Streaming is sharing with the viewers on the Internet what is happening on our screen - or exciting game, the events we are but above all this is a hobby that is increasingly finding a place in the everyday life of an increasing number of people. How to stream? Let's do this!
Streaming is making the web live, computer screen or smartphone so that others can watch our struggles in your favorite games, important events in which we participate, or just the US!
The best streams gather hundreds and thousands of viewers and gain great popularity. If we want to succeed, we need to know who and what age are our recipients, as well as to understand what is currently popular and what can be encouraged to watch. Such analysis and planning is very important, but let us not forget that this fun must firstly and foremost please us. Without this, we will not be able to provide fun to the recipients. So let's try your hand.
How to start the adventure with streaming? Certainly in various ways, but I am sure that this article is enough for you to be at least "well-versed".
Internet link
One of the most important restrictions is the internet connection. Streaming consists in uploading a stream of data to external servers, where others can view us. Most of us, signing contracts with internet providers, do not even check what upload speed is on offer. Often the link has a quality of 5 to 1, so if we can download at a speed of 50 Mb / s, we send at a speed of 10 Mb / s. The most recomended speed is atleast of 4 Mb / s. You can stream up to 1 Mb / s but this will not bring the effects that viewers require. It's best to check the provider's offer in search of a symmetrical link, that is, as much as we download - the same amount we upload.
The transfer time of 100 MB of data depending on the link
For comparison:
240p - Data used per 5 minute video - 8mb
360p - Data used per 5 minute video: 13mb
480p - Data used per 5 minute video: 20MB
720p - Data used per 5 minute video: 38MB
1080p - Data used per 5 minute video: 62MB
Equipment needed
Processor
The CPU is the most important element of the streaming machine. Sharing a live recording from our computer involves capturing what is happening on the screen, as well as sound from the device and our microphone. Then everything is compressed to the appropriate format and sent to the servers on which we share our content. And these are additional tasks for our computing unit.
The correct operation of the game we want to stream on our computer is just a small part of the task. If we notice lags during streaming, it does not have to be the fault of a weak graphics card, but just too much CPU load.
Intel's multi-core processor will be best to stream. The models of this company are often recommended by experienced streamers. But if we want to stream small games, it will be without a good processor.
In general, if we want to stream the game at 60 frames per second, we need to be sure that our processor is able to provide us with performance nearly 20 percent higher.
Dedicated cards for image capture (AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable Lite)
AVerMedia Live Gamer Portable Lite - this card is able to provide us with video capture in 1080p 60fps. This allows you to relieve the processor of the task of encoding material on the stream, thanks to which we can deal with a less efficient processor. In addition, this card works best for capturing images from the console. This is not a cheap solution and we do not have to decide on it, but it is worth knowing about it.
RAM
Operating memory is never too much, especially if you also want to edit materials later to place them on websites. RAM memory is mainly used in the process of video compression when streaming. The best choice for middle class games will be 8 GB, but it is always worth installing more.
Graphics Card
The graphics card should work primarily during the game, because its task is to generate an image on the screen. A stronger card can be used to relieve the weaker CPU if we notice fps drops that are not in play while streaming. I recommend Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080
Microphone
If you're just starting to play with streaming, it's not worth spending a few hundred dollars immediately on professional microphones with noise reduction. Cheaper models will work quite well.
I recommend MXL 990 Condenser
Camera
Adding the image from the camera to the stream is not necessary, however, it has a very positive effect on the reception of the material when people watching our stream can see our emotions.
I recommend Logitech C930e
Software
There are a lot of streaming programs on the internet. They are mainly used to stream gameplays of popular games. They differ mainly in price, level of optimization.
Here are some applications that will allow us to stream without problems:
OBS Studio
This is one of the most recommended programs for all who want to deal with streaming. It is created under the Open Source license. It has many interesting options built in, such as the ability to adjust the number of recorded fps or setting the output format to which the recorded file should be saved.
A big plus is the ability to operate on stages.
Price: free
Website: https://obsproject.com
Size: 360 MB
Evolve
This is one of the simplest programs that will allow you to stream and save our game. We can only provide live content to the Twitch website. The application itself allows you to find many players. We can connect with them and play together.
Price: free
Website: https://evolvehq.com
Size: 143 MB
images from: freepik.com
or my work.
Feel free to use comment section and follow me if you did enjoy this article!
Thanks for reading!