Setting Up a Livestream: Windows
In this guide, you'll be learning the basics of getting a livestream started for the ten.java contest.
If you'd like help with anything to do with getting your twitch stream set up, please feel free to PM Aero on irc.esper.net.
Contents:
Getting your twitch account ready
First of all, sign up for an account by going to twitch.tv and hitting the Sign Up button in the navbar.
Fill in your information, sign up, confirm your email address, and then head over to this page:
http://www.twitch.tv/<username>/dashboard/streamkey
(You'll need to replace <username> with your new username)
Copy and paste this key somewhere (or just leave the page open), as you'll need it later.
Now your account is ready. Head over to your stream page (twitch.tv/<username>), and set your title, picture, and a whole load of other options!
There are multiple programs you can use to stream your desktop to streaming sites like twitch.tv, but the one I'll be using in this guide is OBS: Open Broadcaster Software.
First, head over to obsproject.com, and hit the big Download button. Once you've got the installer executable file, go ahead and run it to install OBS.
Once you've got OBS installed, click the Settings > Settings button in the menu bar. You will then be greeted by the General options menu. Choose a name for your profile by typing your chosen name in the box and hitting Add.
Next up, in the Encoding menu, you'll need to set up the maximum bitrate the software will be able to stream at. If you don't know what the Max Bitrate (kb/s) value should be, head over to speedtest.net and do a speedtest to your nearest server.
If your upload speed is 3.0Mbps, then you should stream at around half of your bitrate - 1500kb/s in our case.
On audio encoding - your settings should look something like this:
However, you'll want to lower your audio bitrate if your upload speed is terribly slow.
Your settings should end up something like this:
| Option | Value |
|---|---|
| Mode | Live Stream |
| Streaming Service | Twitch / Justin.tv |
| Server | whichever one is closest to you |
| Play Path / Stream Key (if any) | refer to stream key we set up earlier |
| Auto-Reconnect | ticked |
| Auto-Reconnect-Timeout | 10 |
| Delay (seconds) | 0 |
| Minimize Network Impact | depends on your net. refer here |
| Save to file | tick if you want to save the video |
| File Path | only set up if you're saving the vid |
| Hotkeys | set to your personal preference |
- If you have multiple video adapters, choose the correct one you'd like to display on the stream.
- Set your base resolution to the full resolution of your screen or just select the monitor you'd like to use.
Resolution Downscale: This should be set to the resolution you'd like to appear on the livestream. I have mine set to 1.50 (1280x720) but this could be different for you if you have a bad upload speed.
I also recommend you use the following settings to maximize your computer performance whilst streaming (totally up to you if you want to change them):
To save some time in this section, choose the devices appropriate to your computer, and make sure all the settings are correct. Here are mine for reference:
If your microphone has a stereo option, you might want to force it to mono if you don't want to broadcast both channels of audio, which saves a little bandwidth.
Unless you know what you're doing, I recommend you use the following settings, otherwise your stream will mess up quite badly in most cases. If you'd like to know more about any of the settings, refer to the OBS community forums or PM me on irc.esper.net (my nick is Aero).
You may want to tweak some of these options if your computer is on the less powerful side, mainly the Process Priority Class option.
Once you've set up a scene in OBS (very easy to do, so I won't show you in this wiki guide) you can just press the button to get started!