Hey again everyone. I'm posting the next of section of the guide I put together for your enjoyment and perusal. If you already read the whole thing from the complete PDF version, feel free to ignore this post. This is here to put a complete version up on reddit itself and for the benefit of anyone who isn't inclined towards seeking out the pdf.
If you would like to download a full copy, you can find it here! As before, feel free to share the guide in its complete form and I appreciate any and all suggestions people might offer.
Equipment and Software
This section is meant to provide some general advice and guidelines. If you want to learn more about equipment, my strong recommendation is to check out the Twitch subreddit. There are some incredibly knowledgeable people there who have posted guides and answered so many questions on improving your broadcasting setup. One caveat: please use the search function. Many common questions have already been answered, and if you do some research, you’ll get more value out of the questions you do ask!
Equipment
-
Microphone
While it’s technically possible, I don’t know of any high quality broadcasts on Twitch that don’t use a microphone. Verbal communication is one of your best means of interacting with your audience and adding value to your stream. As a result, I would recommend spending at least a bit of money to get a mid-range USB microphone. A high-end audio setup would be ideal, but for a beginning broadcaster, there are several great options well under $150. Commonly recommended microphones include the CAD-u37, Blue Snowball, Blue Yeti, and the Audio-Technica AT2020. Setting up these microphones correctly is also important. This involves positioning the microphone close enough to your mouth, reducing background noise, and a lot of experimentation with settings.
Because audio can be such a detailed and difficult topic to broach, here are two incredibly useful guides:
Basic Audio Guide: https://goo.gl/bOs9Nw
Advanced Audio Guide: https://goo.gl/LL5VFV
-
Camera
A camera isn’t a required piece of casting equipment, but remains a reasonable choice for many streamers. That visual element adds another way for you to reach your audience, and some people will only watch streams where they can see the broadcaster. However, using a camera also requires you to be cognizant of your physical appearance, mannerisms, and posture. If you look slovenly or disinterested, your camera is probably hurting you more than helping.
Starting out, any 1080p or 720p webcam is more than sufficient. Eventually, you might consider using an HD camcorder with a capture card, but that is probably overkill initially. The Logitech C920 line is probably the most often recommended option. I’ve also had personal success with the Microsoft Lifecam. Either way, find a way to position your camera well. Use a tripod, mounting bracket or just a lot of duct tape. Also remember to select the correct camera resolution in whatever capture program you use, and make sure that with each game you play, the camera is positioned over a relatively unimportant part of the screen.
-
Streaming Computer
Remember that your computer will be both running a game and encoding your stream. Encoding is a CPU-intensive operation and you can easily have issues as a result. A mid-range i5 (or equivalent) processor or is the absolute low end of what you want for broadcasting. An i7 is ideal, as your CPU will be supporting both your broadcasting software and the game you’re playing. Obviously, your computer should be powerful enough to run whatever games you wish to play beyond that. That usually entails having at least 8GB of DDR3 RAM and a video card that is at least as powerful as a GTX 650 series. While your streaming software won’t have a huge impact on RAM usage, it will put at least a bit of strain on your video card, so be aware of this.
A two-computer setup bypasses many of these issues, but is probably beyond most beginning broadcasters. For an introductory look on the topic:
Two PC Broadcasting Guide: https://goo.gl/fjmWrR
-
Screen Space
You need to be able to play your game, adjust capture settings, and read chat while you’re streaming. Doing all that from a single monitor is a challenge. Ideally, you want at least two monitors when you broadcast (or if you have a laptop available, consider using that to view chat).
-
Lighting and Green Screen
A starting broadcaster likely don’t require heavy lighting or a green screen. I recommend setting up a pair of desk lamps with white-light bulbs, one on each side of your camera, facing you. Buy compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) in the 3500K+ temperature range from your local hardware or big-box store. Mess around with positioning to ensure the highest quality.
If you want to set up a green screen, you can do so inexpensively. Fabric from a local craft store can easily be hung from hooks in your ceiling, strung up on some clips or a retractable clothesline, or stretched over a PVC pipe frame. This will look good in almost every case, and should cost $30 or less. Play around with the lighting you have before committing to a large lighting purchase, but a green screen will benefit from at least two directed light sources. Also note, distance is your friend - increasing the space between your body and a green screen reduces shadows and improves chroma keying.
-
Other
Use headphones or a good headset to listen to game audio. Speakers will be picked up by your microphone and the resulting echo is thoroughly unpleasant for your viewers.
If you plan on playing console games, remember that Twitch does have a streaming app on both Xbox One and PS4. This limits many of your customization options, but can be a reasonable option for many people. If you want to stream on other systems, you’ll need to buy a capture card to manage this. This is something that you’ll want to research and understand before committing to. Check these links for more information.
Console Streaming Guide: https://goo.gl/a9wcmU
Information on my Favorite Capture Card: https://goo.gl/rDvTaw
Software and Stream Setup
-
Broadcasting Software
Today you have several options for broadcasting. You can simply use the built-in software on the current generation of consoles, but this severely limits your streaming options. Open Broadcasting Software (OBS) and XSplit are the dominant choices out there, though a few others do exist. OBS is free and has vastly improved since its early days. XSplit is subscription-based, but has options and settings that many people prefer. Use what you want and note that ultimately, you’ll have most of the same basic options on all of those pieces of software.
XSplit Home Page: https://www.xsplit.com/
OBS Home Page: https://obsproject.com/
-
Initial Setup of Software
Use a guide. There are many of them out there for every piece of broadcasting software and they will help. For easy access, I am linking the standard Twitch OBS and XSplit broadcasting guides below. Use the Twitch subreddit to find more in-depth information!
OBS Setup Guide: https://goo.gl/A70Gl5
XSplit Setup Guide: https://goo.gl/tWtG25
-
Understand Upload Rate, Resolution, Framerate, and Presets
Your upload rate determines how much data your stream can use. Chances are, the amount of upload you can reliably use is slightly less than what your ISP states you have. With a 5Mbps upload speed, you might get 3.5-4.5 Mbps that you can use without issues. This upload rate corresponds to the bitrate that you set in your capture software (1000 bitrate is using about 1Mbps). Higher upload rates mean more data can be used and will generally give you better quality.
Regardless of the amount of data you use, you can set the resolution your viewers see and the number of frames they receive each second (framerate). Playing a game in a higher resolution or framerate than you are streaming impacts computer performance without improving what your viewers see. Playing at lower resolutions hurts your quality. Your encoding preset impacts how much effort your CPU devotes to encoding. Slower presets yield better quality, at the cost of intense CPU usage. Veryfast is a generally solid setting, but trying to push out better quality video with low bandwidth may require a lower preset.
When you stream with a lower resolution and fewer frames, it takes less data to look good. Less on-screen action also takes less data to look good. And thus, you have a balancing game between your stable bitrate and stream quality.
Approximating Settings: http://streamcalc.net/
-
Don’t Overdo your Bitrate
Viewers with slower internet will find it impossible to view streams that broadcast too much data. Raising your bitrate too high will essentially remove a large portion of your potential audience from the start. 2000-2500 is a bitrate that will allow you to have a high quality 540p 30fps stream or acceptable 720p 30fps stream for many games without isolating too many viewers.
-
Provide Some Basic Information Below Your Channel
Use the Edit Panels option below your stream and create panels, one for each topic, below your broadcast. If nothing else, include concise information about who you are, the rules of your channel, and the times you plan on streaming. You can also make specific images and upload them for each panel. Check later in this section for a few (free) sources of panel images.
-
Update your Profile and Basic Channel Images
Take a moment to navigate to www.twitch.tv/mychannelname/profile while you’re logged into your account. There, you should be able to update your profile information and banner image. Likewise, navigate to https://secure.twitch.tv/settings to change your profile icon, and go to https://secure.twitch.tv/settings/channel to change your offline image for your stream. These don’t need to be anything fancy, and you’ll likely end up changing them, but they add a personal touch to your channel.
-
You Don’t Need Overlays and Buttons, But They’re Easy to Make or Get
When you begin broadcasting, you can do fine without any stream images or overlays. Displaying the game itself and a message for when you take breaks should be enough. The only times I would really recommend using an overlay early on is when you are playing a game with an odd aspect ratio, or if you really want to include chat in your broadcast (however, with the formal introduction of the Chat Replay option on Twitch, on-stream chat is even less important).
However, it doesn’t take much to learn the basic Paint or Photoshop skills to make simple buttons or stream images. Type “Twitch Overlay” into YouTube and the first few results will be a collection of 10-20 minute tutorials working you through the basic process. You can make serviceable stream assets with a few hours of work at most. Or, you can find a few free ones to use online instead.
Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 1: http://goo.gl/97jhRv
Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 2: http://thingsforstreams.com/
Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 3: https://goo.gl/WbucO0
Free Twitch Panels/Buttons 4: http://styles.artsonist.co/tagged/Tech
-
Alerts and Bots Are Mostly Just Distractions, Starting Out
Starting out your broadcast, alerts are something you probably don’t need. Donations and subscriptions aren’t really a concern for you, and follower alerts probably won’t do much to build your channel. These things may have more value later, but for now, they take your focus from more important things.
Likewise, a chatbot is an excellent tool for many streams. You can work in moderation tools, automated reminders and information spam, channel currency, viewer rewards, and lots of other functionality into your chat with a well designed bot. But starting out, you really will need none of that. Without a regular audience, you should focus on content rather than fluff.
If you absolutely insist on using alerts initially, I can recommend:
StreamPro: https://streampro.io
TwitchAlerts: https://www.twitchalerts.com/
Using these with OBS requires you to install CLR browser on OBS.
Installing CLR Browser: https://goo.gl/L6hp0d
As for publically-available chat bots, the following are generally useful, with some simple setup involved:
Xanbot: https://goo.gl/BtoHEF
Moobot: http://twitch.moobot.tv/
Nightbot: https://beta.nightbot.tv/
Anhkbot: http://marcinswierzowski.com/Code/AnkhBotR2/
Moobot and Nightbot have a relatively simple-to-use online interface. Anhkbot is a bit more involved, but is very well-received in general.
Again, you can download the full guide here. And I appreciate any feedback or suggestions you may have to offer!
For other sections of this guide:
Post 1: Starting Out, What Are Your Goals?, Planning and Mental Preparation
Post 2: Equipment and Software
Submitted by sadpandadag | #Specialdealer Special Offer Online Shopping Store 2016
No comments:
Post a Comment