How to Set Up Custom Transitions in OBS Studio

Setting up custom scene transitions in OBS Studio is a great way to give your live streams and video recordings a professional, polished look. This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step walkthrough on how to add, configure, and customize transitions—such as custom stingers, fades, and swipes—to seamlessly switch between your scenes in OBS Studio.

Step 1: Locate the Scene Transitions Dock

By default, OBS Studio features a “Scene Transitions” dock on the main user interface, usually located next to the “Sources” or “Controls” dock. If you cannot find it, go to the top menu, select Docs, and ensure that Scene Transitions is checked.

Step 2: Choose and Add Your Transition Type

In the Scene Transitions dock, you will see a dropdown menu (which defaults to “Fade” or “Cut”) and a plus (+) button. 1. Click the plus (+) button or the dropdown menu. 2. Select the type of transition you want to add. For custom animated video transitions (such as a custom .webm or .mp4 file with transparency), select Stinger. 3. Give your custom transition a recognizable name and click OK.

Step 3: Configure the Custom Transition Settings

Once you create your transition, a properties window will appear. If you chose a “Stinger” transition, configure the following key settings: * Video File: Click “Browse” and select your custom transition video file. WebM format is highly recommended because it supports alpha-channel transparency and has a small file size. * Transition Point Type: Choose either Time (milliseconds) or Frame. This determines the exact moment the transition switches from the old scene to the new scene behind the animation. * Transition Point: Enter the exact millisecond or frame number when the custom animation completely covers the screen. * Audio Fade Style: Choose how you want the audio to crossfade between scenes during the transition. * Audio Monitoring: If your transition has sound, set this to “Monitor and Output” so both you and your viewers can hear it.

Click Preview Transition to test how it looks, then click OK to save your settings.

Step 4: Set Transition Overrides (Optional)

By default, your new custom transition will be used globally for all scene switches. If you want a specific transition to play only when switching to a particular scene: 1. Right-click on the specific scene in the Scenes dock. 2. Hover over Transition Override. 3. Select your custom transition from the list.

Your custom scene transition is now fully configured and ready for your next live stream or recording.