Tag: Restream.io

Script to Run OBS and Restream Chat

I have been streaming regularly for a couple of months now, and had yet to automate the boring stuff, so here comes a first pass…

I wrote previously about using Restream.io. I’ve been using Restream Chat’s Windows application (details), and will continue to do so pending clear signals to transition to a single streaming service.

Enough about me: let’s get on with the show.

During installation, Restream Chat adds a Desktop Shortcut. This shortcut is an Application Reference (.appref-ms) located in C:\Users\[YOUR-WINDOWS-USERNAME]\Desktop

Restream Chat also adds a Start Menu Program Group with a similar shortcut to C:\Users\slash\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Restream.io\Restream Chat.appref-ms

Let’s dive in…

I dragged and dropped the Restream Chat shortcut into a Notepad window to see what would happen, and was greeted with the following output:
https://restream.io/restream_chat/RestreamChat.application#RestreamChat.application, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=907cb1181ada7abb, processorArchitecture=msil

I used this as the basis for the first iteration of my batch script

First Iteration

start "" "C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin\32bit\obs32.exe"
start "" https://restream.io/restream_chat/RestreamChat.application

Observations
OBS starts with errors

  1. Error: Failed to find locale/en-US.ini
  2. Error: Failed to load locale

Launches default browser, and creates a new entry in recent downloads. This is a minor inconvenience.

I explored for a way to request the RestreamChat application from its URL without launching the default browser. One suggestion was to use Wget for Windows, but I would like to avoid any external dependencies.

Second Iteration

start "" "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\OBS Studio.lnk"
start "" "C:\Users\[YOUR-WINDOWS-USERNAME]\Desktop\Restream Chat.appref-ms"

Observations
This works! … but what if I want to remove both desktop shortcuts?
Why does this work?
Probably because the OBS Studio.lnk desktop shortcut includes Start in: “C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin\32bit”

Third Iteration

cd "C:\Program Files (x86)\obs-studio\bin\32bit"
start "" obs32.exe
start "" "C:\Users\[YOUR-WINDOWS-USERNAME]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Restream.io\Restream Chat.appref-ms"

That’s it for now. I may take this a step further in the future, but as they say… “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!”

How to Unify Chat Across Multiple Channels Using Restream Chat

I’ve been using Restream.io to simultaneously broadcast my stream to three different channels.

I use their Restream Chat client (Windows) to monitor chat across all three channels.

Sometimes, I type responses to chat directly in the channel. However, I know that most established streamers respond to messages in chat using their microphones.

To increase the transparency of chat activity across the separate channels, I began using the Restream Chat client’s built-in bot.

Restream Chat’s bot can interact with viewers on your behalf. By default, the bot is turned off. To turn it on and bring together chat messages from separate channels:

  1. Open Restream Chat
  2. Click the cog wheel icon, directly to the left of the minimize icon in the Restream Chat window. This brings up the Settings pane
  3. From the Settings pane, select Bot from the menu
  4. Check “Enable bot”
  5. Check “Enable message relay between all chats”

Restream Chat also makes it easy to configure an overlay so that messages from the separate chats are visible in stream. Barring the ability to highlight specific messages, I am holding off on using that feature.

Updates
Restream.io’s Help Center (support.restream.io) also has an article on this subject https://support.restream.io/restream-chat-app/basics/how-to-setup-the-restream-chat-relay-bot