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OBS countdown overlay

A countdown for a launch, a break, or the end of a stream. Paste the URL into OBS.

How to use it

  1. Open Overlay Studio and choose Countdown.
  2. Duration counts a length of time. Event time counts down to a date and time in the zone you pick.
  3. Anchor to now writes the end into the URL, so a reload of that same URL keeps the end. An event time works the same way because the end is an absolute moment.
  4. Copy the browser source URL into an OBS Browser Source at 1920 by 1080.
  5. Pause and Reset appear only if you turn on Show pause and reset. In OBS, right-click the source and choose Interact. An anchored duration cannot be paused, because its end is fixed in the URL.

Limits to know

  • A duration without an anchor is remembered only in that browser source, on that computer. It does not follow you to another browser.
  • If OBS shuts the source down and that profile has no saved deadline, Start on load begins a new duration.
  • There is no shared remote control and no sound.

Questions

Will the OBS countdown restart when I change scenes?

An event time and a duration with Anchor to now keep the same end, because that end is in the URL. A plain duration is stored in the browser source on this computer. If OBS discards that storage, Start on load begins again.

Can I pause the countdown from the stream output?

Turn on Show pause and reset, then use Interact on the browser source. Clicks on the program output do not reach the page. Pause is not available once the end is anchored in the URL.

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