Streaming guide
How to add a teleprompter to OBS.
Key the script over your scene with a chroma key filter. Ten minutes to set up, and then it is just there.
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Quick answer
To add a teleprompter to OBS, open the ScrollCue chroma key output window, add it in OBS as a Window Capture, then apply a Chroma Key filter to that source and set the key colour to match. The background drops out and the script is left overlaid on your scene.
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Open the ScrollCue OBS output window
From ScrollCue, open the chromeless output. Pick a key colour: green by default, blue if you are wearing green, black if your scene has no dark areas that would get eaten by the key.
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Add it in OBS as a Window Capture
In your scene, add a source, choose Window Capture, and pick the ScrollCue output window. It appears as a solid block of colour with your text on it.
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Apply a Chroma Key filter
Right click the source, go to Filters, add a Chroma Key filter, and set the key colour to match your output. Adjust similarity until the background disappears cleanly and the letter edges stay sharp.
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Position and size it
Directly under your webcam is usually right, because that is where you want your eyes to be. Keep it clear of lower thirds, alerts, and chat so nothing overlaps.
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Decide whether viewers see it
If the keyed source is in a scene you are broadcasting, viewers see the script. Most streamers put it in a scene they are looking at rather than one they are sending, so it lives on their monitor only.
Why a separate window and not just a browser tab
You could capture the whole ScrollCue tab, but then you get the toolbar, the controls, the browser chrome, and a page that is not the shape of your scene. The output window is deliberately empty: nothing but the scrolling script on a flat colour, sized to be keyed.
Picking a key colour
Green
The default and the right answer most of the time. Keys cleanly, and green is rarely in your scene by accident.
Blue
Use it if you are wearing green, or if your scene has green in it that the key would eat. Which happens more often than people expect once a plant is involved.
Black
Only if your scene genuinely has no dark areas. It keys well but it will happily eat shadows, hair, and anything dark in the background.
Tuning the key
Start with the default similarity and drag it up slowly until the background vanishes. If you go too far the letter edges start eroding and the text gets a chewed look, which is worse than a slightly visible background. Back it off until the edges are sharp again. Smoothness helps a little, but the honest answer is that a flat solid colour keys easily and if you are fighting it, you have probably picked a colour that exists somewhere else in your scene.
Where to put it
Directly under your webcam, because that is where you want your eyes. Every centimetre further away is a bit more visible eye movement, and on a stream that runs for hours people notice patterns you would never spot in a two-minute clip.
Keep it clear of your lower third, your alert box, and your chat overlay. Text over text is unreadable for everyone including you.
Letting a producer drive it
The output window behaves like any other paired device in Event Mode. It takes script pushes and follows transport. So a producer with a phone can jump you to the sponsor section, start the countdown, or send a wrap-it-up cue, while you carry on talking. For anyone running a show with a second person in the loop, this is the reason to do it this way rather than with a static text source.
What to actually put on it
Not the whole stream. Script the opening hook, the sponsor read where the wording is contractual, any disclosure, and the outro. Everything else is why people are watching, and reading it would ruin it. Section markers mean each of those blocks is one tap away when you need it and out of the way when you do not.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a teleprompter to OBS?
Open the ScrollCue chroma key output window, add it in OBS as a Window Capture, then apply a Chroma Key filter to the source and match the key colour. The background drops out, leaving the script over your scene.
Can my viewers see the teleprompter?
Only if the keyed source is in a scene you are broadcasting. Most people key it into a scene they are looking at, so it stays on their monitor and off the stream.
Which key colour should I use?
Green unless you are wearing green or there is green in your scene, in which case blue. Black works only if nothing in your scene is dark.
Why are the letters looking chewed after keying?
The similarity is too high and it is eating the letter edges. Back it off until the edges are sharp again, even if a little background remains.
Can someone else control the script while I stream?
Yes. The output window follows transport and script pushes from Studio, so a producer on a phone can jump sections and send cues while you keep talking.