It was a bit of a disappointment.
A powerful tool many have embraced for live streaming is StreamYard. You'll want to watch the videos below, as well as read about it yourself from these educators:
Six Ways To Use StreamYard in Your Virtual Classroom (Alice Keeler)
Live Virtual Events in StreamYard (Meaghan E. Kelly)
How To Live Stream School Events (Chris J. Nesi)
YouTube or Vimeo
Facebook Live
Twitch.tv.
Select from a drop-down list which streaming service you want to use. In my example, I chose YouTube, but you can choose any you think your audience will watch. Note that Twitter/Periscope didn't work well for me.
Getting OBS is as easy as saving the setup file for your type of computer. OBS support Windows, Mac, and/or GNU/Linux. No Chromebook solution available (try StreamYard instead).
When you first install OBS Studio, it will ask if you want to run a wizard. Say "Yes" since it will do it's best to capture possible inputs. I recommend that you have your headset microphone plugged into your USB port and that it is your preferred input/output audio device.
OBS makes it easy to set up an unlimited number of scenes you can switch between seamlessly via custom transitions. Inside of each scene, you add different sources.
Sources can be a web browser, a computer program, a Zoom Meeting ID window, audio/video saved on your computer or your headset/microphone.
Your audio mixer lets you "mix" in various audio sources, such as Desktop Audio (e.g. play background music before a meeting) or Headset Mic (so your video recording or stream captures what you are saying).
If you had other audio sources, such as an external bluetooth microphone, you could use that as well. This makes OBS Studio's audio mixer quite versatile.
The Controls area is where you decide whether you are recording or streaming.
Recording: Only want to record video? That video will be saved in MKV video format on your computer. You can change your settings to have it automatically "remux" it (save it) as an MP4 formatted video (see above).
Streaming: If you have already setup your Streaming settings (e.g. Facebook Live, YouTube), then you are ready to go.
Ready to stream content? You will first need to do a few things. For this example, I'll be using YouTube. Those include the following:
Be careful to not share the Stream name/key with anyone. You'll need to "Reveal" the key then copy-n-paste it into OBS Settings-->Stream, as shown below:
You can setup one scene to capture everything you need (e.g. headset mic, a start up picture with audio playing in the background, or video). Another scene may share your slide show program or web browser with your headset mic.
For example, here's what my scenes look like:
Web Address - This includes a web address that appears at the bottom of my video recording or stream. Isn't that handy?
Image - This is an image or export of an image. It could be a slide you've saved as a JPG or PNG image file. Or, it could be your school mascot.
Headset Mic - This is included in ALL my scenes since I want people to be able to hear me speaking, and I want to hear what's happening.
Ready to plan and moderate an online panel discussion? You may find this blog entry essential in getting that done. It offers proven tips to get started.
Don't forget to look for the accompanying blog entry to this Lunch and Learn, which will appear in the future: