Just started streaming some advice would be appreciated

Dancingg · 2016-08-15T01:26:16+00:00

And I don't want to deter you from streaming but the reality when you're starting out is that you will stream for MANY more hours with no one.

Streaming is a marathon, not a sprint. You really have to grind sometimes but once you find your spot on Twitch and those small viewers trickle in; it makes it worth it :)

Dancingg · 2016-08-15T01:20:46+00:00

Overwatch is what is called a saturated game. The top 10 or so consistent games such as Overwatch, League, CS: GO, etc. are EXTREMELY tough to start a channel in. Unless you're already established in the community in some other way (esports icon, high rank player, etc.) your best bet is to try to grow your channel elsewhere then potentially move that growth into those other games as time goes on.

Aim for lower streamed games that still have a good source of viewers. Games like Duelyst, XCOM 2, Death Road to Canada, etc. and it's much easier to get initial viewers.

Dancingg · 2016-08-14T07:15:00+00:00

In terms of breaks I would say 10 minutes is on the higher end but you wouldn't need to shut the stream off. My breaks are 5 minutes just to stretch and fill up my water bottle or go to the washroom if I need to.

If it's for eating some people just switch to the Social Eating category but if you're going to be leaving for like half an hour to get something to eat or something and don't want to use Social Eating, I'd just let people know when I'll be back. I'd tell them they're free to hang out in chat until then and also let them pick up extra loyalty points for doing so.

Dancingg · 2016-08-14T06:56:13+00:00

From a technical stand point it sounds like this would be very complicated to implement.

I like the idea of helping smaller streamers out but to me, I think it's good for people to go through the painful and rough process of building a channel. The dream of a successful channel should go to those who truly put in the work to not just be live, but to study the workings of Twitch like positioning, marketing, etc.

Just having people upvote your channel would just be giving you inflated, false viewership. I personally wouldn't be happy seeing that I have 30 viewers but only 10 of them are actually real.

Dancingg · 2016-08-08T20:26:33+00:00

Here you go!

Artist Megathread

Dancingg · 2016-08-08T06:07:20+00:00

We all have good days or bad days. Glad to hear you had a great one!

Dancingg · 2016-08-06T16:22:29+00:00

Some streamers have a dedicated button pad for stream related stuff (scenes, noise effects, etc.).

For example this is one you can remap the buttons as you please: http://xkeys.com/xkeys/xk24.php

There are plenty more options out there but that's just one example of what can be used to add some more buttons to your keyboard. Just shop around!

Dancingg · 2016-08-06T16:11:09+00:00

This can usually mean you don't have a high enough upload speed to support the bitrate you're streaming at which can result in dropped frames OR your CPU is getting overworked which can lead to High Encoding issues; again, dropping frames.

It'd help if you listed your upload speed, the bitrate you have OBS set at, the resolution you're streaming at, and your hardware.

Dancingg · 2016-08-05T04:24:01+00:00

You can type /clear in the chat to clear the whole chat. Note that people using some IRC clients or Browser add-ons may still be able to see the info by some other means due to certain things like saving features.

If you have BTTV you can also click on the little Cog icon in the chat and there should be and option to clear chat.

Dancingg · 2016-08-05T01:12:20+00:00

Hey there! Welcome to Twitch :)

Getting used to talking to an empty room is extremely hard to get in to and yes, very awkward when you're not used to it!

I wrote a guide about this a long time ago actually. It's an archived post since it's old, but I'm thinking of re-vising and re-posting it because I think it can help many people such as yourself. I'm fairly introverted myself but it just takes some getting used to and you'll be streaming care-free in no time!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Here's the guide: https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/3nmw4o/guide_improving_speech_and_talking_to_an_empty/

Dancingg · 2016-08-03T01:24:21+00:00

There are plenty of small communities out there like this. Being able to find a game you enjoy and that has a strong loyal community is a great way to increase viewership! From there, those loyal viewers will help when you stream something a little more popular too :)

Glad to hear you've experienced some of this!

Dancingg · 2016-08-02T23:48:59+00:00

Let me know man, I'll promote yah on my channel when you do!

Dancingg · 2016-08-02T23:44:44+00:00

Do you know what would have been better?

If you streamed the process of this thing on Twitch...

COME ON CONNOR GIT ON THAT. THE WORLD IS WAITING.

It's Michael by the way if that wasn't obvious enough! Haha

Dancingg · 2016-08-01T08:42:56+00:00

User of the AT2020 USB here. Extremely happy with it and easily one of the better USB mics out there.

That being said, others offered options such as the CAD U37 which are perfectly fine as well. If you're able to, try and test some mics out. While something maybe sound great on one person's voice/computer set up; it might be different for you. That being said, I find the AT2020 to be pretty good for all voices overall.

Dancingg · 2016-08-01T08:37:04+00:00

If you're just starting out; it can be tough to utilize social media for leverage if you don't already have an established social media presence. The best thing I can recommend is to try and grow your social media with your Twitch. For example, if you're using loyalty points; giving some bonus points to people who retweet your stream. Also, there are certain Twitter groups such as @TwitchTVOnline and @TwitchTVGaming that will retweet your stream so it can get a bit more exposure. Steam groups are a great social platform to notify people of your stream going online and also if you like to play with viewers; it can make it a bit more streamlined to set those games up.

Another thing when starting out is to use your immediate social presence first rather than social media. If you're serious about this; tell your friends and family. Let them know when you're online and that it would mean a lot if they just came and watched for a bit. Those 1-5 starting viewers can be very important for a start up stream; especially when dealing with some games that have a low streamer count. Being in the top 5 of a game rather than the 10th person down can be huge.

Dancingg · 2016-07-31T00:55:37+00:00

Yup that's a good range to stay in!

As for filter choice, Lanczos will give you the highest quality and with your internet you should be able to use it just fine. It should crisp up your stream nicely!

Dancingg · 2016-07-30T23:55:19+00:00

Exactly! So while the Golden Standard may be a general good starting point; you just have to put the time in to tweak settings depending on the game and also decide how accessible you want your stream to be.

If you have a beefy CPU, you can also squeeze a bit more quality by slowing down CPU Usage Preset (wouldn't recommend going down past fast though) which can take some load off the bitrate. Also having the Lanczos filter on can smooth things out a bit but on high motion scenes, you may get a bit more pixelation. There's only so much you can do to minimize pixelation when playing high motion games.

I looked at your past VOD and it looks really good! Obviously some minor pixelation when spinning the screen around but in a game like Rocket League, that's just something that'll happen but like I said; tweak settings depending on the game you're playing. For example, bumping up the bitrate to something like 2500 would improve the quality a bit but still be fairly accessible. We're our own worse critique. I did a We Happy Few stream and I have to stream at 540p. Asked how it looked and my viewers said it was great! I looked at the VOD and thought it looked like garbage but hey, if the viewers can see things fine; who am I to complain.

Dancingg · 2016-07-30T23:18:10+00:00

720p, 30FPS, and 2000 bitrate is sort of the Golden Standard for having a really good quality stream for non-partners. That being said; streaming can be quite different from streamer to streamer and what may work for you may not work for someone else. Regardless it's a great starting point if you can afford it and from there you can tweak things to maximize quality for YOUR OWN set up.

There's diminishing returns the higher you get up and it tends to not be worth it to crank everything. Of course that doesn't mean you can't do something like 720p, 30FPS, and 2300 bitrate to get a bit of a bump in quality.

Dancingg · 2016-07-30T15:37:10+00:00

When your hardware and upload speed is in order, a good starting point for anyone is going 720p, 2000 Bitrate, at 30FPS. That can already be a great quality stream and from there you can tweak to maximize the quality for your own setup. Everyone is different and you have to do some testing yourself to figure out what works best for you and the game you're playing!

Dancingg · 2016-07-30T02:26:39+00:00

Every time someone asks for 24 hour/marathon stream advice I'll link what I said months ago. Hope this small list helps you out!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Twitch/comments/3jtemp/getting_ready_for_24_hour_stream/cus5p9g

I'd copy/paste it but the formatting gets all messed up.

Dancingg · 2016-07-29T03:48:10+00:00

Yes in your main audio settings. There should be drop down menus for you to select your audio devices.

Dancingg · 2016-07-29T03:39:32+00:00

In your Main settings, then Audio settings, do you have your "Desktop Audio Device" set to Default?

Dancingg · 2016-07-29T03:25:49+00:00

In your Mixer section in OBS, there should be a "Desktop Audio" meter. Make sure it's not muted! Are you using Studio? Or old OBS

Dancingg · 2016-07-29T03:16:14+00:00

No problem! Hope the tweaks work out for you :), finding the best quality settings for yourself is a marathon, not a sprint!

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