A guide to streaming
Since a lot of people have been asking me how I stream and what I use I figured it'd be best to just make a quick and dirty guide.
First things first. I use OBS. http://obsproject.com/
Unless you're streaming a 32 bit game or program (which honestly isn't very likely) then there is no reason why you shouldn't download the 64 bit version.
You're going to need a good quad core CPU at minimum if you plan to stream with little to no FPS lag. You'll also need a decent upload. You'll need AT LEAST a constant 2MB upload speed if you plan on streaming 720p quality.
Obviously you'll need to create an account on Twitch.TV.
After it's downloaded and installed, open it up and you'll see two white boxes. One will say scenes and the other will say sources. You'll first want to right click under scenes and add a scene. You'll want to right click under sources in the white box area on the right side and choose Software Capture. Make sure you select your monitor for the software capture.
After that you'll go to the settings tab and then Encoding. This is the most crucial setting as to how your stream will look aside from resolution. Quality balance is pretty straightforward; you just simply need to test it out and find what you like or don't like when it comes to how your stream looks.
Max bitrate and buffer size. You'll need to do an upload test to determine how much bandwidth you have to work with. Do a quick test on www.speedtest.net choosing the server closest to where you live. As a quick example, my maximum upload speed is about 2.2MB. I have my bitrate and buffer set to 1800. I don't set it at the max of 2200 because I need to give my upload a little overhead room. ALWAYS set your buffer to the same value as your max bitrate.
As for the codec, I choose AAC and 128 bitrate because the sound quality is better than MP3.
Next is broadcast settings. Mode will be livestream, service will be TwitchTV/JustinTV. For FMS URL it is best to choose the location that is nearest to you. In my case it is US West: Los Angeles, CA.
For the stream key, you will need to be registered on Twitch.TV and then go to www.twitch.tv/broadcast and copy and paste the stream key given. The auto reconnect setting simply automatically connects you to go live should your stream go offline for whatever reason.
As for delay, the only time I put a delay is when I'm streaming a match to ensure there is no ghosting. The normal delay between the viewers and Twitch.TV is about 5-10 seconds. The closer you are to the person streaming, typically the shorter the delay will be. The delay is in seconds, not minutes. So, say you want a two minute delay, you would enter 120 seconds.
For video, this is important. You want to set the OBS resolution to the same resolution of whatever it is you are streaming. Let's say you play Cross Fire on 1024x768, that's the resolution you want to set OBS to. Let's say you want to stream your desktop. I use my desktop's native resolution, which is 1440x900, therefore I set it to 1440x900 on OBS.
Audio is pretty straightforward... you simply choose an output device if you want your voice to be heard on stream. If there's no push to talk hotkey assigned, anytime your microphone picks up a sound it will be heard on stream.
On the advanced tab I would make sure you have multithreaded optimizations turned on, though I believe by default after installing the program they are already on. The x264 CPU preset is almost always fine set to veryfast so you shouldn't need to change that. The only other setting I'd worry about on the advanced tab is send buffer. I have mine set to 1460.
The only other setting I use would be for my webcam. I have a Logitech C270 webcam, and like many other streamers, I don't mind showing myself on stream. If you have a webcam and want it to be shown on stream, you'll go back to the main OBS page, right click the white area under the sources tab and select video capture device. I'd rename it to whatever model your webcam is just because it's easier to remember what the setting is for. In my case I have it named Logitech C270. You then select your webcam and select the resolution and FPS you want it to be set at. As for the resolution, generally the rule is the higher your stream resolution, the higher your webcam resolution can be. I for one choose quite a small resolution because people are there to see a game played, not your face. As for FPS, I honestly would just leave it at 30 FPS because it will look incredibly stupid if it's anything lower. Another thing to note is that if you have a webcam and simply don't want to be shown for whatever reason you can set the opacity to 0, which means your webcam will still be on but your image will be invisible.
If you want to move your webcam's image location, you'll go to the main OBS screen, select your video capture device (whatever you named it) then click preview stream and edit scene. After this, you'll press control and left click on your webcam on the stream preview window and you can drag your webcam image to where you want to show up on the stream.
First things first. I use OBS. http://obsproject.com/
Unless you're streaming a 32 bit game or program (which honestly isn't very likely) then there is no reason why you shouldn't download the 64 bit version.
You're going to need a good quad core CPU at minimum if you plan to stream with little to no FPS lag. You'll also need a decent upload. You'll need AT LEAST a constant 2MB upload speed if you plan on streaming 720p quality.
Obviously you'll need to create an account on Twitch.TV.
After it's downloaded and installed, open it up and you'll see two white boxes. One will say scenes and the other will say sources. You'll first want to right click under scenes and add a scene. You'll want to right click under sources in the white box area on the right side and choose Software Capture. Make sure you select your monitor for the software capture.
After that you'll go to the settings tab and then Encoding. This is the most crucial setting as to how your stream will look aside from resolution. Quality balance is pretty straightforward; you just simply need to test it out and find what you like or don't like when it comes to how your stream looks.
Max bitrate and buffer size. You'll need to do an upload test to determine how much bandwidth you have to work with. Do a quick test on www.speedtest.net choosing the server closest to where you live. As a quick example, my maximum upload speed is about 2.2MB. I have my bitrate and buffer set to 1800. I don't set it at the max of 2200 because I need to give my upload a little overhead room. ALWAYS set your buffer to the same value as your max bitrate.
As for the codec, I choose AAC and 128 bitrate because the sound quality is better than MP3.
Next is broadcast settings. Mode will be livestream, service will be TwitchTV/JustinTV. For FMS URL it is best to choose the location that is nearest to you. In my case it is US West: Los Angeles, CA.
For the stream key, you will need to be registered on Twitch.TV and then go to www.twitch.tv/broadcast and copy and paste the stream key given. The auto reconnect setting simply automatically connects you to go live should your stream go offline for whatever reason.
As for delay, the only time I put a delay is when I'm streaming a match to ensure there is no ghosting. The normal delay between the viewers and Twitch.TV is about 5-10 seconds. The closer you are to the person streaming, typically the shorter the delay will be. The delay is in seconds, not minutes. So, say you want a two minute delay, you would enter 120 seconds.
For video, this is important. You want to set the OBS resolution to the same resolution of whatever it is you are streaming. Let's say you play Cross Fire on 1024x768, that's the resolution you want to set OBS to. Let's say you want to stream your desktop. I use my desktop's native resolution, which is 1440x900, therefore I set it to 1440x900 on OBS.
Audio is pretty straightforward... you simply choose an output device if you want your voice to be heard on stream. If there's no push to talk hotkey assigned, anytime your microphone picks up a sound it will be heard on stream.
On the advanced tab I would make sure you have multithreaded optimizations turned on, though I believe by default after installing the program they are already on. The x264 CPU preset is almost always fine set to veryfast so you shouldn't need to change that. The only other setting I'd worry about on the advanced tab is send buffer. I have mine set to 1460.
The only other setting I use would be for my webcam. I have a Logitech C270 webcam, and like many other streamers, I don't mind showing myself on stream. If you have a webcam and want it to be shown on stream, you'll go back to the main OBS page, right click the white area under the sources tab and select video capture device. I'd rename it to whatever model your webcam is just because it's easier to remember what the setting is for. In my case I have it named Logitech C270. You then select your webcam and select the resolution and FPS you want it to be set at. As for the resolution, generally the rule is the higher your stream resolution, the higher your webcam resolution can be. I for one choose quite a small resolution because people are there to see a game played, not your face. As for FPS, I honestly would just leave it at 30 FPS because it will look incredibly stupid if it's anything lower. Another thing to note is that if you have a webcam and simply don't want to be shown for whatever reason you can set the opacity to 0, which means your webcam will still be on but your image will be invisible.
If you want to move your webcam's image location, you'll go to the main OBS screen, select your video capture device (whatever you named it) then click preview stream and edit scene. After this, you'll press control and left click on your webcam on the stream preview window and you can drag your webcam image to where you want to show up on the stream.
Comments
-
Hm.
So you're telling me you figured out how to stream with a upload speed of 2MB and a quad-core CPU with OBS. I respect your work and such, and you're basically teaching the basics, but that's nothing really "figured out".
I have a upload speed of 70KB/Sec and I can stream fine in 720p, you just have to adjust it here and there with your buffer rate/max bit rate and how much you wanna use your CPU.
So you definetely should explain how to stream fine with a bad connection. I mean, it's not a very big deal to stream with a 20MB upload speed tbh. So you should try and tell in what way you have to adjust it and play with it to see the best results. -
You just completely missed the entire point and idea of the thread. The thread was simply a "getting started" guide more than anything. Giving people an idea of how to do things if they're confused on how to begin streaming.[MOD]Nonnen wrote: »Hm.
So you're telling me you figured out how to stream with a upload speed of 2MB and a quad-core CPU with OBS. I respect your work and such, and you're basically teaching the basics, but that's nothing really "figured out".
I have a upload speed of 70KB/Sec and I can stream fine in 720p, you just have to adjust it here and there with your buffer rate/max bit rate and how much you wanna use your CPU.
So you definetely should explain how to stream fine with a bad connection. I mean, it's not a very big deal to stream with a 20MB upload speed tbh. So you should try and tell in what way you have to adjust it and play with it to see the best results. -
MattManFPS wrote: »You just completely missed the entire point and idea of the thread. The thread was simply a "getting started" guide more than anything. Giving people an idea of how to do things if they're confused on how to begin streaming.
#ShutDownNonnen :rolleyes: -
Step 1
Since a lot of people have been asking me how I stream and what I use I figured it'd be best to just make a quick and dirty guide.
First things first. I use OBS. http://obsproject.com/
Unless you're streaming a 32 bit game or program (which honestly isn't very likely) then there is no reason why you shouldn't download the 64 bit version.
You're going to need a good quad core CPU at minimum if you plan to stream with little to no FPS lag. You'll also need a decent upload. You'll need AT LEAST a constant 2MB upload speed if you plan on streaming 720p quality.
Obviously you'll need to create an account on Twitch.TV.
Step 2
After it's downloaded and installed, open it up and you'll see two white boxes. One will say scenes and the other will say sources. You'll first want to right click under scenes and add a scene. You'll want to right click under sources in the white box area on the right side and choose Software Capture. Make sure you select your monitor for the software capture.
Step 3
After that you'll go to the settings tab and then Encoding. This is the most crucial setting as to how your stream will look aside from resolution. Quality balance is pretty straightforward; you just simply need to test it out and find what you like or don't like when it comes to how your stream looks.
Buffer Size/Max Bitrate
You'll need to do an upload test to determine how much bandwidth you have to work with. Do a quick test on www.speedtest.net choosing the server closest to where you live. As a quick example, my maximum upload speed is about 2.2MB. I have my bitrate and buffer set to 1800. I don't set it at the max of 2200 because I need to give my upload a little overhead room. ALWAYS set your buffer to the same value as your max bitrate.
As for the codec, I choose AAC and 128 bitrate because the sound quality is better than MP3.
Broadcast Settings
Mode will be livestream, service will be TwitchTV/JustinTV. For FMS URL it is best to choose the location that is nearest to you. In my case it is US West: Los Angeles, CA.
Stream Key
For the stream key, you will need to be registered on Twitch.TV and then go to www.twitch.tv/broadcast and copy and paste the stream key given. The auto reconnect setting simply automatically connects you to go live should your stream go offline for whatever reason.
Delay
As for delay, the only time I put a delay is when I'm streaming a match to ensure there is no ghosting. The normal delay between the viewers and Twitch.TV is about 5-10 seconds. The closer you are to the person streaming, typically the shorter the delay will be. The delay is in seconds, not minutes. So, say you want a two minute delay, you would enter 120 seconds.
Resolution
For video, this is important. You want to set the OBS resolution to the same resolution of whatever it is you are streaming. Let's say you play Cross Fire on 1024x768, that's the resolution you want to set OBS to. Let's say you want to stream your desktop. I use my desktop's native resolution, which is 1440x900, therefore I set it to 1440x900 on OBS.
Audio
Audio is pretty straightforward... you simply choose an output device if you want your voice to be heard on stream. If there's no push to talk hotkey assigned, anytime your microphone picks up a sound it will be heard on stream.
Advanced Tab
On the advanced tab I would make sure you have multithreaded optimizations turned on, though I believe by default after installing the program they are already on. The x264 CPU preset is almost always fine set to veryfast so you shouldn't need to change that. The only other setting I'd worry about on the advanced tab is send buffer. I have mine set to 1460.
Webcam Settings
The only other setting I use would be for my webcam. I have a Logitech C270 webcam, and like many other streamers, I don't mind showing myself on stream. If you have a webcam and want it to be shown on stream, you'll go back to the main OBS page, right click the white area under the sources tab and select video capture device. I'd rename it to whatever model your webcam is just because it's easier to remember what the setting is for. In my case I have it named Logitech C270. You then select your webcam and select the resolution and FPS you want it to be set at. As for the resolution, generally the rule is the higher your stream resolution, the higher your webcam resolution can be. I for one choose quite a small resolution because people are there to see a game played, not your face. As for FPS, I honestly would just leave it at 30 FPS because it will look incredibly stupid if it's anything lower. Another thing to note is that if you have a webcam and simply don't want to be shown for whatever reason you can set the opacity to 0, which means your webcam will still be on but your image will be invisible.
Image Location
If you want to move your webcam's image location, you'll go to the main OBS screen, select your video capture device (whatever you named it) then click preview stream and edit scene. After this, you'll press control and left click on your webcam on the stream preview window and you can drag your webcam image to where you want to show up on the stream.
Copy and paste that.
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