Tips + Tricks to streaming on Twitch

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Finch

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#151964 11-Sep-2014 14:28

Hey guys.

I want to start streaming games on Twitch. I was wondering if there was any fellow Kiwis out there who stream or have streamed in the past, do you have any tips and tricks? Most of my streaming would be coming from my PS4, but might give some PC games a go as well. I have never streamed before, I don't have any friends that stream.

Not going to lie, half the reason I am doing this is to (hopefully) make a bit of extra cash on the side. I know I wont be making anything for a while, but I figured might as well give it a shot and if it doesn't work out then doesn't matter, at least I tried.

I am starting to read a few guides online, but some videos would be nice also as I learn better through seeing something rather than text. I have started setting up a Twitter page, email address etc. just for gaming to separate my personal and gaming accounts.

What are your experiences? Did you enjoy it? Did you ever make money?

Cheers.

[Mod Edit |BH| Moved to a more appropriate forum]

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#1126572 11-Sep-2014 14:29

Whats your upload speed like? Thats the first one :)
Make sure you dont use WiFi

hio77

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#1126577 11-Sep-2014 14:34

streaming from NZ can be pretty weak, due to the fact that twitch servers are so far away..

Hopefully with the Amazon Buyout, Aus servers will pop up.

Personally, i dont see the merit in steaming console games.

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Batwing

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#1126598 11-Sep-2014 15:12

It seems to me the most popular streams are as much about the streamer as they are about the game. Not sure why a console game is any less stream worthy than a PC one, as long as you keep on commentating and don't go in to silent concentration mode. Have a conversation with your viewers and keep the chat window visible to yourself somehow - multiple monitors is a great help.

Flickky

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#1126603 11-Sep-2014 15:20

In order to make money you need to be a Twitch partner.
In order to be a Twitch partner you need to have reasonable following.

It's easier to get a reasonable fanbase/following if you play a popular game, however Twitch are known to give out partnerships to those who don't meet the partnership requirements providing there's potential.

Cross-post your footage from Twitch to Youtube (if you're lazy Twitch has that built in for you, but I would suggest grabbing the raw video from OBS/Xsplit and editing it using something like Vegas) as that would get you money from both websites.

What do you think you'd be streaming? Are you a part of any gaming communities currently?

wasabi2k

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#1126609 11-Sep-2014 15:31

The first thing is to understand what you want to stream for.

If you're in it for the money - maybe look elsewhere. The super popular streamers are the rare exceptions to the rule. For each of them there are hundreds, if not thousands who got nowhere. Starting a stream without a community and asking for money is asking to fail.

If you're in it for fun/personal growth/something to do - fantastic. Be prepared to commit to doing it regularly. An audience will follow someone who streams daily - or at least a few days a week.

On to what you want to stream - unless you are playing at an elite level, noone is going to watch you play LoL, DOTA, Starcraft or Hearthstone, unless you bring something new and interesting to the table. Those games (along with CS:GO etc) are very well served with high level players and professional streamers already.

So the key is to offer something that is fun to watch and use that to build a community. Are you a generally engaging and funny person? Noone wants to watch a quiet sullen person play computer games, unless you are doing something spectacular (speed running, completing rare/quirky games). When you start be prepared to stream to noone - then archive to youtube. Watch your stuff and see where you can improve - would you watch it if you found it on twitch?

On to the technical side - learn your tools - OBS is a good start. Get your webcam sorted, get your microphone or headset levels good and make sure quality is good. Stream to a local file and rewatch it. Get the background/general area you stream in quiet and tidy.

In short - what do you like watching on twitch - why do you like - what can you add to that formula. If you enjoy it an audience may follow, then you can build a community and THEN you can bring the money side into things.

As an aside: I watch WinterSC on twitch. He did a bunch of Q and As. It took him 2 YEARS to build an audience. He now makes roughly 2k-3k a month and streams 8-10 hours a DAY. That is what you are competing with.

Finch

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#1126731 11-Sep-2014 19:33

TimA: Whats your upload speed like? Thats the first one :)
Make sure you dont use WiFi

Have done a couple of speed tests today. My upload speed seems to average at around 0.80, so about 0.20 short of where I need to be? (According to a guide) anyway. I think I may need to change plans to get a faster speed, but not in any rush. Will just see what happens with current speeds, I guess certain games will require a faster speed due to more going on.

hio77: streaming from NZ can be pretty weak, due to the fact that twitch servers are so far away..

Hopefully with the Amazon Buyout, Aus servers will pop up.

Personally, i dont see the merit in steaming console games.

What is wrong with streaming console games? Most games that are on a console are on PC anyway. Is it because the quality of the stream will be lowered?

Batwing: It seems to me the most popular streams are as much about the streamer as they are about the game. Not sure why a console game is any less stream worthy than a PC one, as long as you keep on commentating and don't go in to silent concentration mode. Have a conversation with your viewers and keep the chat window visible to yourself somehow - multiple monitors is a great help.

Yeah I have noticed Streamers talk to their viewers a lot and I would try my best also. I definitely wouldn't ignore, would talk as much as I could. I am a shy person though, so that's a hurdle to get over.

Flickky:

Cross-post your footage from Twitch to Youtube (if you're lazy Twitch has that built in for you, but I would suggest grabbing the raw video from OBS/Xsplit and editing it using something like Vegas) as that would get you money from both websites.

What do you think you'd be streaming? Are you a part of any gaming communities currently?

I thought about uploading clips to Youtube first and see if there is any interest in my videos and go from there rather than just jumping into everything straight away.

Id like to stream more of the recent releases. I do however like watching Watch Dogs online hacking, however Watch Dogs streams get very very low viewers I have noticed. I am not part of any gaming community, I am registered on GP Forums but that's about as far as it goes. Going into this very much solo, however I see that as a challenge, building from the ground up.

wasabi2k: The first thing is to understand what you want to stream for.

If you're in it for the money - maybe look elsewhere. The super popular streamers are the rare exceptions to the rule. For each of them there are hundreds, if not thousands who got nowhere. Starting a stream without a community and asking for money is asking to fail.

If you're in it for fun/personal growth/something to do - fantastic. Be prepared to commit to doing it regularly. An audience will follow someone who streams daily - or at least a few days a week.

On to what you want to stream - unless you are playing at an elite level, noone is going to watch you play LoL, DOTA, Starcraft or Hearthstone, unless you bring something new and interesting to the table. Those games (along with CS:GO etc) are very well served with high level players and professional streamers already.

So the key is to offer something that is fun to watch and use that to build a community. Are you a generally engaging and funny person? Noone wants to watch a quiet sullen person play computer games, unless you are doing something spectacular (speed running, completing rare/quirky games). When you start be prepared to stream to noone - then archive to youtube. Watch your stuff and see where you can improve - would you watch it if you found it on twitch?

On to the technical side - learn your tools - OBS is a good start. Get your webcam sorted, get your microphone or headset levels good and make sure quality is good. Stream to a local file and rewatch it. Get the background/general area you stream in quiet and tidy.

In short - what do you like watching on twitch - why do you like - what can you add to that formula. If you enjoy it an audience may follow, then you can build a community and THEN you can bring the money side into things.

As an aside: I watch WinterSC on twitch. He did a bunch of Q and As. It took him 2 YEARS to build an audience. He now makes roughly 2k-3k a month and streams 8-10 hours a DAY. That is what you are competing with.

Thanks for the big post, lots of info there. I am in it for the money yes, but not 100% about the money and I know money isn't going to roll in on the first day, week, month etc. I work during the afternoons and evenings/nights so have most of my days free and just want to do something with them. Thank you, like an above poster he also recommends uploading to Youtube also so will definitely be taking that tip on board.

Thank you everybody for the information!! Definitely something to work with.

Finch

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#1126785 11-Sep-2014 21:05

So just made an account with twitch. I saw a headline about checking out the Streaming apps. I see there are 5 apps that are supported. What is the most commonly used and what should I be using as a beginner? OBS as Wasabi2k mentioned above? I am leaning heavily towards just uploading videos to Youtube to begin, rather than going all out.

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haydenmarsh

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#1126820 11-Sep-2014 22:01

Take a look at XSplit Broadcaster for streaming :)

dcole13

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#1126836 11-Sep-2014 22:21

ADSL annex A streaming, have fun. You will destroy your Internet at 600Kbps bitrate (not nice on the eyez). If you are on slingshot or Vodafone(?) I think they offer Annex M on their ULL equipment, which will trade some download for upload. Are you sure you are testing to the twitch server location, not the closest server?

Home ADSL: School:

hio77

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#1126846 11-Sep-2014 22:29

your planning on streaming at under 1mibt?

i dont meant to be blunt, but give up.

certainly not if your planning to stream anything with action in it.

as for what i meant about the distance, streaming for whatever reason doesnt tcp window scale reliably, unlike say, a FTP transfer.

this means your likely to be dropping down to the 2~4mbit mark max. to avoid dropping frames. - to be fair, its pretty common to see a 2mbit stream with heavy compression nowdays.

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dcole13

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#1126857 11-Sep-2014 22:50

hio77: your planning on streaming at under 1mibt?

i dont meant to be blunt, but give up.

certainly not if your planning to stream anything with action in it.

as for what i meant about the distance, streaming for whatever reason doesnt tcp window scale reliably, unlike say, a FTP transfer.

this means your likely to be dropping down to the 2~4mbit mark max. to avoid dropping frames. - to be fair, its pretty common to see a 2mbit stream with heavy compression nowdays.

Less than 1.5Mbps I wouldn't do it. Crapton of artifacts, looka terrible, you will get a lot of lag spikes. But hey, give it a go, if it doesn't work it doesn't work. Look into Annex M though, might bump it up a bit to get it so it's playable and looks meh

Home ADSL: School:

Flickky

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#1127180 12-Sep-2014 13:17

I wouldn't even suggest Annex M for streaming. If your address is capable of getting VDSL I'd suggest upgrading so you can stream in 720 or 1080 goodness.

Bigpipe has a really awesome unlimited plan for $89 per month if you were interested ;)
/shameless self-plug

If you're new to streaming OBS is far more beginner-friendly than Xsplit, plus it's free.

Ragnor

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#1127183 12-Sep-2014 13:29

As all the Twitch ingest servers are overseas, there's no way you can stream in decent quality from NZ on ADSL2+. You need VDSL2, Cable or UFB basically.

Huskie

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#1131883 19-Sep-2014 00:28

Didn’t want to bring up this old-ish thread, but couldn’t help myself seeing as I went through the same ordeal earlier this year :o

My settings (I use OBS):
1500kbps (used 800kbps on ADSL2)
1920 x 1080 downscaled to 540p
30FPS (used 25FPS on ADSL2)
Switch between LA/SanFran and Singapore servers due to congestion
I stream on PC tho, not sure if it's the same for console.

Me
First off, I’ll be honest, and say I’m a girl so PERHAPS it’s a little easier for streaming… however judging by how much hate I get for playing fps games from some viewers, I feel it’s more or less the same and my experience may still be useful to you. I am very shy, quiet and a little awkward…only speak when I have to :P HOWEVER, I have a tendency to comment heaps whenever I’m playing a game xD so I guess that helped break the shell for streaming. As time went on, I got to know my viewers more and it’s becoming easier to talk to them.

My Experience
Started streaming earlier this cause my friends wanted to watch me attempt to play BF4 (was a new game for me and I couldn’t fly helis for my life – they thought it was so funny -.-). I only had ADSL2 back then, but didn’t care since it was only for lolz – was like 480p, dropping frames and pixelated as eff xD I don’t know why or how but despite quality issues, I gained some loyal viewers, some of which stuck with me even after I took months off from streaming.
Recently started again, and have upgraded to VDSL since then. It has definitely improved the stream, and more people chat during the stream cause they can actually see what’s going on, however it’s still difficult because I usually stream after work/school which is when most Americans are sleeping so I attract only night owls. On another note, I noticed I’m losing viewers to my American streaming buddies cause viewers want to play with me but can’t cause they get kicked for high ping every time..as a result they play with my US friends and end up watching their streams instead so be prepared lol - all about that interaction =(

Twitter – recently set one up due to requests, don’t know how to use it though…so yip. Not so helpful atm.

Youtube – I think it would be a good place to start if you have content. My viewers keep asking for my YT, but I don’t have anything interesting to post + I find streaming more enjoyable than editing vids etc so it’s up to you.

I very much enjoy streaming, and when I’m having one of those days, streaming can really cheer me up. I’ve only made $10USD thus far, but I don’t really mind. I think streaming (and ofc gaming) is a good stress reliever for me, so I’m already getting something out of it ya know?

Notes
I stream almost Battlefield 4 exclusively which is quite a demanding, fast paced game requiring higher bitrate than other types of games. The settings above can’t give me 720p quality but it is decent (pixelates every now and then but very much watchable) for BF4. Depending on the games you stream, it may be good enough already i.e. was streaming Five nights at Freddys and game quality was great (since the game isn’t very demanding) though my webcam still pixelated).
Plus, if you ever plan on upgrading your connection, I would suggest sticking with VDSL if that’s all you can afford.
I have VDSL 30/10 and can only get 1600kbps on a good day.
My parents place have UFB 100/50, and yet despite a constant 12mbps speedtest result to LA, I can only use max 2100kbps for streaming – any higher and frames start dropping, and for BF4 I don’t feel 1600kbps > 2000kbps makes a diff or is worth the extra internet cost every month.

Tips/Tricks? Don’t really have any… It will be a SLOW start..but stick with it, cause it will get easier to get followers/viewers when you finally have a loyal crew J Bring something unique to the stream? I disconnect HEAPS (up to 50 times a stream due to faulty splitter needing replacement lol), but decided we can still have fun even if my internet is dead for a min – so every time my net goes down, my viewers spam a word we made up a long time ago in a previous stream lol..and it keeps the viewers there until my net decides to start working again :P Be likeable (workin on that myself heh), and interact with your viewers (not too little, but too much can be annoying as well).

In any case, good luck to you if you decide to give it a go and have fun! :D

hio77

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#1131890 19-Sep-2014 00:49

I actually did some steaming tests recently.

my advise, dont use xsplit.

xsplit will give you 2~3.. maybe 4 mbit if your lucky, where as OBS i can hold a easy 6mbit. - there is a tool about to help xsplit with this, but it does not work with the dated version i run.

Speeds are really one thing that can be a bit provider dependant.

@Huskie, girl streamers do tend to get it easy on the viewers it seems, but also heavy on the trolls. - i have seen a few streamers out there which embrace the trolls however and profit extremely well of it!

as for joining in, its just a fact, people arent going to have a good time joining in. its just like if you want to join in with say, an US streamer, your likely to get hit with the same treatment.

Remember speedtests are Multithreaded, not single threaded like your streaming will be.

Would love to pop by/check out your VODS and see what your quality and such as like :)

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Any comments made are personal opinion and do not reflect directly on the position my current or past employers may have.

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