Set up and control a teleprompter with OBS
To use a teleprompter with OBS, open the NextPrompt Display link on a screen near your lens, or add it as a browser source routed to a monitoring output, and control the scroll from your phone with the Controller link. For automation, every control action is a plain HTTP GET URL that obs-websocket scripts or the Advanced Scene Switcher can fire, so play, pause, and speed can follow your scenes. No plugin is required.
Step by step
- Put the reading screen by your lens. Open the Display link in a browser window on the screen nearest your camera and size the text so you can read it at a glance. This is the setup that keeps your eyes near the lens while OBS runs the stream, and it keeps the prompter out of your scenes entirely.
- Or bring it into OBS as a browser source. For a confidence-monitor workflow, add the Display link as an OBS browser source and route it to a projector or secondary output. Use that source only on outputs your audience never sees; the prompter belongs in your monitoring, not your program feed.
- Control it from your phone. Open the Controller link on your phone and drive play, pause, and speed from your hand while you stream. Nothing about this touches OBS, so there is no plugin and no scene change involved.
- Automate it from OBS if you want. Every control action is a plain HTTP GET URL, so any OBS-side tool that can fire a web request (an obs-websocket script, or Advanced Scene Switcher's web-request action) can start the prompter when your talking-head scene goes live and pause it when you switch away.
The URLs automation can fire
Replace the origin with the domain your NextPrompt links already use, and CONTROL_ID with the share id from your Controller link:
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=play
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=pause
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=restart
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=speed&value=2.5
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=speed&value=up
.../api/nextprompt/share/CONTROL_ID/control?action=speed&value=down
Speed takes an exact value from 0 to 5, or up / down for the same nudge as
the on-screen arrows. A password-protected link needs
&password=YOUR_PASSWORD appended. Treat control URLs like
passwords: the share id in the URL is what grants control.
Looking for the streamer's overview instead of the mechanics? See the teleprompter for livestreams and OBS.
Open a teleprompter
Questions
Does NextPrompt need an OBS plugin?
No. The prompter runs in a browser window beside OBS, or in a standard OBS browser source if you want it on a monitoring output. Automation uses plain GET URLs that existing OBS tooling can fire.
Will my stream see the teleprompter?
Not unless you put it there. In its own browser window it is invisible to OBS. As a browser source it appears only in scenes and outputs you add it to, so keep it off your program scenes.
Can OBS start and stop the scroll automatically?
Yes, through any OBS-side tool that can fire a web request, such as an obs-websocket script or the Advanced Scene Switcher's web-request action, pointed at the play and pause control URLs. Add the password parameter if the Controller link is protected.