Tutorials on adding a Scoreboard to OBS (other programs are similar)

Getting Started

Scoreboard for OBS on macOS is a user-friendly app designed for sports enthusiasts, broadcasters, and streamers who want to display live score updates in their OBS Studio scenes for two teams/players. This lightweight application simplifies the process of managing and integrating a scoreboard, allowing you to focus on the game and your audience.

Enhance your sports broadcasts with Scoreboard for OBS on macOS — simple, effective, and designed for live streaming!

Ideal Use Cases

  • Sports events (football, basketball, volleyball, etc.)
  • eSports and gaming tournaments
  • Live commentary and analysis streams

Features

  • Live Score Updates: Easily update scores in real-time during a game or match.
  • Text File Integration: Automatically generates and updates a .txt file with the scoreboard information, making it compatible with OBS Studio’s Text (FreeType 2) source.
  • Minimal Resource Usage: The app is optimized for macOS, ensuring smooth performance even on resource-constrained systems.
  • Intuitive Interface: Simple and clean interface for managing teams, scores, and other match details.
  • Customizable Layout: Tailor the scoreboard’s appearance to match your stream’s style, including font size, color, and positioning. This can be done in a streamer program, for example in OBS.

How It Works

  1. Set Up the App
    • Install the app on your macOS device Mac App Store.
    • Open the app and configure your teams/players names, and other initial settings.
  2. Update Scores in Real-Time
    • Adjust team scores using the app’s user-friendly controls.
    • The app automatically saves the updated scores to a .txt files. Default directory Downloads - ScoreBoard Outputs
  3. Integrate with OBS Studio
    • In OBS, create a new Text (FreeType 2) source or drag and drop the desired text file into OBS.
    • Enable the “Read from File” option and select the .txt file generated by the app.
    • Customize the created text source in OBS: position, size, font, color, etc.
  4. Stream or Record
    • As you update scores in the Scoreboard app, the changes are reflected in OBS in real-time. OBS will automatically read the files from the disk (approximately once per second) and display the result.

How to add a text timer or counter in OBS

1. Open OBS Studio

Launch OBS Studio on your computer.

2. Create a New Scene (Optional)

If you want to organize your setup, create a new scene:

  • Click the + button in the Scenes section.
  • Give your scene a name and save it.

3. Add a Text Source

  • In the Sources section, click the + button.
  • Select Text (FreeType 2) from the list.
    Or simply drag the desired text file from Finder into the OBS window.

4. Name Your Text Source

  • Enter a descriptive name for the source (e.g., Main Timer).
  • Click OK to create the source.

5. Enable Reading from File

  • In the text source properties window, check the box labeled Read from File.
  • This will allow the text to be dynamically updated from a TXT file.

6. Select Your TXT File

  • Click the Browse button next to the file path field.
  • Navigate to your local TXT file, select it, and click Open.

7. Place the Text on the Canvas

  • Drag the text box in the preview area to position it on your scene.
  • Resize it as necessary.

8. Customize Appearance

  • Use the Font, Size, and Color options to adjust the text style.
  • Experiment with alignment, gradient, and background settings to fit your layout.

9. Test File Updates

  • Change the value of the counter in ScoreBoard, for example, start a timer.
  • Verify that the changes appear in OBS in real-time.

Similarly, add and configure all the timers/counters needed for the sport scoreboard stream.

How to add a Scorebug background image in OBS

1. Add a Image source

  • In the Sources section, click the + button.
  • Select Image from the list.
    Or simply drag the desired image file from Finder into the OBS window.

2. Name your Image source

  • Enter a descriptive name for the source (e.g., Background) and press OK button.

3. Select your Image file

  • Click the Browse button next to the file path field.
  • Navigate to your local img file, select it, and click Open.
  • Then click OK to save the source.

4. Place the Image on the Canvas below the text layers

  • Drag the image box in the preview area to position it on your scene.
  • Resize it as necessary.
  • In the list of sources, move the background to the very bottom.

Example of background for scoreboard:

How to correctly display Tenths of a second in OBS

1. Install the plugin Advanced Scene Switcher

2. Open the plugin

  • Main menu in OBS - Tools - Advanced Scene Switcher
  • In the General tab set Check conditions every to 100ms

3. Add a new Macro

  • Click the + button in the bottom-left corner and rename the macro (e.g., “Timer Delay”)
  • Uncheck Perform actions only on condition change

4. Add a new condition

  • Click the + button in the conditions section
  • Select If
  • Choose File
  • Click Browse
  • Select the file “Timer.txt” (or another file) from the output directory of the ScoreBoard app
  • Set the condition to content changed

5. Add a new action

  • Click the + button in the actions section
  • Select Source
  • Choose Set Settings
  • Select your FreeType 2 source (e.g., “Main Timer”)
  • Set Text(Text)
  • Choose Set to macro property
  • Select File content

6. Change the text input mode for your timer source

  • In OBS, double-click your FreeType 2 source in the Sources list (e.g., “Main Timer”)
  • Change Text input mode to Manual
  • Enter any placeholder text (e.g., a space) in the Text field
  • Click OK

7. Run the main timer in the ScoreBoard app and test

  • In ScoreBoard settings, choose a style for the main timer (e.g., [:5.3] or [5.3])
  • For testing, set the timer in ScoreBoard to 1 minute (1:00)
  • Start the timer and check the result in OBS