If you want rain sounds behind a looping video in OBS, add the picture and the rain recording as two separate Media Sources in the same scene. Turn on Loop for each source independently, fit the video to the canvas, adjust the rain level in the Audio Mixer, and make a short test recording before relying on the setup.
The separate-source method matters because the video and audio may have different lengths. OBS can replay each file when it reaches its own end, but it does not make different-length files stay synchronised, and Loop does not remove silence that is already present inside the rain recording.
Prepare the video and rain recording
Start with the two files you actually want OBS to play: one video for the visual layer and one audio recording for the rain. Keep them as separate files rather than combining them first. That gives you control over the video loop, the rain loop and the rain volume without having to rebuild the whole file when one part needs changing.
OBS’s official Media Sources documentation lists common video formats such as MP4, TS, MOV, FLV, MKV, AVI, GIF and WebM. It also lists MP3, AAC, OGG and WAV among the supported audio formats. If your file is in another format, convert it before building the scene rather than adding several extra pieces of software to troubleshoot an otherwise simple setup.
Listen to the rain file on its own before importing it. Check the beginning and end for a pause, a click, a sudden change in loudness or a section that is much louder than the rest. Looping repeats the complete file. If the recording finishes with a quiet gap, that gap will be repeated as part of the loop. OBS does not automatically trim or crossfade it.
The same check applies to the video. Decide whether it should fill the entire frame, sit behind an overlay, or leave space for text. If the video has a different shape from your intended canvas, you will need to choose between cropping part of it, leaving unused space, or preparing a new version.
For a long-running devotional, ambience or study channel, keep a copy of the original files outside the OBS profile. Use clear names such as rain_steady.wav and temple_loop.mp4. This makes it easier to identify the correct source later, particularly if you have several scenes or several recordings with similar names.
Add the video as a Media Source
Open OBS and select the scene that will contain the rain visual. If you are starting from an empty collection, create a scene first. In the Sources dock, click the + button and choose Media Source.
Give the source a useful name, such as Rain video. Naming the source now is more helpful than leaving it as a generic label, because the same scene will soon contain a second Media Source for the audio.
In the Media Source properties, select Local File and browse to the video. Leave the source properties open while you check the playback options. The important setting for this workflow is Loop. Enable it explicitly. OBS documents Loop as the setting that plays the file again after playback completes, and its default is Off.
You may also see settings including Restart playback when source becomes active and Show nothing when playback ends. The first controls what happens when the source becomes active again. The second affects what is displayed when a non-looping file reaches its end. With Loop enabled, the video should continue replaying, but it is still worth knowing what these options do when diagnosing a source that appears to disappear.
Click OK and watch the preview. The video may not yet fill the canvas, and that is normal. First confirm that OBS can open the file and that you can see movement. If there is no picture, return to the source properties and confirm that the selected file is the one you intended to use.
If you are building a larger channel rather than one simple scene, the same source arrangement can support a wider schedule. For example, a small library can be organised into a planned 24-hour YouTube grid, while this individual scene provides the visual and audio treatment for one part of it.
Fit the video to the canvas
Select the video source in the preview or in the Sources dock. To make it fill the scene, right-click the source in the preview and choose Transform, then Fit to Screen. OBS documents Ctrl+F on Windows and Cmd+F on macOS for this action. You can also resize the source using the transform handles.
Fit to Screen preserves the source’s proportions as far as OBS can while placing it within the canvas. It may leave empty areas if the video and canvas use different aspect ratios. Stretching the source to remove those areas changes its proportions, which can make a landscape scene look unnaturally wide or make people and objects appear distorted.
If the edges matter, consider cropping instead. Hold the relevant modifier while dragging a transform handle, or use the transform properties to make a more controlled adjustment. The best choice depends on the footage. A rain-on-window clip can often tolerate a small crop; a video containing text, a deity image or a person may not.
Check the Sources order after positioning the video. Sources higher in the list appear above sources lower in the list. Your video should normally sit below text, a logo, a clock or another overlay that needs to remain visible. The rain audio source does not create a picture layer, so its position in the list is less important visually, but keeping clearly named sources together makes later edits safer.
The OBS Sources guide explains how scenes are assembled from sources and how source transforms control position, size and cropping. It is useful to keep open while you learn the difference between changing a source’s properties and changing its position on the canvas.
At this stage, pause and replay the video. Do not add the rain yet. You are checking one part of the system at a time. Confirm that the video reaches its end and starts again, and look for a visible pause or black frame at the join. A short file can make a transition easier to notice than a long one, so do not assume a loop is acceptable merely because it keeps playing.
Add a separate looping rain source
With the same scene selected, click the + button in the Sources dock again and choose Media Source. Name this source Rain audio or another label that makes its role obvious. Do not select the existing video source and replace its file. The audio needs its own source and its own Loop setting.
In the new source’s properties, choose Local File and select the rain recording. Enable Loop. This setting applies to the rain source only. Turning Loop on for the video does not make the audio repeat, and turning it on for the audio does not change the video’s playback.
Click OK and look at the Audio Mixer. You should see a channel for the rain source. Start playback if necessary and watch for movement on its meter. A moving meter confirms that OBS is receiving signal from the source, but it does not by itself confirm that the final recording or YouTube output sounds right. That requires a listening check later.
Play the scene for longer than a few seconds. Confirm that the rain continues when the video reaches its loop point. Then test the sources separately: temporarily disable the video source and listen to the rain, then disable the rain source and watch the video. This makes it easier to identify which source has stopped if the combined scene later behaves unexpectedly.
You can use one combined video-with-audio file instead, and that can be simpler when the picture and sound are meant to have exactly the same timing. The trade-off is control. A combined file couples the audio and video playback, while separate sources let you replace the visual, repeat the rain independently and adjust its level without re-editing the video.
If you need a playlist of several media items rather than one video and one rain file, OBS also documents VLC Video as an alternative source. It requires VLC to be installed, and the VLC bitness must match the OBS installation where that requirement applies. For this two-file workflow, the built-in Media Source is the more direct starting point.
Separate sources also make sense when you are preparing a longer channel sequence. A meditation channel might use different visual loops behind the same ambience, as described in this guide to setting up a 24/7 meditation music live stream. You can change one layer without exporting every combination in advance.
Set and check the rain level
Use the rain source’s channel in the Audio Mixer to set a comfortable level. There is no universal meter position that makes every rain recording correct. A dense recording, a quiet drizzle and a file with thunder will need different treatment, and the right result also depends on speech, music or other sounds in the scene.
Start lower than you think you need and listen to the scene with the video playing. The rain should be present without masking a voice, chant, bell or other intended foreground sound. If the scene is rain-only, avoid treating loudness as the goal. A steady background texture can be tiring when it is pushed unnecessarily high.
Use the mixer’s mute control to confirm which channel you are hearing. If you have other audio sources in the scene, mute them briefly and check the rain alone. Then restore them and listen to the relationship between the layers. This simple check prevents you from adjusting the rain to compensate for a different source that was accidentally left too loud.
Watch the meter while listening, but do not rely on the meter alone. It can show that a file contains audio while the wrong monitoring device, an unexpected mute state or a later capture setting prevents you from hearing the intended result. Make sure your headphones or speakers are connected to the device you are actually using for monitoring.
Be careful with hardware capture sources. If you add a microphone, desktop audio device or other physical input to the scene while also selecting the same device under Settings > Audio, OBS warns that the duplicate capture can cause an echo. The warning concerns capturing the same hardware device twice. It does not mean that adding a rain file as a Media Source creates an echo by itself.
The official OBS Audio Sources guide describes the difference between audio sources and device capture. If you are only adding a local rain recording, you generally do not need to add a second hardware audio source for that file.
Before moving on, note the volume position that sounds right and write down which source it belongs to. If you later duplicate the scene, replace the video or import a different OBS profile, this small record can save time. It is also worth checking whether the rain file has its own quiet or loud sections, because changing the mixer level will not even out changes already recorded into the file.
Record or stream a short test
Make a short recording before using the scene overnight. Choose Start Recording, let the scene run through a video loop point, and continue long enough to hear the rain source reach its own end if the files are short. Stop the recording and play the resulting file in a normal media player.
Listen for four things:
- Does the video continue after its end, or does it stop or disappear?
- Does the rain continue after its own file ends?
- Is there a pause, click or silence at either loop point?
- Is the rain level suitable in the recorded output rather than only in the OBS preview?
The last check is important because local monitoring and encoded output are separate checks. A meter moving in OBS is useful evidence that a source is active, but the recording shows what was actually written to the output file. If you plan to send the scene to YouTube, a private or otherwise controlled test stream can provide an additional check of the path you intend to use. Follow the current YouTube Help live streaming guidance for the account and stream settings that apply to your channel.
Do not use a brief test as proof that an overnight stream will never stop. It only confirms the configuration you tested. For a long-running channel, also check that the computer will not sleep, that OBS is using the intended scene and that your network arrangement is suitable for the planned broadcast. If a stream stops after a few hours, the cause may be outside the two Media Sources, so the common reasons a 24/7 YouTube stream stops are worth checking separately.
If the video stops, open its properties and confirm that Loop is enabled. If the rain stops while the video continues, open the rain source’s properties and confirm its Loop setting independently. If either source hides at the end, check whether Loop was left off and whether Show nothing when playback ends is affecting what you see.
If the picture is cropped, select the video and use Fit to Screen again, then decide whether empty space or cropping is preferable. If the sound echoes, inspect your hardware audio sources and Settings > Audio for duplicate capture of the same device. If the audio is missing altogether, check the source mute state, the mixer level and the selected local file before changing unrelated settings.
Once the short recording sounds correct, save the scene collection or profile. Keep the test file for comparison if you later change the rain recording, canvas size or source order. A known-good reference is more useful than relying on memory after making several changes.
If your main concern is leaving a computer running all night, a cloud workflow can remove the need to keep OBS open locally. StreamNeo is intended for the specific hand-off where you upload the prepared video, provide the YouTube stream key, and let the broadcast continue while your own computer is switched off, with automatic monitoring and restart when the stream drops.
Before committing, compare the operating options on the pricing page. When the file and channel are ready, start free — 24-hour trial, no card.
FAQ
Can I use one Media Source for the video and rain?
You can use a single combined file if the picture and rain are already edited together. Two Media Sources are more flexible because the video and audio can loop independently and the rain has its own mixer control.
Why does the rain stop while the video keeps playing?
The two sources have separate properties. Open the rain Media Source and enable Loop there; enabling Loop on the video source does not apply to the audio source.
Will Loop remove a silent gap from my rain recording?
No. Loop replays the file after it reaches the end, including any silence or abrupt transition already recorded in it. Edit or replace the audio if the join contains a pause or click.
Do I need VLC Video for this setup?
No. The built-in Media Source is suitable for one local video and one local rain recording. VLC Video is mainly useful when you need a media playlist or the extended media support it provides, and it requires VLC to be installed.