OBS Green Screen: Chroma Key Setup and Settings
Right-click your webcam in Sources → Filters, click + under Effect Filters and add Chroma Key. With Key Color Type on Green, adjust Similarity (default 400) until the background disappears, raise Smoothness (default 80) to soften edges and Key Color Spill Reduction (default 100) to remove green fringes. Even lighting on the screen matters more than any slider.
How to add a Chroma Key filter in OBS
- Add your webcam first (Sources → + → Video Capture Device). See how to add a webcam to OBS if it isn’t set up yet.
- Right-click the webcam in the Sources dock and choose Filters.
- In the lower list, Effect Filters, click + and choose Chroma Key. (The upper list, Audio/Video Filters, is for things like delay and audio.)
- Name it and click OK. With the default settings most of a green background should disappear right away.
- Adjust the settings below while watching the preview in the Filters window, then click Close.
Put the Chroma Key filter at the top of the Effect Filters list. Other effects like Color Correction or Sharpen change the colors the key sees, so they belong below it.
Chroma Key settings explained
| Setting | Default | Range | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Key Color Type | Green | Green, Blue, Magenta, Custom Color | The color to remove. Custom Color adds a Key Color picker for unusual backdrops. |
| Similarity | 400 | 1 to 1000 | How close a pixel has to be to the key color to be removed. Higher removes more, but too high starts eating into you. |
| Smoothness | 80 | 1 to 1000 | Softens the edge between you and the removed area. Low values leave hard, jagged edges. |
| Key Color Spill Reduction | 100 | 1 to 1000 | Removes the green tint the screen reflects onto your hair, shoulders and edges. |
| Opacity | 1.0 | 0.0 to 1.0 | Transparency of the whole source. Leave at 1.0 for a webcam. |
| Contrast | 0.0 | -4.0 to 4.0 | Adjusts contrast of what remains. |
| Brightness | 0.0 | -1.0 to 1.0 | Adjusts brightness of what remains. |
| Gamma | 0.0 | -1.0 to 1.0 | Adjusts gamma (midtones) of what remains. |
Tuning in the right order
- Similarity first. Raise it in steps of 10 to 20 until the last patches of green vanish, especially in shadowed corners. If parts of you turn transparent, back off.
- Smoothness next. Raise it until the edges around your hair and shoulders stop looking cut out. Too high and you get a see-through halo.
- Spill last. If you still see a green outline or green skin tones, increase Key Color Spill Reduction.
- Test by moving around, leaning back and raising your hands. A key that looks perfect while you sit still can break when you move.
Can’t get a clean key without losing parts of yourself? The settings aren’t the problem. The screen isn’t lit evenly enough. Fix the light first, then re-tune.
Lighting and setup tips
- Light the screen separately from yourself. One or two soft lights aimed at the green screen give it a single, even shade. Your key light then lights you.
- Leave distance. Sit at least about a meter (3 ft) in front of the screen. It reduces shadows on the screen and green light bouncing onto you, so you need less spill reduction.
- Remove wrinkles. Creases create shadows that are darker green and survive the key. Collapsible frames and pull-up screens keep the fabric tight.
- Avoid green clothing and shiny items. Anything close to the key color disappears. Glasses and glossy headphones can reflect the screen.
- Lock your webcam’s settings. Auto exposure and auto white balance shift the green from moment to moment. If your camera allows it, set them manually (in OBS on Windows via Configure Video in the source properties).
- Use a higher resolution and frame rate if your camera supports it. Cleaner detail means cleaner edges around hair.
Green screen without a green screen
AI background removal estimates where you are in the frame and hides the rest. It’s convenient, but edges are usually softer and it can struggle with fast movement, so a lit green screen still gives the cleanest result.
NVIDIA Background Removal (built into OBS)
On Windows with an NVIDIA RTX GPU (RTX 2060 / Quadro RTX 3000 or higher), OBS includes an NVIDIA Background Removal effect filter. It appears in the filter list only after you install the Video Effects SDK redistributable for your GPU series from NVIDIA’s Broadcast SDK resources page. Its options:
- Mode: Quality (higher GPU usage, better quality, the default) or Performance (lower GPU usage). OBS 32.0 added + Chair removal versions of both.
- Threshold: how strictly pixels are classified as background.
- Mask refresh frequency in frames: generates the mask only every N frames to save GPU power.
The same SDK also adds NVIDIA Background Blur Filter and NVIDIA Blur Filter (added in OBS 31) if you’d rather blur your room than remove it.
Other options
- Third-party plugins: the community Background Removal plugin on the OBS forums runs on Windows, macOS and Linux without an NVIDIA GPU. Plugins aren’t made by the OBS Project, so download them only from the official resource page and check that they support your OBS version.
- macOS camera effects: macOS can apply system video effects, such as background replacement, to the camera itself. OBS shows a notice in the Video Capture Device properties when one of these effects is active on the selected camera.
Once your background is gone, place yourself over your game or overlay. Our Twitch overlay size guide covers canvas sizes and safe areas for webcam frames.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Chroma Key and Color Key in OBS?
Both remove a color. Chroma Key is built for green and blue screens and handles shading and spill better, so use it for a webcam. Color Key is a simpler exact-color match that suits flat graphics, such as a solid-color background in an image or video.
Why is my green screen flickering or patchy in OBS?
Usually uneven lighting, wrinkles or webcam noise. Light the screen more evenly, stretch out creases and turn off your webcam’s auto exposure or auto white balance if it has those options. Then fine-tune Similarity in small steps.
Can I use a blue screen instead of green?
Yes. Set Key Color Type to Blue. Blue is useful if you wear green or have green elements you want to keep. Magenta and any Custom Color work too.
Can I remove my background in OBS without a green screen?
Yes, with AI-based background removal. On Windows with an NVIDIA RTX GPU, OBS has a built-in NVIDIA Background Removal filter. Otherwise, third-party plugins can do it on most PCs. Expect softer edges than a well-lit green screen.
Sources: OBS Knowledge Base: Chroma Key Filter · OBS Studio source: chroma-key-filter.c · OBS Studio source: nv-filters · OBS Studio 32.0 release notes · NVIDIA Broadcast SDK resources · OBS Forums: Background Removal plugin