SIGNAL BROKER - PRE-RECORDING CHECK
Game, commentary, picture. Run it in this order before every recording.
From the-signal-broker.web.app/guides/pre-recording-check/ (16 October 2026).
No timings are claimed; the test recording is as long as you make it.
Your build is shown in the app under Help/About.

GAME
[ ] The game is running before you choose it in the app; you pick the game window, not the launcher or store.
[ ] The game is confirmed: the app identified it, or you named it with Search. Missing or partial knowledge does not prevent a session.
[ ] Speech role chosen: SPECTATOR or PLAYER.
[ ] Allow game capture ticked after reading the capture notice; START BROKER pressed; the game brought to the front.
[ ] The Broker Bar (Ctrl + Shift + Alt + B) shows LISTENING, THINKING or SPEAKING.
[ ] The in-game overlay on your own screen is where you want it (Overlay > Edit overlay layout). Exclusive fullscreen can hide every overlay; borderless or windowed is the reliable alternative.
[ ] OBS shows the game: Game Capture of the game's window, or Window Capture of it in borderless or windowed mode. Other overlays and capture tools closed.

COMMENTARY
[ ] Talkativeness and role set for this recording; one change at a time since the last one.
[ ] Signal Time on the balance: enough for the session. The app warns at one minute and at fifteen seconds; the Broker will not start on zero.
[ ] Windows plays him where you listen: Settings > System > Sound > Output is the device you listen on; in the Volume mixer, Signal Broker is not muted and uses that device.
[ ] Broker volume balanced against the game: app Settings > Voice & capture; the game's own audio settings.
[ ] OBS captures that device: Settings > Audio > Desktop Audio names it; Desktop Audio 2 disabled unless you mean it.
[ ] The Desktop Audio meter moves when he speaks: unmuted, fader up, peaks out of the red.
[ ] Advanced Audio Properties (the gear in the mixer): Audio Monitoring is Monitor Off for Desktop Audio, or monitors to a device OBS does not capture; Desktop Audio is ticked on every track you record and on the stream's track.
[ ] No second copy of his voice: Listen to this device unchecked on your microphone (Sound control panel > Recording > microphone > Properties > Listen); headphones on if a microphone is open; nothing else playing on the desktop.
[ ] You know the controls: PAUSE holds him without ending the session; STOP ends it; no in-session game switching.

PICTURE
[ ] One Browser source: Local file off; URL pasted from Copy OBS Source; Width 800, Height 600; Enable OBS overlay on in the app.
[ ] The source is visible and on top: eye icon on, above the game source, the Broker shows in the preview.
[ ] The preset in the app matches where the source sits; bars, map and point of aim stay readable; captions off the bottom strip.
[ ] Viewers see him once: Game or Window Capture plus the Browser source. With Display Capture the in-game overlay is also captured, so leave one of the two out.
[ ] The key is not in the scene: no Browser source properties dialog, no browser address bar from Preview preset, no app screenshot with the address. Never show or share the address.
[ ] The HDR decision is made: Windows HDR and Auto HDR off for an SDR recording, or OBS's documented HDR settings (Settings > Advanced: P010, Rec. 2100 (PQ), Partial; Game Capture sRGB Color Space Rec. 2100 (PQ); a 10-bit HEVC/H.265 or AV1 encoder) for an HDR one.
[ ] Windows is not recording in the background: Game Bar background recording and capture off.
[ ] Recording path has space; the format is one you chose knowingly (OBS recommends MKV and can remux to MP4 afterwards).

RECORD AND REVIEW
[ ] Record a short test: start, let him speak at least once, stop. It spends Signal Time exactly like playing without a recording.
[ ] Watch the file, not the preview: the game is visible; he is visible once; captions readable at the output size; HUD readable while he speaks.
[ ] Listen to the file: his voice is there, once per line, not doubled, balanced against the game, on the track your player plays.
[ ] Fix one thing, record again.
[ ] Say it is AI: the commentary is generated by AI. Say so on stream or in your description; some platforms and countries require it.

Founder Alpha is early-access software; the commentary can be wrong, repeated or badly timed, and it is sold to customers in the United States only.