Stream setup
Everything between “I have an account” and “I'm live”: your camera, OBS, and connecting OBS to your show. About 30–45 minutes the first time, mostly installing software. After that you only use the go-live checklist.
You'll need a Mac or Windows computer, a webcam pointed at where you open cards, Google Chrome, and a seller account on your platform.
Track it in the app. Each channel has a Channels → Stream setup tab with these same steps. Most of them tick themselves off when BreakersDNA detects them; the ones it can't see, you mark done.
The steps
- 1
Camera Splitter is running
Lets OBS and the break page use your card camera at the same time.
- Download Camera Splitter for Mac or Windows and install it.
- Open it and pick the webcam pointed at your cards. It publishes one camera called BreakersDNA Output.
- Leave Camera Splitter open whenever you stream. Use BreakersDNA Output everywhere — in OBS and on the break page — never the raw webcam.
How you know it worked: this step turns green on its own in Stream setup.
- 2
Card test passed
Proves BreakersDNA can identify cards from your camera before you go live.
- Choose BreakersDNA Output as the test camera and allow camera access.
- Hold a real card flat and still for a moment. Fix any glare or blur warning, then try a shiny card too.
- It's done when the test shows the card it identified.
How you know it worked: this step turns green on its own in Stream setup.
- 3
Whatnot Bridge installed
Copies each Whatnot sale (buyer and price) into your break so you don’t retype it. (Whatnot channels only.)
- Install the Whatnot Bridge browser add-on in the same browser you run Whatnot in.
- Reload the page afterwards — it shows as installed once your browser has it.
- During a show keep your Whatnot show page in one tab and your BreakersDNA break page in another.
How you know it worked: this step turns green on its own in Stream setup.
- 4
OBS is showing this channel’s overlays
Puts your camera plus the BreakersDNA graphics into one video for your stream.
- Install OBS Studio (free) from obsproject.com and open it.
- Before importing anything: OBS → Settings → Video, set Base (Canvas) Resolution and Output (Scaled) Resolution to 1080x1920, click Apply.
- In Overlays, open this channel and click Download OBS Scene. In OBS: Scene Collection → Import, pick the file, then quit and reopen OBS.
- Switch to Scene Collection → BreakersDNA — (this channel). In the Live scene add Sources + → Video Capture Device → BreakersDNA Output, fill the screen, and drag it to the bottom of the Sources list.
- It's done once OBS loads the overlays — this step turns green on its own.
How you know it worked: this step turns green on its own in Stream setup.
- 5
Connect OBS to your platform
Sends your OBS video (camera + overlays) to your show.
Whatnot
- In OBS open Tools → WebSocket Server Settings, tick Enable WebSocket server, click Apply, then Show Connect Info and copy the password.
- Sign in to Whatnot in Chrome on this computer and schedule a show. Make your first one a private show so you can test with no audience.
- Open the show's Show Tools page, choose to connect to OBS, and enter the password (address is usually
localhost:4455). - First time only: click Update Profile (First Time Setup Only), quit OBS completely, reopen it, and connect again from Show Tools.
- Check OBS → Settings → Video afterwards — Base (Canvas) Resolution must still be 1080x1920. Whatnot's profile update can change it.
- Every show has its own connection: reconnect from that show's Show Tools page before each show.
eBay Live and other platforms
- Open your show in your platform's seller tools on this computer and choose to stream from OBS (streaming software).
- Follow your platform's connect steps — usually copying a Server and Stream Key into OBS → Settings → Stream.
- Check OBS → Settings → Video afterwards — Base (Canvas) Resolution must still be 1080x1920.
- Click Start Streaming in OBS and open the show on your phone to see what viewers see.
How you know it worked: you can see your stream on your phone. Then mark this step done in Stream setup.
Test in a private show
A dress rehearsal with no audience, using your real OBS and BreakersDNA setup. Do it once before your first real show.
Whatnot
- In Whatnot, schedule a show called Test – do not join and turn on Private stream at the bottom of show setup. Only people with the link can join.
- Connect OBS from that show's Show Tools page and click Start Streaming. Open the private link on your phone, muted.
- Create a test break in this channel (name it TEST – rehearsal), link one box, and run it end to end: Continue: Start Auction, sell spots to made-up buyers (e.g.
test_buyer1, $20), Continue: Start Rip, scan a few cards, then Continue: End & Summarize. - Scan the Compliance Mark QR code with your phone to see the buyer view.
- Clean up: on Breaks, open the test break's ⋮ menu → Reset break, then Delete break. A finished test break would otherwise count in your analytics.
- Testing the Whatnot Bridge auto-fill needs a real sale — e.g. a friend wins a cheap item in your private show. That's a real order, so check Whatnot's cancellation rules first. Everything else can be tested by typing buyers in.
eBay Live and other platforms
- If your platform offers a private or unlisted show, schedule one and connect OBS to it. If not, use OBS Start Recording instead of streaming and watch the recording back.
- Create a test break in this channel (name it TEST – rehearsal), link one box, and run it end to end: Continue: Start Auction, sell spots to made-up buyers (e.g.
test_buyer1, $20), Continue: Start Rip, scan a few cards, then Continue: End & Summarize. - Scan the Compliance Mark QR code with your phone to see the buyer view.
- Clean up: on Breaks, open the test break's ⋮ menu → Reset break, then Delete break. A finished test break would otherwise count in your analytics.
Go live
About 20 minutes before every show. You move the break forward yourself — nothing advances on its own.
- Lights on. Camera Splitter open with your card camera selected.
- OBS on the Live scene with Show Demo Data in OBS turned off in the overlay studio.
- OBS connected to tonight's show from its Show Tools page.
- Chrome tab 1: your Whatnot show. Tab 2: your break page (Whatnot Bridge pinned).
- On the break page, the scanner camera is BreakersDNA Output.
- Click Start Streaming in OBS, then Continue: Start Auction on the break page. Until the auction starts, only the Compliance Mark shows on stream — that's normal.
Not on Whatnot? Same checklist — connect OBS to your show on your platform instead of Show Tools, and skip the Bridge.
Something not working?
Stream shows only my camera and the Compliance Mark
That’s normal until you click Continue: Start Auction on the break page.
Overlays are blank or cut off in OBS
OBS → Settings → Video must be 1080x1920 (canvas and output). Re-import the scene after fixing it, or click Refresh OBS in the overlay studio.
Overlays shifted after connecting to Whatnot
Whatnot’s profile update can change the canvas. Set Base (Canvas) Resolution back to 1080x1920.
Sample data is showing on my stream
Turn off Show Demo Data in OBS in the overlay studio and make sure OBS is on the Live scene.
The camera is missing on the break page, or OBS and the browser fight over it
Keep Camera Splitter open and pick BreakersDNA Output in both OBS and the break page’s scanner — never the raw webcam.
Cards aren’t being identified
Reduce glare, hold the card flat and still, fill more of the frame, and re-run the card test. Space on the break page is a manual backup scan.
Whatnot sales aren’t filling in
Check the Whatnot Bridge shows as installed, your Whatnot show and break page are open in the same browser, and the break is in the auction phase.
Video isn’t reaching my show
Reconnect OBS from that show’s Show Tools page (each show has its own connection) and use wired internet if you can.
Still stuck? Email support@breakersdna.com.