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Ivaj O'Franc
Ivaj O'Franc

Posted on • Edited on • Originally published at dev.to

Automation of OBS Scene Loading in Windows

#obs #powershell #windows #automation 
id: 2788202
title: "Automation of OBS Scene Loading in Windows"
published: true
tags: ["obs", "powershell", "windows", "automation"]
series: "I Fixed It and I Don't Know How"
description: "🎬 I fixed it and I don’t know how: Automating OBS Scene Loading on Windows   🇪🇸 Leer este..."
canonical_url: "https://dev.to/ivajofranc/automation-of-obs-scene-loading-in-windows-26p5"
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🎬 I fixed it and I don’t know how: Automating OBS Scene Loading on Windows

🇪🇸 Leer este post en español

It all started with something that seemed simple: I wanted that every time any user logged into a PC, an OBS scene file (scenes.json) would automatically be copied into their profile. In theory, it was just a PowerShell script. In practice, it was another story.

🧩 The basic PowerShell script

First, I put together the script copy_scenes_test.ps1, which basically copied the scenes.json file to the OBS scenes folder in the user’s profile:

$source = "C:\Path\Source\scenes.json"
$destDir = "$env:APPDATA\obs-studio\basic\scenes"
$dest = Join-Path -Path $destDir -ChildPath "scenes.json"

if (!(Test-Path -Path $destDir)) {
    New-Item -ItemType Directory -Path $destDir -Force | Out-Null
}

Copy-Item -Path $source -Destination $dest -Force
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Simple, right? Now I just had to make it run on every logon.

🔍 First idea: the official way (GPO)

The first solution I thought of was: use a GPO in Active Directory to run the script at user logon.

On paper, perfect: centralized, controlled, with logs.

In reality… too heavy for just one machine. I decided to look for something simpler.

🚀 The alternative: common startup folder

I went for the classic startup folder:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
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First attempt: a shortcut with .bat

I made a .bat that created a shortcut to run PowerShell. It worked, but with one annoying detail: the PowerShell window popped up at logon. Not pretty.

🛠 The final solution: a .vbs to hide it

The trick was to use a .vbs that executed the PowerShell script hidden:

Set objShell = CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
objShell.Run "powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File \"C:\Path\copy_scenes_test.ps1\"", 0, False
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And then a .bat to create the shortcut pointing to that .vbs:

@echo off
set startup=%ProgramData%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup
powershell "$s=(New-Object -COM WScript.Shell).CreateShortcut('%startup%\Copy scenes test.lnk');$s.TargetPath='wscript.exe';$s.Arguments='\"C:\Path\hidden_test.vbs\"';$s.WorkingDirectory='C:\Path';$s.Save()"
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Now it worked: it ran at logon, with no annoying windows, and without requiring strange privileges.

🧪 Silent check

To make sure everything was working, I added a log at the end of the .ps1:

Add-Content "$env:TEMP\obs_test_log.txt" "Copied on $(Get-Date)"
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That way I could verify it without asking users.

✅ Result

  • On every logon, the scenes.json file is copied to the correct profile.
  • Execution is invisible to the user.
  • No admin rights required.
  • No need to touch global execution policies.

In short: it looked like a mess, but it ended up working fine. Another case of “I fixed it and I don’t know how”.

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