Hotkeys, transitions and Studio Mode workflow

Hotkeys are global

OBS hotkeys registered in Settings → Hotkeys fire while another application has focus, which is the point: you switch scenes from inside the game. Choose combinations a game will never use. Function keys with a modifier, or keys on a stream controller mapped to unused combinations, are safer than bare letters.

The hotkeys worth setting first

• One per scene you switch to live.
• Mute and unmute for the microphone. Push-to-talk and push-to-mute are separate bindings.
• Start and stop recording, and start and stop the replay buffer.
• Save replay, if you use the replay buffer for highlights.

Transitions

Cut is instantaneous and correct for switching between camera angles of the same moment. Fade is the safe default for scene changes. A stinger transition plays a video with an alpha channel and switches the scene at a frame you nominate; set that transition point by frame or by millisecond so the cut happens while the animation covers the screen.

Studio Mode

Studio Mode splits the interface into Preview on the left and Program on the right. You arrange, resize and correct a scene in Preview while the audience keeps seeing Program, then press Transition to push it live. It is the difference between an audience watching you drag a source into place and an audience seeing a finished shot appear.

Two details make it usable in practice: bind the transition to a hotkey so you never reach for the mouse, and remember that filters and audio changes take effect immediately on both sides. Studio Mode isolates the layout, not the audio.

Profiles versus scene collections

A profile stores output, encoder, audio device and hotkey settings. A scene collection stores the scenes themselves. They switch independently, so one set of scenes can be used with a high-bitrate recording profile and a lower-bitrate streaming profile without rebuilding anything. Switching profiles while live is not possible, so make the choice before you start.