If a BGMI replay looks stretched, squashed or wrongly framed on YouTube Live, first make OBS’s canvas and output the shape you intend to stream, usually landscape 16:9. Then select the replay source and use Edit → Transform → Fit to Screen; if the replay has a different shape, decide whether to keep the whole image with empty space or crop its edges to fill the frame.
A replay’s resolution and its aspect ratio are related but not identical: the resolution is its pixel dimensions, while the ratio describes the shape. A 16:9 replay can be scaled to another 16:9 size without changing its proportions. A replay with a different ratio cannot fill a 16:9 canvas, keep its entire picture visible and retain its proportions all at once.
Check the replay and intended frame shape
Before changing OBS, decide what viewers should see. If the stream is a conventional landscape YouTube Live channel, a 16:9 frame is a practical starting point. The OBS Project’s aspect ratio guide recommends 16:9 examples such as 1920×1080 and 1280×720 for general streaming video. These are examples of frame sizes, not a promise about quality or delivery.
Check the replay itself rather than relying only on how it appears in the OBS preview. Look at its properties in the file player or in the file details provided by your operating system. Note the width and height if available, then compare them: if the width is about 1.78 times the height, it is close to 16:9. If you cannot see the dimensions, use the visible image as a clue: does the original show the full game frame, with no bars added by a player or previous edit?
The source file may already contain black bars. Those bars are part of the pixels in the video, not empty canvas created by OBS. If you fit a file that has bars baked into it, OBS can preserve the file’s shape perfectly and you may still see bars inside the image. Check the replay in a normal player before troubleshooting the scene.
Also check that the file is actually the replay you intend to broadcast. A portrait clip, a cropped highlight or a recording with a different frame shape needs different framing from a full landscape match. Do not change the stream canvas to chase a single source until you know whether the channel is meant to stay landscape. If this is one part of a longer gaming channel, the planning points in how to run a 24/7 YouTube gaming stream from a playlist may help you think through how a replay sits alongside the rest of the schedule.
Match OBS canvas and output resolutions
In OBS, open Settings → Video. The Base (Canvas) Resolution is the working area where you arrange sources. The Output (Scaled) Resolution is the size OBS sends out or records, depending on your output settings. For a typical landscape stream, choose matching 16:9 dimensions, for example 1920×1080 for both or 1280×720 for both.
Matching the two settings keeps the scene easier to reason about. If the base canvas is 1920×1080 and output is 1280×720, both are 16:9, so the frame shape remains consistent even though the output has fewer pixels. If one setting is a different ratio, the mismatch can make the preview or stream framing harder to diagnose. Choose a pair that matches your channel’s intended frame before adjusting individual sources.
The replay does not need to have the same pixel dimensions as the output. A smaller 16:9 source can be enlarged to fit a larger 16:9 canvas, although scaling cannot create detail that was not present in the original. The key issue in this fix is shape: if the source and canvas ratios differ, fitting, cropping and distortion are different choices, not interchangeable fixes.
The OBS Project explains the canvas and output roles in its OBS Studio overview. It also notes that changing the base canvas can mean realigning or resizing scene sources, whereas changing only the output resolution does not have that effect. If you have already built a scene, take a note or screenshot of its layout before changing the canvas, so you can restore positions if they shift.
Do not select a resolution merely because it is the largest in a menu. Your choice should reflect the intended frame and what your computer and connection can sustain. The YouTube live encoder settings page is the place to check current YouTube guidance for encoder settings; it is separate from the framing choice being made here. This article does not infer a recommended bitrate or guarantee that a particular computer will handle a setting.
Select the replay source in the scene
Return to the main OBS window and select the scene you use for the BGMI replay. In the Sources list, click the source that contains the file. If you are adding the replay as a file, OBS’s Sources Guide describes Media Source as the source type for audio and video files. Your scene may instead use another capture or playback method, so select the source that visibly corresponds to the replay in the preview.
When selected, the source should show a bounding box and handles in the preview. If you cannot see the box, make sure you selected the correct source in the Sources list and that it is visible. Sources higher in the list can cover sources below them, so a visible overlay or background may be the item selected by mistake. Confirm the replay is the item you are transforming before using a shortcut.
If the replay is partly outside the preview, do not drag a corner at random. First inspect its transform and selection. A previous resize or crop can make the bounding box misleading, and the preview may show only part of the source because the source is larger than the canvas. The goal is to reset a confusing transform if necessary, then apply a known fit and inspect the result.
Use Fit to Screen to preserve proportions
With the replay source selected, choose Edit → Transform → Fit to Screen. The OBS game-layout tutorial documents this workflow and the keyboard shortcut: Ctrl-F on Windows or Cmd-F on macOS. This scales the selected source to fit inside the canvas while preserving its proportions; it does not promise to fill every part of the canvas when the source and canvas have different aspect ratios.
Inspect all four edges after fitting. If the whole replay is visible but empty strips remain at the sides or top and bottom, that is usually the expected result of fitting a differently shaped source without distortion. The fit prioritises showing the complete image. If instead the picture remains unexpectedly off-centre or appears to have a stale resize, use Edit → Transform → Reset Transform (Ctrl-R on Windows or Cmd-R on macOS) and fit it again. Make sure the replay source is selected when you do this.
A fit is a useful known starting point, not necessarily the final design. You might place a colour or blurred background behind the replay, or keep a logo and channel information in the unused area. If you do, check that those elements do not cover important game information such as the minimap, match status or subtitles. Keep the full game picture visible if the purpose of the stream is to preserve the replay as recorded.
OBS’s documentation on game screen layout shows the fit workflow. Apply it before making fine adjustments, so you are not trying to solve a distorted or unexpectedly cropped source by eye. If you have a scene with several sources, lock the ones that should not move after the replay is placed; that reduces accidental changes while you work.
Choose between empty space and crop or zoom
Once the source is fitted, choose the compromise deliberately. There are three common outcomes: fit the whole replay and accept empty canvas, enlarge or crop the replay to fill the frame and lose some edges, or stretch the replay to fill the frame while distorting its shape. For a replay where proportions matter, the first two are the useful choices.
| Choice | Whole replay visible? | Empty canvas possible? | Proportions correct? | Gameplay lost at edges? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fit to Screen | Yes, unless the file itself is cropped | Yes, if ratios differ | Yes | No, from the fit itself |
| Crop or zoom to fill | No, when ratios differ | Usually not in the filled area | Yes | Yes, some edges are outside the frame |
| Stretch to Screen | Yes | No | No, if ratios differ | No, but the image is warped |
Keeping empty space is often the clearest option when important detail sits near the edges. The unused canvas does not have to be black; it can be part of the scene design, provided the replay remains legible and the additional elements do not obscure it. A simple background can make a letterboxed layout feel intentional rather than like a mistake.
Cropping or zooming suits a channel that values an edge-to-edge image more than showing every pixel of the original. With a landscape replay that is wider than the canvas, filling the canvas may cut off the left and right edges; with a taller source, it may cut off top and bottom. Check the areas that disappear before settling on this choice. In a BGMI replay, the edges may contain information viewers use to follow the match.
To crop in OBS, you can hold Alt while dragging a source edge in the preview on supported desktop setups, or adjust crop values in the source’s transform controls. The OBS Sources Guide covers source controls and transformations. Crop evenly where possible, then inspect the preview at the intended frame size. Do not assume a crop that looks acceptable in a small preview will preserve every useful detail when watched on a phone.
If the exact crop is hard to judge, keep the fitted version for now and take a short local recording or test stream. Review it in a player at the same shape as the planned live output. A quick check of the beginning, a busy gameplay moment and a scene with important overlays can reveal whether an edge is being lost. This is a framing check, not a substitute for checking your separate audio, encoding and connection settings.
Avoid stretching when shape accuracy matters
Stretch to Screen is tempting because it removes empty space without requiring a crop. But when the source ratio and canvas ratio differ, stretching changes the proportions: circles can look oval, characters broader or narrower, and UI elements distorted. OBS’s aspect-ratio guide says stretching warps or distorts the source and generally discourages it.
That is why stretching is not the fix for a replay that looks wrong. It may appear to solve a visible bar, but it replaces one framing compromise with a shape error. Use Fit to Screen to keep the full replay in proportion, or crop and zoom if filling the frame matters more than retaining the edges. If the source and canvas already share a ratio, a normal fit can fill the frame without changing the shape.
If you have already stretched the source, select it and use Edit → Transform → Reset Transform, then Fit to Screen. Check the preview against the original replay: familiar circular icons, text and character proportions are useful visual references. Avoid judging only by whether the source reaches the canvas boundaries.
OBS also documents a scaling/aspect ratio filter for particular source-level adjustments. That is not a shortcut around the trade-off between preserving a full image and filling a differently shaped frame. Unless you have a specific production reason and understand the result, begin with the basic transform rather than stacking filters on a source whose framing is not yet correct.
Check the final scene before going live
After adjusting the replay, check the complete scene at the actual output shape. Confirm that the file is not hidden by another source, the intended image area is visible and any empty space or crop is deliberate. If you changed the base canvas, revisit other scene elements too: camera windows, logos, text and backgrounds may have shifted or changed their size relative to the canvas.
A local recording lets you check what the composed scene looks like without relying on the small editing preview alone. Watch a section with movement and one with any overlays or captions. If you use an unlisted test broadcast instead, verify the resulting picture on another device where practical. A phone view can make small text or edge crops easier to notice than the OBS preview does.
If the aspect ratio is correct but the stream still appears soft, stutters or drops frames, that is a separate issue. Avoid changing the canvas again to solve a performance problem. The guide to preventing OBS from dropping frames on a 24/7 YouTube stream covers a different troubleshooting path, and reducing buffering on a 24/7 mantra YouTube Live stream is relevant when viewers report playback interruptions rather than a visibly wrong frame shape.
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FAQ
Why does my BGMI replay have black bars after Fit to Screen?
The replay and your OBS canvas probably have different aspect ratios, or the bars may already be part of the replay file. Fit to Screen preserves the source’s proportions, so it can leave unused canvas rather than crop the image or distort it. Check the file in a normal player to tell whether its bars are baked in.
How do I make the replay fill the OBS canvas without stretching it?
First fit the replay, then crop or zoom it until the canvas is covered, accepting that some edges will no longer be visible. Check those edges for useful game information before using the scene. If every part of the replay must remain visible, retain the empty space instead.
Should I use 1920×1080 or 1280×720?
Both are 16:9 examples in OBS’s aspect ratio guide. Choose a matching Base (Canvas) and Output (Scaled) pair that suits your intended stream and setup; the source does not need identical pixel dimensions as long as you understand how it will scale. Check YouTube’s current encoder guidance separately for streaming settings.
Why does the replay look stretched only after I start streaming?
Check that the selected source was fitted rather than stretched and that the OBS canvas and output use the intended ratio. Review a recording or test broadcast to distinguish a scene transform issue from how a particular player displays the stream. If the source is correct in OBS but the live result is not, verify the current YouTube output settings rather than changing the replay’s proportions blindly.