Introduction

Hello everyone! Are you looking to start streaming online and interact with millions of people who also use the internet? At first glance streaming can seem pretty daunting and there is a bit of a setup required to have things looking nice, and it can take a lot of streams to feel comfortable doing it as often as those who do it for a living.

In this article, I will be talking about the important things you need to consider when starting a stream as well as ways to customize your stream from appearance to performance settings and everything in between!

The article is also based on a series of YouTube videos that I recently uploaded that will provide a guide for you to follow when setting up and getting your stream ready to go live!

One thing to consider before we get started is if you are really interested in streaming, ask yourself before you start putting in the work to get it up and running:

Why do I want to start streaming?

There are many reasons to stream and also things you can do while streaming, but it should really be something you think you’d enjoy doing and making content for people to watch.

The idea that you could turn streaming into a full time career is something I would compare to being selected for a role in a movie or even drafted onto a professional sports team. My point here is that you have to stand out and have a good track record to even have a chance of making that work. However, if that isn’t your primary goal and you want to simply share something you’re passionate about with an audience who has similar interests, then prepare for a new hobby that might change your life!

Streaming Gear To Consider

When considering what you’ll need for a stream, it will depend on what sort of content you want show. Just doing a talk show? You’ll probably just need a webcam and some other cameras and a microphone. Streaming a game? You’ll need a computer with good parts and an even better internet connection, but to list it all for you, here is what I would suggest you have:

Gear you will NEED

• A computer to run the stream program
• A microphone (unless you don’t want to talk with anyone…)
• A decent internet connection, preferably wired over wireless
• At least two monitors ( I know it technically is possible to stream with one, but trust me you won’t enjoy it.)
• A way to listen to your audio, either headphones or speakers
• If you plan on streaming console games you will need a game capture device such as an Elgato.

Optional Gear

• A webcam/green screen (Believe it or not, there are many streamers who choose not to use webcams and still are wonderful to watch)

• Extra audio/visual effects such as voice filters or visual effect programs

• Audio Mixers/Stream Decks
  
  
  

Choosing Your Stream Program (OBS)

The very first thing you’ll need to start streaming is a program that will allow you to capture what you are showing and live stream it to a site that allows you to do so. Twitch, YouTube and Mixer come to mind when considering these sites.

In the following video below, I talk about using OBS (Open Broadcast Software) for streaming and how to become familiar with and setup the program at a basic level.

Keep in mind, that OBS is not the only option for programs, there are other programs out there such as XCast, Nvidia Share and even Twitch is working on a standalone program, however OBS tends to be the most popular for the few reasons that:

• It’s FREE
• There are different plugins to add to OBS for more options
• It has more functions other than just showing live streams
  
  
  
  

Give Your Stream a Good Look!

Once you have OBS setup and have a basic idea of how things work, it’s time to start adjusting how you want it to look when you go live.

The usual things people like to add/change on their stream include:

• Stream Overlay (This can include custom templates for different scenes in OBS and offer things like a built in chat or a webcam frame)
• A custom chat-bot to help engage your chat and filter out inappropriate chatters
• Widgets and Alerts to notify you and chat when anything happens!

The following video will help you customize your stream’s appearance in OBS and get it ready to go live!

Advanced OBS/Video/Encoder Settings

Now it is time to start getting into the technical stuff, understanding these settings is important if you are looking to fine tune your stream for the best visual quality possible for your stream without causing your internet to have a figurative heart attack. Thankfully there are ways to have OBS auto configure the settings for you, however in time you will find it helpful to understand these different settings to better control the quality of your stream!

When it comes to setting up your video settings the main things to consider are:

• Your stream resolution (720p, 900p, 1080p, etc)
• Your encoder (Is it CPU or GPU based? do you focus on quality or performance or a little of both?)
• What type of capture will you use to show your video to your audience? (Game capture, window capture, display capture, etc)
• Your frame rate (30, 59.94, 60, etc)

In the video below, I talk about setting up these options as well as how to monitor how the settings will impact your computer when streaming. I even talk about some general advanced settings that will help optimize the way you stream!

Audio Settings and Configuration

Next we will talk about setting up your audio so you can actually hear what happens when you stream and add some special effects and filters to give your sound a huge quality improvement!

The main items that you will adjust from an audio standpoint include:

• Your main audio source (Desktop audio/Headphones/Speakers)
• Microphone (Filters, volume and plugins)

In this video below, I’ll go over setting up your audio and even adding a few extra options to help improve your quality and potentially blow your mind at the difference!

Why Your Internet Matters

For the last portion of this guide, I will talk about how your internet will impact the quality and consistency of your stream and how to determine what settings to use based on your connection. When it comes to setting your stream up, your internet affects a few things.

• The bitrate that you can stream reliably at.
• The highest resolution that can be processed without dropping frames or lagging
• Your ISP (Internet Service Provider) location determines what servers will work best

With all this in mind, you will need to test your internet, figure out what your speed is and calculate that into your bitrate to determine if your stream will lag or not… Luckily you have a guide and video to help you through that 🙂

Before you watch the video, there is a great calculator that will give you an idea of what internet speed you should have to manage a stream at a certain bitrate and resolution here. You simply enter the settings you wish to stream at and it will tell you the optimal bitrate. Keep in mind that even with this recommendation the stream may still drop frames occasionally depending on other factors with your internet.

Once you have finished figuring out your ideal stream settings, you should test your stream, (Which I also talk about in the video above) and preferably on a few different servers to find which one works best.

Conclusion

After talking about the different aspects and figuring out what makes a stream, I hope this article will help any prospective streamer make that first live broadcast and share their desire to stream amazing content and have the looks and technical know how to match.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them either on my blog here or the YouTube videos. I hope to continue making more relevant blog posts to help aspiring streamers and gamers find what makes these subjects so wonderful to enjoy and share with others.

As always,

Brother Ghesh out~