OBS Media Source is for adding a local video or audio file to a scene. It does not control the quality, bitrate or frame rate of your YouTube broadcast.
For a gaming VOD livestream in India, choose Media Source playback behaviour separately from YouTube encoder output. There is no official India-only preset: test the upload connection available at your streaming location, leave headroom, monitor the live session and keep a local recording when the VOD matters.
What OBS Media Source is actually for
Media Source plays a file inside an OBS scene. That file might be a gaming VOD clip, an intro, a replay segment, a background video or an audio bed. You select the file on your computer, then decide what OBS should do when the source is shown, hidden or reaches its end.
It is not the same as Game Capture. Game Capture captures a running game window or application. Media Source plays an existing file. If you want to broadcast a recorded match, highlight reel or full gaming VOD, Media Source is the relevant OBS source. If you are playing live, use the appropriate capture source and treat Media Source as an optional overlay or intermission element.
It is also not the same as the encoder output settings. Media Source determines how a file behaves in the scene. The encoder determines how the complete OBS canvas is compressed and sent to YouTube. Changing Loop or Restart playback does not change the stream bitrate, resolution or frame rate.
OBS lists common video formats including MP4, TS, MOV, FLV, MKV, AVI, GIF and WebM. It also lists audio formats including MP3, AAC, OGG and WAV. The OBS Media Sources guide gives the current source behaviour and supported file details, but a file that OBS can open is not automatically a good choice for an unattended overnight stream.
Before adding a long VOD, play it from beginning to end locally. Check that the picture is present, the audio is audible, the aspect ratio is correct and there are no sections that rely on a game window or external software being open. If the content contains music, cutscenes or other material you do not control, review the relevant YouTube rules. The way Content ID can affect internet radio livestreams is not limited to radio as a technical concern: recorded gaming videos can also contain music or other claimed material.
Add a local gaming VOD clip to a scene
Create or select the scene that should contain the VOD. In the Sources box, choose Media Source, give it a descriptive name such as Gaming VOD - Episode 04, and confirm. A clear name matters when you later troubleshoot a stream with several scenes and media files.
In the Media Source properties, use Local File and browse to the file on the computer running OBS. Keep the original file in a stable folder rather than a temporary downloads location. Do not rename, move or disconnect an external drive containing the file while OBS is using it.
Use the preview to check the fit. A VOD recorded in a different aspect ratio may leave empty space, crop important information or appear stretched if you force it into the scene. Decide whether the original framing is more important than filling the whole canvas. A gameplay HUD, subtitles or health bar can be lost when a source is enlarged and cropped.
If the source includes audio, check the Audio Mixer after adding it. Speak or play another sound only if you are testing the complete scene, then confirm that the Media Source meter responds without sitting permanently at the top of the scale. If there is no meter movement, check the file itself and the source's audio settings before changing YouTube output settings.
For a sequence of separate VOD files, you can add each as its own source and use scene changes, or prepare a playlist and manage the transitions deliberately. A single long file is simpler to test, while separate files make it easier to replace one episode. If you are building a continuous rotation, the workflow in how to prepare a YouTube playlist for a continuous live stream may help you think about order and gaps, although the OBS Media Source controls still apply to each local file.
Choose the playback behaviour deliberately
The useful settings are not quality presets. They describe when the file starts, whether it repeats and what remains on screen after the file ends.
| Media Source control | What it changes | Suitable choice for a gaming VOD |
|---|---|---|
| Local File | Selects the file OBS will play | Choose a tested local file in a stable folder |
| Loop | Starts the file again after it finishes | Off for one complete VOD, on for a repeating clip |
| Restart playback when source becomes active | Starts from the beginning when the source becomes visible | On for an intro or scene-based replay; review it for a long VOD |
| Use hardware decoding when available | Lets OBS use an available GPU decoder for supported media | Leave the documented default initially, then test the actual file |
| Show nothing when playback ends | Hides the media after its final frame | On when the VOD should disappear rather than freeze on its last image |
| Close file when inactive | Unloads the file while the source is hidden or off-scene | Useful for memory, but test for reload delay before relying on it |
Loop is off by default. Leave it off when the VOD should play once and finish. Turn it on for a short intermission, a menu animation or a background clip that is intended to repeat. Looping a complete VOD can create an abrupt return to the beginning, so make sure viewers will understand the repetition.
Restart playback when source becomes active is on by default. With that setting enabled, making the source visible in the current scene starts it again. That is useful for an intro that should play whenever you enter the scene. It can be surprising with a long VOD: switching scenes briefly and returning may restart the episode instead of resuming it.
Show nothing when playback ends is also on by default. Keep it enabled when the source should vanish at the end, such as a short overlay or pre-roll clip. If you want the final frame to remain visible, turn it off, but consider whether a frozen game image could look like a stalled stream.
Close file when inactive is off by default. Enabling it can release the file while the source is hidden, but the source may need time to reload when shown again. That delay is worth testing if you plan to move between a live gameplay scene and a VOD scene.
Use hardware decoding when available can use an available GPU decoder for supported formats. It is not a promise that every codec, driver or graphics card will behave identically. If the picture is unstable, the source fails to load or the computer becomes overloaded, compare the actual file with this option enabled and disabled during a short test.
Set YouTube output for resolution and frame rate
After the Media Source behaves correctly, configure OBS output for the complete stream. YouTube receives the composed canvas, not a separate untouched VOD file. Your output choice should reflect the resolution and frame rate you can encode and upload reliably.
YouTube's current encoder guidance recommends constant bitrate, or CBR, for live streaming. It supports H.264, H.265/HEVC and AV1 for RTMP or RTMPS workflows, and it recommends a two-second keyframe interval, with the interval not exceeding four seconds. These are YouTube platform recommendations, not an India-specific OBS preset.
For H.264, YouTube gives examples of recommended video bitrates including 17 Mbps for 1080p at 60 frames per second, 14 Mbps for 1080p at 30 frames per second, 8 Mbps for 720p at 60 frames per second and 6 Mbps for 720p at 30 frames per second. The figures are tied to the platform's encoder guidance, so check the current YouTube encoder settings, bitrates and resolutions before committing to a profile.
The practical choice is not automatically the highest available resolution. A fast-moving game at 720p60 may be more useful than a repeatedly interrupted 1080p60 broadcast. A recorded VOD with menus, subtitles or small text may benefit from a higher resolution, but only if the upload connection and computer can sustain it.
Treat these as separate checks:
- Set the OBS base canvas around the composition you need.
- Set the output resolution to the target YouTube stream size.
- Set the frame rate to the target output, such as 30 or 60 frames per second.
- Choose an encoder that your computer can run without excessive rendering or encoding load.
- Use CBR and the keyframe interval recommended by YouTube's current guidance.
- Match the bitrate to both YouTube's recommendation and your measured upload capacity.
Media Source does not override these settings. A 1080p VOD played through Media Source can still be sent as a 720p stream if that is the output profile you select. Conversely, raising the output resolution does not restore detail that was absent from the source file.
Measure upload bandwidth and watch stream health
The limiting question is not whether a speed-test result looks impressive for a moment. It is whether the connection can sustain the complete stream bitrate while other people and devices use the network.
YouTube states that the total bitrate you stream cannot exceed the upload bandwidth available. It also recommends leaving about 20% of available upload bandwidth unused as headroom and accounting for other streams or users on the connection. Read the current advice in YouTube's Streaming tips rather than treating a single speed-test result as a guarantee.
Run an upload test at the place and time where OBS will operate. If the computer will stream over Wi-Fi, test that same arrangement. If the connection is shared, include the normal activity of the household, office or shop. A test taken beside the router on a quiet network may not describe the connection available to an overnight broadcast.
Choose a profile whose bitrate remains below stable upload capacity with the recommended headroom. Do not count only the video bitrate if your configuration also sends audio and has other network traffic. If the connection fluctuates, reduce the target profile or move the stream to a more suitable connection rather than repeatedly reconnecting at the edge of capacity.
During a test or live broadcast, watch YouTube Live Control Room for stream health warnings and dropped frames. In OBS, check dropped frames caused by the network separately from rendering or encoding lag. Those symptoms point to different problems. Network drops suggest the connection or selected bitrate needs attention; rendering or encoding lag may require a lighter scene, a different output profile or a less demanding encoder configuration.
Latency is another YouTube setting, not a Media Source setting. Lower latency can help when viewers need to respond in chat, but it can increase buffering. If the channel is mainly a recorded gaming VOD station, a little more delay may be acceptable if it gives viewers a more tolerant playback buffer. Test the choice with the actual connection and audience use case.
Run a complete test before relying on the VOD
Do not make the first overnight stream the first time you have checked the file, scene and YouTube settings together. Create an unlisted test broadcast and run enough of the workflow to expose the likely failure points.
Use this sequence:
- Start with the exact Media Source file intended for the real stream.
- Confirm the opening frame, audio, aspect ratio and any scene transitions.
- Start the unlisted YouTube broadcast and watch it from a separate device or network where possible.
- Check that motion is smooth, audio remains in sync and the stream health indicator does not report a problem.
- Hide and show the source if your real scene plan requires it, then confirm whether it restarts or resumes as expected.
- Let the file reach its end if it is meant to finish, and check whether the source disappears or holds the final frame.
- Review the resulting YouTube recording after the test has ended.
A short preview can expose incorrect audio routing and a wrong canvas size. A longer test is more useful for finding file reload issues, thermal load, network variation and scene behaviour that only appears after the source has been running for some time.
Save an OBS profile and scene collection after the test. Keep a written note of the source file path, output resolution, frame rate, bitrate, encoder and audio arrangement. This makes a later change traceable. Change one important setting at a time, otherwise you will not know which change affected the result.
For important sessions, start local recording as well as streaming, provided the computer has enough storage and processing capacity. YouTube recommends a local archive as a backup. A local copy is useful when the upload fails, the stream is interrupted or the online recording is incomplete. It does not remove the need to review copyright and channel policies.
Treat the YouTube VOD as a separate outcome
A live stream can be visible to viewers without producing the complete recording you expected. YouTube says that live streams shorter than 12 hours can be automatically archived, while a stream exceeding 12 hours may not be captured at all. That is a YouTube archive condition, not an OBS Media Source condition.
If the purpose is a complete gaming VOD, avoid designing a single broadcast around a duration that crosses the stated threshold. For a long-running channel, plan segments or use a local recording plan rather than assuming that one continuous stream will become one complete online VOD. Confirm the current guidance in YouTube's Archive live streams documentation before publishing a schedule.
DVR is separate again. YouTube DVR lets viewers pause, rewind and resume a live stream, but rewind can be limited or unavailable for streams longer than 12 hours. Viewers cannot seek to a point before the stream began. OBS Media Source settings do not enable or disable YouTube DVR; check the relevant setting in YouTube Live Control Room and verify what viewers can do.
After the test broadcast, look for the recording in YouTube Studio and play sections near the beginning, middle and end. Confirm that the title, visibility and audio are correct. If the recording does not appear as expected, do not infer that changing Loop, hardware decoding or Show nothing when playback ends will fix it. Those settings affect local scene playback, not YouTube's archive process.
If your computer must remain switched off or you do not want to leave OBS running through the night, StreamNeo removes the need to keep this local playback session open: upload the prepared video, add the YouTube stream key and let the broadcast run while you verify the resulting channel and recording separately.
Build a repeatable operating checklist
A reliable routine is more valuable than a supposed regional preset. Before each important stream, check that the source file is present, the correct scene is selected, the audio meter responds, the output profile is unchanged and the upload connection is available.
For a local OBS setup, disable sleep and automatic restarts that could interrupt the computer. Close applications that may compete for CPU, GPU, disk or upload capacity. If the stream is shared with other users, agree on what network activity can continue during the broadcast. These steps do not guarantee stability, but they reduce avoidable changes between the test and the real session.
Keep a record of what happened. Note the time of the test, the chosen output profile, any dropped frames, the result in Live Control Room and whether the YouTube recording was created. If the stream fails overnight, that record gives you a starting point instead of encouraging random changes to Media Source.
If viewers report missing sound, inspect the OBS mixer and the source's audio path first. The audio settings guide for 24/7 streams can help with the wider questions of sample rate, silence and loudness. If the broadcast disconnects, investigate the network and reconnection workflow rather than changing the VOD's playback loop.
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FAQ
Is there a special OBS Media Source preset for streaming from India?
No official India-specific Media Source preset is established by the guidance reviewed here. Use the documented playback controls, then choose YouTube output settings from your target resolution, frame rate and measured upload capacity at the actual streaming location.
Should I use Media Source or Game Capture for a gaming VOD?
Use Media Source when the gaming footage already exists as a local video file. Use Game Capture when you are capturing a game that is currently running. Media Source does not replace Game Capture, and neither source by itself determines the YouTube encoder bitrate.
Will Loop make YouTube save the VOD correctly?
No. Loop only controls whether the local file starts again after it reaches the end. YouTube's archive behaviour is separate, and streams exceeding 12 hours may not be captured, so keep a local recording when a complete VOD matters.
Should I stream at 1080p60 because the source file is 1080p60?
Not necessarily. Select a profile that your computer can encode and your connection can upload with headroom. Test the actual session, monitor YouTube stream health and reduce the resolution, frame rate or bitrate if the connection or encoder cannot sustain the chosen output.