Streaming 3D printing to OBS

3DPrintForge has a built-in OBS overlay that shows printer status, progress, temperatures, and camera feed directly in your stream.

Prerequisites

• OBS Studio installed (obsproject.com)
• 3DPrintForge running and connected to a printer
• (Optional) Bambu camera enabled for live feed

Step 1 — OBS Browser Source

OBS has a built-in Browser Source that displays a web page directly in your scene.

Add overlay in OBS:

1. Open OBS Studio
2. Under Sources, click +
3. Select Browser
4. Give the source a name, e.g. "Bambu Overlay"
5. Fill in:

Setting	Value
URL	http://localhost:3000/obs/overlay
Width	1920
Height	1080
FPS	30
Custom CSS	See below

6. Check Control audio via OBS
7. Click OK

Adjust URL to your server

Is the dashboard running on a different machine than OBS? Replace localhost with the server's IP address, e.g. http://192.168.1.50:3000/obs/overlay

Step 2 — Transparent background

For the overlay to blend into the image, the background must be transparent:

In the OBS Browser Source settings:

• Check Shutdown source when not visible / Remove background

Custom CSS to force transparency:

body {
  background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0) !important;
  margin: 0;
  overflow: hidden;
}

Paste this into the Custom CSS field in the Browser Source settings.

The overlay now shows only the widget itself — without a white or black background.

Step 3 — Customizing the overlay

In 3DPrintForge you can configure what the overlay shows:

1. Go to Features → OBS overlay
2. Configure:

Setting	Options
Position	Top left, top right, bottom left, bottom right
Size	Small, medium, large
Theme	Dark, light, transparent
Accent color	Choose a color that fits your stream's style
Elements	Choose what is shown (see below)

Available overlay elements:

• Printer name and status (online/printing/error)
• Progress bar with percentage and time remaining
• Filament and color
• Nozzle temperature and plate temperature
• Filament used (grams)
• AMS overview (compact)
• Print Guard status

3. Click Preview to see the result without switching to OBS
4. Click Save

URL per printer

Have multiple printers? Use separate overlay URLs:

/obs/overlay?printer=1
/obs/overlay?printer=2

Camera feed in OBS (separate source)

The Bambu camera can be added as a separate source in OBS — independent of the overlay:

Option 1: Via the dashboard's camera proxy

1. Go to System → Camera
2. Copy the RTSP or MJPEG streaming URL
3. In OBS: Click + → Media Source
4. Paste the URL
5. Check Loop and disable local files

Option 2: Browser Source with camera view

1. In OBS: Add Browser Source
2. URL: http://localhost:3000/obs/camera?printer=1
3. Width/height: matches the camera's resolution (1080p or 720p)

You can now place the camera feed freely in the scene and put the overlay on top.

Tips for a good stream

Scene setup for streaming

A typical scene for 3D print streaming:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                                         │
│      [Camera feed from the printer]     │
│                                         │
│  ┌──────────────────┐                   │
│  │ Bambu Overlay    │  ← Bottom left    │
│  │ Print: Logo.3mf  │                   │
│  │ ████████░░ 82%   │                   │
│  │ 1h 24m left      │                   │
│  │ 220°C / 60°C     │                   │
│  └──────────────────┘                   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────┘

Recommended settings

Parameter	Recommended value
Overlay size	Medium (not too dominant)
Refresh rate	30 FPS (matches OBS)
Overlay position	Bottom left (avoids face/chat)
Color theme	Dark with blue accent

Scenes and scene switching

Create your own OBS scenes:

• "Print in progress" — camera view + overlay
• "Pause / waiting" — static image + overlay
• "Finished" — result image + overlay showing "Completed"

Switch between scenes with keyboard shortcuts in OBS or via Scene Collection.

Camera image stabilization

The Bambu camera can sometimes freeze. In the dashboard under System → Camera:

• Enable Auto-reconnect — the dashboard reconnects automatically
• Set Reconnect interval to 10 seconds

Audio

3D printers make noise — especially the AMS and cooling fans. Consider:

• Place the microphone away from the printer
• Add a noise filter on the microphone in OBS (Noise Suppression)
• Or use background music / chat audio instead

Automatic scene switching

OBS has built-in support for scene switching based on window titles. Combine with a plugin (e.g. obs-websocket) and the 3DPrintForge API to switch scenes automatically when a print starts and stops.