OBS shader filter

Test Card Shader

Colour bars and alignment grids on a colour source, for building a scene without the cameras.

  • By Andi v0.0.1 Free
  • Windows macOS Linux
  • OBS 28+
Four dummy cameras: colour bars, an alignment grid, a flat colour and a bordered card.
Four dummy cameras: colour bars, an alignment grid, a flat colour and a bordered card.

Turns a blank Colour Source into a labelled test card, so you can build and rehearse an overlay on a machine that does not have the real cameras plugged in yet.

Four Colour Sources, this filter on each, labelled CAMERA 1 to CAMERA 4, and your scene is laid out properly before the capture cards arrive.

Everything it does

Key features

  • Four background styles: SMPTE-style colour bars, a grid with a centre crosshair, a flat colour, or your own image
  • Label built from a word and a number, so CAMERA 1, SOURCE 2, FEED 3, NO SIGNAL, OFFLINE
  • Ten preset words, plus a None option if you only want the number
  • Text size, colour and an X and Y offset
  • Label plate behind the text, with its own colour, padding and corner radius, so the label stays readable over the bars
  • Frame border with its own colour and width
  • Grid colour, spacing, line width and crosshair width
  • Image backgrounds with Stretch, Fit and Fill mapping and six aspect presets
  • Bars level slider, for when full-brightness bars are too much on a preview

Four backgrounds, one filter

Colour bars give you something that reads instantly as a missing feed. The grid is an alignment chart with a centre crosshair, so it is the one to use when you are lining up a crop or a transform. Solid is a flat colour for a holding card. Image points at your own PNG or JPG.

Colour bars, grid and crosshair, solid colour, and a background image.
Colour bars, grid and crosshair, solid colour, and a background image.

The grid is for lining things up

Set the spacing and you have a ruler across the frame. The centre crosshair marks the middle, so you can see straight away whether a source is actually centred or just close.

It pairs well with a frame border, which shows you exactly where the source bounds are once the transform is on it.

The alignment grid with a crosshair and a frame border.
The alignment grid with a crosshair and a frame border.

Why the label is a dropdown

OBS only hands shaders numbers, colours and toggles. It never hands them text, and a shader cannot read the source name either. So the label is built from a Word dropdown and a Number slider instead of a text box.

That covers CAMERA 1 to 4, INPUT 1 to 4, SOURCE, FEED, SIGNAL, TEST, NO SIGNAL and OFFLINE. Set it once per source and you are done.

Four of the preset words, with and without a number.
Four of the preset words, with and without a number.

obs-shaderfilter by Exeldro, installed. Apply to a Colour Source, or any other full-frame source

History

Patch notes

v0.0.1
  • Four background styles: SMPTE-style colour bars, a grid and crosshair chart, a flat colour, or your own image with Stretch, Fit and Fill mapping
  • Label built from a preset word and a number, with an optional plate behind it and an optional frame border

Ready to try it?

Drop it on a source as a shader filter and it runs there. Nothing to sign into, nothing to keep open alongside it. Questions, ideas or something not working? We are in the Discord.

More for OBS

The rest of the family

The other StreamUP shaders. Each one its own download, with its own page.

DISCLAIMER

By downloading this product you agree to not redistribute AND/OR sell it for any profit whatsoever. Feel free to completely edit this product and change it for your needs. We do not offer support on any modifications.

Last updated: 20 September 2026