Author: Franz Co

With the rise of today’s superstar streamers, there is a growing misconception that to stream means to chase big numbers in the hopes of making it big. As such, this may actually discourage some people who might be interested in streaming otherwise.

Let me make it clear, despite what others say, watching the Ninjas, the DrDisrespects, and the PewDiePies of the world – you don’t have to chase big viewer counts when streaming. It’s okay to stream just for your friends.

Over the years, big steps have been made towards making streaming a viable way to earn a living. At its core, it is a way for an average person to share their experiences live over the internet.

Why we live stream.

When you think about it, streaming scratches the same itch that led to the creation of the first video cameras. For video game streamers, this is the same push that led me to connect the PlayStation to the VCR. People naturally want to share their experiences with others, and what better way to do that, then via live video.

Since primitive man created cave paintings, we are driven to find ways to share our own experiences with our peers. The development of the ability to record video is arguably the biggest breakthrough when it comes to this. While we had the ability to share images from an event, thanks to still photography; video allowed people to record and share an actual sequence of events. This allowed for more information to be shared, helping someone to experience the same things, even if they weren’t there.

The next big step after the recorded video was the ability to share that video in real-time. Of course, this was something that has existed for some time now, even before recording came about. Live video broadcast was limited to bigger organizations who can afford it.

However, this all changed as thanks to the advent of the Internet. People realized that it could be used to broadcast video. Now, with the use of high-speed Internet, it allows creators to created broadcasted content.

Going live brings a number of advantages that simply recording video could not. Now, you can share any moment or experience with friends across the internet, almost as if they were there with you. For gamers, this is great for when they have friends who they used to play with but aren’t able anymore. I personally have some friends who have moved to different countries who still tune in to my streams just to relive “the good old days.”

Yes, a number of people have found ways to turn this simple act of sharing into a livelihood, and even a shot at stardom. However, it pays to remember these roots. When people first started streaming, it wasn’t to get big, to become the next internet star, it was simply to share, and to connect with other people.

Streaming has never been easier.

Admittedly, when streaming first became a thing, trying to reach big viewer numbers in the hopes of getting some form of sponsorship was more important This is because streaming was a much more expensive hobby back then. Even just the software needed to capture and stream footage cost so much more. Add in the hardware, and streaming back then could turn into an investment beyond the means of most average gamers.

These days, however, streaming is a much more affordable hobby. You can stream on your computer and other devices as well. Most gamers are probably already aware that most video game consoles can live stream, even if they don’t use the feature. Meanwhile, for those gamers who do stream, and are looking to have a more “professional” looking presentation, not only are there more capture cards on the market, their prices have gone down as well.

Moreover, software like XSplit Broadcaster and OBS are more affordable to license. Back in the day, it took a lot more technical know-how and even money to do things like green screen, animated transitions, and more. Nowadays, Xsplit Broadcaster comes with the ability to do these things out of the box.

All in all, it has become much easier to stream at the hobbyist level, doing it simply for your own enjoyment, or that of a small group of friends has become so much easier. These days, all it really takes is a bit of creativity and know-how to be able to put out a well-produced stream.

Stream for friends, stream for the numbers, but always stream for fun

Whether or not you decide to simply stream for fun or grow into a big streamer is up to you. Should you chose to go the latter route, then that’s okay.

That said, you should never forget why people started streaming in the first place. People stream to share their experiences, and sharing experiences can be a fun and rewarding thing to do. In fact, part of what keeps people streaming is just because of how fun and rewarding it can be.

However, there will come a time when doing no longer feels fun. When streaming no longer feels rewarding for you, then maybe it’s time to think about scaling things back a bit. Instead of trying to get as many viewers possible, how about taking a break and share streams that you enjoy.

So, you’ve finally decided to make the jump. After some thought, you’ve finally plugged in your camera, added it to XSplit, and then told it to go live. But then, it hits you — you don’t know what to say in front of the camera.

Now, this is actually quite normal. Not everybody immediately knows how to speak out loud and connect with an audience. Indeed, being able to do so is something that takes a bit of time and practice to learn.

Of course, there are some people who are hit harder by this. We don’t even need to look far, I, for one, suffer from anxiety issues when talking to other people. Of course, anyone who knows me is probably scratching their heads upon hearing this. Didn’t I do commentary for a number of fighting game tournaments a few years back? Don’t I still help stream and cast a number of community events today? Well, yes I do, but that doesn’t mean I still don’t have these same anxiety issues. It’s just that I’ve learned to deal with them in a number of ways.

Fool yourself with the magic of the internet

One of the most beautiful things about the internet is that it offers separation between you and your audience. You don’t directly see your audience, so you don’t see exactly how many of them there are. This is quite helpful for people who aren’t comfortable with public speaking.

Popular Slavic YouTuber Boris, from the Life of Boris channel, recently discussed a technique he used in one of his videos. When recording a video or going on stream, he imagines that only as many people as he’s comfortable with are watching him.  

In other words, he ignores the actual size of his audience. And imagine only talking to as many people as you’re comfortable with. If you’re fine talking with hundreds or even thousands of people, then imagine that. If you find yourself getting nervous talking to more than a handful, say five or six people, then it’s okay to imagine that number as well.

One trick I’d like to add to this is to not just imagine a certain number of people, but also a specific set of people (or even person, should that be the case). See, the number of people you imagine isn’t all that matters, sometimes it’s also who these people are.  

If you find yourself more comfortable talking to your friends or family, than to a group of nameless people, then imagine that you’re simply talking to your friends of the family. Talk as if you’re talking to the people who you’re comfortable walking with. Just don’t get too comfortable and say things you’d only want these people to hear.

Hide behind a “mask,” both literally and figuratively

One other useful (though sometimes dangerous) thing that any form of communication over the internet allows, is a level of anonymity. The internet has allowed so many more ways for people to communicate and express themselves without fully revealing who they are. 

This anonymity can be applied to streaming as well. In fact, there are a number of streamers and content creators (especially from Asian countries like Japan) who tend to cover their faces behind masks. This is done to take attention away from themselves, and draw it instead of what they’re doing. 

Of course, you don’t have to go through such lengths when you stream. You may simply be content to turn off the camera facing you when going live. At the very least, this allows you to lose that feeling of having somebody watching you (instead of your gameplay) when streaming. This works especially well when you’re streaming for a small audience who may already know you.

However, there are some times when you will have no choice but to have a live camera pointed at you when streaming. If you’re lucky, you may still be able to wear a medical facemask to help boost your confidence.  That said, you won’t always have this luxury. In these cases, there is another kind of mask that you can wear, a figurative one.

Many streamers tend to don a specific “persona” when going online. Instead of streaming as themselves, folks such as the popular streamer Dr. DisRespect, portray a created character when they go live. It’s very similar to how actors take on a role when on television or in a film. Or better yet, it’s like how professional wrestlers take on a different, in-ring character when they’re performing. This is done to elicit a reaction and for entertainment purposes.

Now, you may be thinking that portraying a character isn’t easy, and you’d be somewhat right. The key here is to create one based on something of yourself that you’d be fine with exaggerating. The best online personas and characters are those who draw from a bit of truth about the person who created them. By doing so, you won’t have to stray too far from who you are, which also means there’s less risk of you falling out of character and exposing yourself.

Whatever you do, enjoy yourself

Streaming has never been easier as it is now. Software advancement like XSplit Broadcaster made it easier for casual hobbyists to create good looking streams. In the rush to get into the hobby, we should not forget why we started streaming. People started streaming because they genuinely enjoyed sharing in-game experiences live over the internet.

With this in mind, you have to remember to enjoy yourself regardless of what method you use to get over your anxieties when streaming. In fact, it’s this enjoyment that’ll make it much easier to get over your fears. Conversely, the moment you stop enjoying it is also the moment when it starts to become much harder to control your fears and succumb to your anxiety.

In short, just be sure to have fun streaming, and you shouldn’t have any problems finding things to say yo your audience.

It starts differently for everyone, for some it may be seeing a big gaming event being streamed. For others, it’s simply a desire to see their own small local event get streamed online. Meanwhile, there are those who are simply looking to expand their personal brand into something bigger. Whatever the reason, some streamers may want to go beyond just streaming from their homes, to actually casting a small event.

Now for a few people, however, this is also where they hit their first stumbling block. Going from streaming at home to actually streaming an event, no matter how small, is quite a big leap. The extra hardware required, and the accompanying costs can scare off more than a few aspiring event streamers.

Ironically, the fact that streaming is so much easier these days can make this step feel even more daunting. Streaming on a personal level is so much easier these days than it was a few years ago. As such, it’s easy to look at all the equipment used by other people, especially those who’ve already established themselves and get discouraged because of how expensive it all looks. People end up falling into the trap of thinking that you need a similar, expensive set up to stream an event.

The key to avoiding this trap is to break an event stream down into what you need to capture, and then figuring out how to best do so within a small budget. In other words, focus on what actually needs to be streamed, instead of acquiring equipment that may not even be necessary.

Breaking down your sources

At its very core, streaming simply involves capturing feeds from a number of sources, and then mixing them together to broadcast over the Internet. Moreover, there are actually only two kinds of sources: video and audio.

For streaming on a personal level, this breakdown is pretty simple. The game being played provides both a video and audio feed. Meanwhile, your microphone and camera provide a second audio and video feed respectively.

Now, most personal computers can easily handle this. At most, all you’ll really need to spend extra on is a capture card if you’re capturing from a console or a second computer.

When streaming an event, however, both the number and video sources increases. And most computers aren’t really built to handle multiple sources well, at least in a way that’s easy to manage for putting out a quality stream. This is especially true for something that you should consider to be one of the most important parts of a stream — audio.

Audio capture, mixers, and just keeping it cheap

Calling audio one of the most important parts of a stream may sound surprising to some. However, if you think about it, it’s the audio, specifically the commentary provided by you and your co-casters that really transforms a stream from just some people playing games, into an actual show worth watching.

Now, most streams for events and video game tournaments will most likely have at least two casters on the mic. Now, this is where things can start getting expensive because you’re going to need a mixer for this. Yes, you can try simply trying to plug in two USB microphones to a PC, but from experience, this is usually more trouble than it’s worth. A PC doesn’t really work well as a mixer, as such, trying to use it as one often results in badly balanced audio that can ruin a stream.

Of course, the issue with mixers, and audio equipment, in general, is that they can get expensive. The key is to remember what exactly you need for now and work around that, using a bit of creativity in the process.

Creativity is something that’ll go a long way when trying to keep down costs. When I was starting out with streaming events, I used a simple Behringer XENYX 302USB. Some of you may already be familiar with this as it’s an inexpensive, but decent USB mixer that is often recommended for streamers. Now while the 302USB does the only cost as much as a new video game, it has the disadvantage — it only has one microphone preamp.

For those not familiar with how microphones work, the signal coming from them is actually quite weak. Mixers use preamplifiers to boost these signals to something useable. The problem is that mixers can only have one microphone per preamp, which is a problem when streaming something like an event where you might have at least two casters talking over gameplay.

In my case, I worked around this issue by using a pair of cheap, 3.5 mm splitters to allow me to connect two headsets for casters to the mixer. Now, this comes with a caveat — this setup requires the use of two identical headsets (a pair of HyperX Cloud Stingers in my case) to work. You lose having fine control over the individual casters since the mixer wasn’t designed to manage two microphone sources. Using two of the same headset ensures that the same quality signal is coming from both.

In addition to this, the other advantage of a mixer is that I can run the game audio through the mixer itself, mixing everything there. The balance between the game audio and the audio from the casters is arguably more important than the balance between the casters anyway. You want to make sure that neither the game nor the casters overpower the other.

Now while there are other ways to play do this set up that may be just as cost-effective, one of the reasons I chose the Xenyx 302USB is the fact that it’s something that can, and is used for personal streaming. Should you decide that event streaming is not for you, you can still continue to use it. That said, should you continue to stream events, it is also easy to expand this setup with a few extra bits of hardware.

Video feeds, and why you shouldn’t overload your USB ports

Now adding additional video feeds, usually, caster and player cams sound like it’ll be much easier than audio. Just slap a few extra webcams (my personal favorite is the Logitech C922 webcam, which you can actually get with a 3-month XSplit license) on your computer and call it a day. However, anyone who’s actually tried to do this may have figured out that it isn’t that easy.

The problem with just sticking extra webcams into a PC is that doing so can easily overload the PC’s USB controller. 1080p and even just 720p video from multiple sources (including the game) do require a lot of data after all. Now, not all PCs will suffer from this, however, it’s something you need to look out for.

This is an issue I actually ran across in one place I help run the stream for — a small gaming shop called GamePad Gaming Lounge. This shop runs weekly streams and occasional tournaments (including a number of Tekken World Tour Dojo events), and I’ve helped them with setting up and running their stream. Since the shop was on a budget, we ran two Logitech C615 webcams for their stream set up. However, only one camera would work at any given time, due to the overloading issue.

To fix this, we elected to run the player camera at a lower resolution. We decided to do this because the feed from this camera was never shown at full screen — it was always part of the layout on another scene. The caster camera, on the other hand, had its own dedicated scene that was at full screen.

Planning and creativity go a long way

Streaming events can be a satisfying direction for any up and coming streamer. A number of known streamers, including some who are now at Xsplit, got their starts this way.

Now while it can be an expensive endeavor, as I’ve explained above, proper planning and a bit of creativity can go a long way to keeping your costs down.

Plan what you’re streaming, know what it is you need to stream, and build around that, not around some dream build that you cannot afford. Be open to both the idea that you may want to upgrade in the future, as well as the fact that you may find out that event streaming is not for you.

More importantly, be creative in how you set up your stream. A little bit of extra thought and effort can go a long way towards finding ways to avoid having to spend a lot.