requirements 

2. Download and set-up OBS 

3. Screen components – overview 

4. Scenes and Sources 

5. Controls: start streaming, start recording, start virtual camera, studio mode, settings, 

exit. Use virtual camera to use for streaming or recording in MS Teams and/or Panopto 

 

1. Technical requirements 

For OBS to run smoothly, there are some basic requirements 

(https://obsproject.com/wiki/System-Requirements) that will enable it to start without errors: 

 

Windows macOS Linux/Unix 

DirectX 10.1 compatible 

GPU 

Windows 8 / 8.1 / 10 

Intel CPU (PPC is not 

supported) 

OpenGL 3.3 compatible 

GPU 

macOS High Sierra (10.13) 

or later 

OpenGL 3.3 compatible 

GPU 

X window system 

Table A1. OBS system requirements 

Further technical requirements are very much dependent on what exactly a tutor wants to do 

and show and would require a closer look at hardware encoders. For the three scenes we 

are about to set up, a basic modern laptop should be sufficient, but this may vary 

individually. Most issues with OBS streaming and recording quality stem from Central 

processing CPUs, GPUs, and RAM that are too weak to process the video quality. As an in-

depth discussion of the software’s technical requirements is outside the scope of this paper, 

please consult the link above to learn more about hardware encoding. 

  

  

https://obsproject.com/download
https://obsproject.com/wiki/System-Requirements


Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

10 

2. Download OBS and use the auto-configuration wizard 

Downloading OBS from https://obsproject.com/download is straightforward and available for 

the most-used operating systems Windows, macOS, and Linux/Unix. Straight after 

installation, an auto-configuration wizard window will pop up and ask what the program’s 

intended use is (figure A1).  

 

  

 

Figure A1: OBS Auto-Configuration Wizard – virtual camera selection and suggested 

settings 

In the context of this article, we will focus on using it as a virtual camera, as we want to feed 

this into another application (MS Teams, Zoom, or Panopto). Selecting ‘Next’ will show the 

final results of the OBS system test which may differ between computers. You can change 

these settings later (see later in this article), but as you get acquainted with OBS, there will 

not be a need to at this stage. The suggested resolutions come from the monitor/s in use, 

and the FPS (frames-per-second) are more than sufficient for the virtual camera. Selecting 

‘Apply Settings’ will complete the wizard. 

 

3. Screen components – overview 

Next, a base OBS screen will open. Figure A2 and table A2 below highlight and explain 

these initial components: 

https://obsproject.com/download


Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

11 

 

Figure A2. Initial screen of OBS Studio without scenes or sources set 

 

Screen component Purpose 

Screen preview/canvas The preview window where the screen 

layout can be arranged as required. 

Scenes Contain specific layouts and enable 

switching between scenes to transition 

between layouts. 

Sources Define what is to be captured inside a given 

scene. This can be anything from web 

cams, images, text, active windows, 

displays, microphones, etc. 

Audio mixer Offers control over the audio captured via 

microphones and/or desktop. 

Scene transitions Transitional effects when switching 

between scenes (e.g., fade, cut, swipe, 

slide). 

Controls Buttons to start streaming, recording, virtual 

camera, studio mode, settings, or exit OBS. 

Table A2: OBS screen components and their purpose 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

12 

As the beginning OBS user will get more acquainted with these components, s/he will 

experience the wide range of options to change their appearances and uses. Free add-on 

programs and plug-ins add extra-components to OBS – examples are closed captioning 

(using Google AI), special effects for sources, remote-controls for scene transitions and 

many more. However, for the purpose of this paper, we will be able to work with what came 

in the initial installation package. 

4. Scenes and sources 

Scenes and sources are the bread and butter of OBS and will help to set up an overhead 

visualiser view on the presenter. Selecting the ‘+’ sign on the bottom left adds a new scene. 

Figure A3 shows the addition of the ‘Overhead Cam’ scene. 

 

Figure A3. Adding a scene in OBS 

Selecting the scene titled ‘Presenter Screen’ allows the addition of various types of sources 

by selecting ‘+’ in the Sources window, as figure A3 shows. The variety of sources allows for 

the addition of audio, web browsers, displays, images or specific windows currently open on 

the computer (figure A4). 

 

Figure A4. Selection of potential sources for the Presenter Screen scene 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

13 

Adding a Display Capture source allows the presenter to use her/his main screen (often the 

only screen) to become the ‘Shared Screen’ to show e.g., slides, documents, images – 

anything that can be shown on the main monitor. After selecting ‘OK’, the corresponding 

display can be selected and confirmed. 

The face cam can now be inserted as a Video Capture Device source to add the talking-

head feature often seen in tutorial videos. Selecting the main cam (provided there is a 

second one for the overhead cam later) will insert the Face Cam (figure A5). 

 

 

Figure A5. Adding the Face Cam as a source and its suggested properties 

The rearranging of the two sources (face cam and main screen capture) can be achieved by  

 

Figure A6. Adapting the scene using handlers 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

14 

To crop out parts of the face cam view, it is necessary to hold down the Alt key while using 

the red handlers accordingly. A bit of trial and error at this stage may lead to a layout like the 

one shown in figure A7. It needs to be noted that I have added a so-called Chroma Key filter 

to my face cam, which, together with a green screen in my home office, allows me to blend 

in with the background. This is not a necessity, however, and is outside the scope of this 

article. 

 

Figure A7. Talking head feature over main screen 

The layout of the Overhead Cam scene can be designed in a similar fashion and requires 

another Video Capture Device source. A second webcam mounted above the desk (in my 

case) or above any other suitable surface will achieve that effect. However, as the first part 

of figure A8 below shows, this looks off in my case owing to the way the overhead cam is 

mounted on a shelf atop my desk. To achieve that ‘over-the-shoulder’ view rather than the 

‘from-the-front-and-top’ one, the view has to be modified (‘transformed’) by flipping the image 

vertically and horizontally. 

  

Figure A8. Initial overhead view and flipped view for the over-the-shoulder effect 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

15 

Now we have two scenes ready to go! We can switch between a shared-screen with the 

presenter as a talking-head in the bottom corner to an overhead view on the desk to perform 

role-playing and games and using props, with the scenes seamlessly transitioning back and 

forth between them. It would be a simple task now to put another talking head into the 

overhead scene, resize it, move it to a different place on the screen – with OBS, this is a 

quick task once the respective screen layout has been decided on. 

Table A3 summarises the scenes, intended layout and the sources to be added for the 

purposes of enabling a shared screen and an on-desk display via overhead cam:  

Title Intended design/layout Sources 

Presenter 

Screen 

Shared screen with a talking head in 

the bottom left corner 

Face cam (video capture 

device) 

Main Screen Capture ( 

Overhead 

Cam 

Visualizer Overhead Cam (video capture 

device) 

Table A3. Summary of scenes and sources created 

For this simple set-up, it is not necessary to define audio capture devices (like a microphone) 

because of its intended use as virtual cam feed into MS Teams, Zoom, or Panopto. Any 

audio would be captured by the video-conferencing software directly. Therefore, the Audio 

Mixer component that also visible in OBS, used to set the volume of individual audio 

sources, can be safely ignored at this point and for the purposes of this paper. 

5. Controls – virtual camera 

The Controls component enables various pathways to output the scenes created. They can 

be either directly live-streamed to platforms like YouTube or Twitch (given the correct 

streaming settings), recorded and saved to the computer or output as virtual cam. It is also 

possible to live-stream, record and output as virtual cam at the same time, or any 

combination thereof. However, this would put added strain on the CPU. To output our 

scenes to MS Teams, Zoom, or Panopto, we will select ‘Start Virtual Camera’. The feed from 

OBS is now usable in any video-conferencing software that allows use of a webcam in their 

corresponding settings (figure A9). 



Case Studies 

Compass: Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol 14, No 2, 2021 

16 

  

 

Figure A9. Using the OBS virtual camera in MS Teams, Panopto and Zoom 

Switching between scenes can either be done in OBS itself by selecting the desired scene, 

via a keyboard hotkey shortcut that can be defined by the user (this is possible for any task 

or command in OBS) or via a remote device. These devices can be physical ones (for 

example, the Elgato StreamDeck (https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck) or, if those are 

prohibitively expensive, via apps such as TouchPortal (https://www.touch-portal.com/) or 

Deckboard (https://deckboard.app/). 

The possible applications of OBS as a virtual cam are not limited to MS Teams, Zoom, or 

Panopto. Any application that allows use of a video feed can access the OBS Virtual 

Camera instead of an in-built one or external one. 

 

 

 

https://www.elgato.com/en/stream-deck
https://www.touch-portal.com/
https://deckboard.app/