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OBS

How to Set Up Vertical and Horizontal Stream Overlays

A practical guide to creating separate portrait and landscape stream compositions, configuring platform workflows, handling overlay limits, and testing both outputs.

By VGSources Team 6 min read
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To stream in landscape and portrait at the same time, build for two different frames rather than assuming one overlay will fit both. A 16:9 scene cropped to 9:16 can cut off game HUDs, text, alerts, or camera framing. Depending on the platform, use a deliberate crop, fit, stacked layout, or a separately composed portrait scene.

Choose the workflow for your platform

Platform or tool How dual format works What to check
Twitch with OBS Twitch documents an additional vertical canvas in OBS, with portrait scenes that can be linked to their landscape counterparts. The documented path uses OBS Studio 32.0.0 or newer with Enhanced Broadcasting and an additional canvas such as Aitum Vertical. Feature access and current requirements can depend on your account and Creator Dashboard. Twitch distinguishes Partner and select Affiliate access to server-side support from workflows without that support. See Twitch’s dual-format guide.
YouTube Live Control Room YouTube’s built-in vertical layout offers center crop, fit to phone width, and stacked options. For third-party dual streaming, the documented encoder workflow uses a second stream key for the vertical output. See YouTube Help for the current Live Control Room and encoder workflow.
TikTok LIVE Studio Dual layout combines portrait and landscape and adapts to the viewer’s screen orientation. Chatbox and ranking widgets are removed when a landscape scene switches to dual layout because they are unsupported in portrait. See TikTok LIVE Studio Help Center.
Restream Restream documents dual output workflows in both Studio and OBS for supported destinations. Confirm destination compatibility and feature availability in your current account and product interface. See its guides for Studio and OBS.

Build the landscape and portrait compositions

Keep the main 16:9 scene intact

If landscape is your main desktop broadcast, retain its normal 16:9 composition. The horizontal canvas uses your regular OBS base and output resolution. Treat the vertical output as its own frame, not as an afterthought squeezed into the horizontal scene.

Create a portrait scene with its own source placement

For Twitch’s OBS/Aitum example, Twitch gives 720×1280 and 1080×1920 as typical portrait canvas sizes. These are examples in Twitch’s guidance, not universal requirements for every platform. Place the camera, gameplay, alerts, and other essential sources specifically for that frame. A full-scene scale-down can make text and HUD details too small; a center crop can hide material at the left and right edges.

For a gameplay stream, check the game’s HUD, subtitles, minimap, and any on-screen instructions before deciding what to crop. If these cannot fit in a narrow frame, consider a portrait composition that gives gameplay less space and camera or other key content more room, or use a fit or stacked layout where the platform offers it.

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Choose a YouTube vertical layout deliberately

In YouTube Live Control Room, edit the scheduled stream’s vertical layout and select the framing that preserves what matters:

  • Center crop: useful when the subject stays near the middle, but edge content can disappear.
  • Fit to phone width: keeps the full horizontal picture visible within the phone’s width, but may leave unused space around it.
  • Stacked: places content in a vertical arrangement instead of relying on a narrow crop.

YouTube says a vertical layout edited through its editing canvas can be adjusted while live. Do not assume the same flexibility applies to an encoder-based dual output.

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Set up Twitch dual format in OBS

  1. Confirm eligibility and requirements. Check the Creator Dashboard and Twitch’s current dual-format guide for access to Enhanced Broadcasting and the workflow available to your account. Twitch’s documented OBS path calls for OBS Studio 32.0.0 or newer and an additional vertical canvas, such as Aitum Vertical.
  2. Configure the landscape canvas. Keep your regular OBS base and output resolution for the horizontal broadcast. Finish and preview this scene before creating its portrait counterpart.
  3. Add and size the portrait canvas. Use a portrait resolution appropriate to your setup. Twitch’s examples are 720×1280 and 1080×1920; select based on your system’s capacity and the platform’s current requirements.
  4. Arrange each source for portrait. Resize and reposition gameplay, camera, alerts, and text individually. Keep important visuals centered and verify that all sources fit inside the vertical frame.
  5. Link corresponding scenes if your workflow supports it. Twitch recommends linking vertical and horizontal scenes so scene changes and transitions stay coordinated. After linking, make scene swaps or transitions from the primary horizontal scene menu.
  6. Check chat and widgets in the actual output. Twitch’s vertical mobile experience overlays chat automatically, so a second chatbox on the vertical canvas can duplicate it. Preview the mobile output rather than relying only on the OBS editor.
  7. Test on a phone before a real broadcast. Watch in both portrait and landscape orientations. Check framing, readability, overlays, transitions, and whether the correct scenes appear.

Set up YouTube dual output with an encoder

  1. Open the scheduled stream in YouTube Studio’s Live Control Room. For the built-in layout route, edit the vertical layout there and select crop, fit, or stacked. For third-party dual streaming, use the encoder workflow described in YouTube Help.
  2. Select Encoder and RTMP(S). In the documented third-party workflow, choose the encoder/RTMP(S) option in the Live Control Room.
  3. Set up a second stream key for the vertical output. Keep the horizontal and vertical outputs associated with their intended keys; the encoder must send each format to the matching key.
  4. Verify both output assignments before going live. Confirm which canvas is being sent to each key in the encoder and check the Live Control Room preview. YouTube says the vertical stream cannot be added after the stream has started.
  5. Start the stream from YouTube Studio and monitor it. YouTube provides combined metrics during and after a stream. Vertical-only metrics become available 24 hours later.

Plan overlays for each platform’s limitations

  • Twitch: its vertical mobile experience automatically overlays chat. Avoid duplicating chat in the portrait canvas unless your own preview confirms that it is needed.
  • TikTok LIVE Studio: chatbox and ranking widgets are removed in dual layout because they are unsupported in portrait. Put essential information in supported sources and check the portrait result.
  • YouTube: crop, fit, and stacked layouts change how the same material appears on a phone. Inspect the final vertical view for cut-off HUD elements, text, and alerts.
  • Other tools and destinations: plugin and widget behavior is not universal. Restream’s guides cover its Studio and OBS workflows, and StreamElements documents a Twitch dual-format workflow; confirm the current compatibility and available controls in the product you use. See StreamElements’ Twitch guide.

Check capacity before sending two formats

Two simultaneous outputs can require more encoding resources and upload capacity than one. Twitch warns that enhanced dual-format encoding can strain some systems. Its general overview gives a minimum upstream bandwidth recommendation of 12.5 Mbps for 1080p, while its detailed table varies requirements by resolution and whether server-side transcoding support is available; some configurations list higher minimums. These are Twitch recommendations, not a universal guarantee or a bitrate setting for every service. Check Twitch’s current table and your Creator Dashboard for the intended configuration, then test stability before relying on it.

Do not treat one bitrate number as proof that a dual stream will be stable. Test the complete setup at the resolutions and scene complexity you intend to use, watching for dropped frames, encoder overload, and unstable uploads.

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Test checklist before going live

  • Preview the landscape and portrait output separately.
  • Watch both orientations on a phone; check that the portrait framing is legible and important gameplay details remain visible.
  • Confirm each camera, alert, text element, and other essential source fits its intended canvas.
  • Check that chat and platform widgets behave as expected in the actual viewer experience.
  • For YouTube encoder output, confirm the landscape and portrait feeds are assigned to the correct stream keys before starting.
  • Test scene changes and transitions, especially if vertical and horizontal scenes are linked.
  • Run a stability test at the chosen settings and confirm that the system and upload connection can sustain both outputs.
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