Category: Content Creation

For a lot of people, a webcam is second only to a microphone when it comes to streaming gear upgrades. While the built-in camera on your laptop might work for a while, when you start getting more viewers you might want to level up. So, let’s discuss the best webcam for streaming that you can buy right now!

What makes the best webcam for streaming?

So what are the things we’re looking for in the best webcam for streaming? Ideally, we’re looking for a 1080p image, a microphone built-in, and a fairly wide angle on the lens. Why do we want these things? Well, while we’re going to see some cameras that can go above 1080p that’s about the minimum you want to go if you’re looking for an upgrade. This will give you a relatively sharp image that you can go full screen with for a just chatting screen.

Having a half-decent microphone isn’t a bad thing to have as that can be useful if you’ve yet to upgrade your audio. It’s also useful if you’re running a virtual talk show, something we discussed before, or just having guests. This is now a second mic source you can use in sources like Discord or Zoom that doesn’t have to go out to the stream but can communicate to guests with. Not essential, but useful to have.

Finally, a fairly wide lens will let you zoom in on shots as you like with a bit more ease. It can also be great to just get that nice wide-looking shot some streamers have showing off more of their background. With all that said, let’s take a look at some of the best webcams for streaming!

Logitech C922

You won’t be surprised to see the Logitech C922 here, it’s become one of the streaming go to’s, and for good reason! With a 1080p 30fps camera (which can go to 60fps if you drop down to 720p) this tends to be the shot you see a lot of streamers with. Not only that, but it has a 78-degree viewing angle and a pretty decent built-in mic. This webcam ticks a lot of boxes and the C922 even comes with a three-month XSplit Premium license included giving you access to XSplit Broadcaster and VCams’ full suite of features!

Elgato Facecam

Elgato is fairly new to the world of webcams but they’ve come out the gate with a solid camera in the Facecam. Coming in with 1080p and 60fps it presents a crisp image out of the box which can then be tweaked and adjusted with their software. It also has a neat feature where you can save these settings directly to the camera, meaning you can move between machines and have the exact same look. One downside is the lack of a built-in microphone, but as Elgato points out, they’re aiming to make the best camera for the price point. Consequently, they chose to remove that feature, so it’s worth keeping in mind.

Logitech Brio

The Logitech Brio is on the expensive end of our list of the best webcam for streaming but it does make a pretty solid case for its inclusion. Featuring a bunch of resolution options, 4K at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps all the way down to 720p at 90fps! On top of that, it features a very wide lens up to 90 degrees and a dual microphone system. Now, this mic isn’t as good as a standalone microphone but it does do a pretty solid job!

Your Smartphone could be the best webcam for streaming!

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but smartphones have some pretty amazing cameras in them! Using XSplit Connect: Webcam you can wirelessly connect your Android or iOS smartphone to your PC easily! From there, it can be added to software like XSplit Broadcaster and streamed! All you have to do is download the Connect: Webcam app then download XSplit VCam, connect to your camera either wired or wirelessly, and add XSplit VCam to your streaming software!

So we’ve listed some pretty solid webcams and one you might already own, your smartphone! What camera do you use? What do you think is the best webcam for streaming? Be sure to let us know in the comments!

Facebook has become one of the bigger destinations for streaming games. It’s no surprise that the big Meta company would be able to find a foothold with such a large userbase. The company hasn’t relied on this alone, however, they’ve been putting in the time to make Facebook Gaming an attractive site for streamers. So let’s take a look at how to stream games on Facebook!

Getting Started

So the very first thing you’ll want to do is make a profile page on Facebook Gaming. This is pretty simple to do but it’s an important step as this will be the place your live stream is going to go through too!

Next up you’ll want to download some software to stream with. XSplit Broadcaster will not only allow you to easily stream to Facebook but will make your stream run smoother and look better!

Once you’ve downloaded XSplit Broadcaster you’ll be prompted to make an account and sign in. From there, you’re ready to create your scenes by adding sources to them. XSplit Broadcaster comes with a number of templates to make this process easier for you! The source you add can be anything from your webcam, graphics, alerts, and gameplay from a capture card or direct from your PC.

How to Stream Games on Facebook

Next up you’ll want to set up your Facebook output. This is a straightforward process, head to the Broadcast menu and select Facebook Live! From here, you will be prompted to log in and now you’ll be asked where you want to stream. There will be some options, the first is Timeline. This will stream your video directly to your personal timeline. In this instance, we’re looking to go to Facebook Gaming and the page you just created so you’ll want to select the public page.

You’ll also see some encoding settings which should be automatically selected for you based on the best settings for your computer but you can change these later if you need to. It’s worth keeping in mind that unless you’re part of the Facebook Level Up program you’ll only be able to stream as high as 720p and 30FPS.

From here, you’re basically ready to go live once you click Continue! Select the output you just made again from the Broadcast menu to go live. Next, you will be asked to input your stream details. From here you can either select a pre-made post you’ve already created on Facebook or create a new one directly in Broadcaster.

You can also use a similar method to stream to scheduled streams that you may have set up for your page, which you can find more information about here!

Adding some personality

So now you know how to stream games to Facebook, how about we look at leveling up your content a little? With XSplit Broadcaster it’s easy with some of our downloadable widgets! Want your comments to appear live on screen? Some new alerts? Want to see the reactions from viewers come up live on the screen? We’ve got you covered!

All you have to do is head to the Plugin Store which is available by going to the Extensions menu, selecting Add Extention, and selecting Find More Extensions. From here just search Facebook and you’ll find all of the things mentioned above and more!

Once they are installed you can find them in the Sources menu under Facebook widgets. You can find out more about our Facebook widgets here!

There used to be a time when live streaming was something of a science or dark art, you needed the right equipment and right kind of knowledge to live stream. Now anyone can live stream from pretty much anything. A phone, potato PC, and game consoles all let you stream. Content is also broader, you even get streams of people sleeping! So where will live streaming be going in the years to come? Let’s hypothesize, dream, and hope about the future of live streaming!

8K and Beyond in the Future of Live Streaming

While not too many platforms support it, 4k and even 360 streaming have been a part of sites like YouTube. While the next logical step seems to be 8K streaming, I think that frame rate should be more of a focus for the future of live streaming. A number of flagship and mid-range phones support higher refresh rates, I mean it even appears on a lot of Apple’s latest devices. So high refresh rates aren’t something that would only be appreciated by gamers.

However, I feel what has delayed releasing this is the transcoding nightmare it would lead to. Not to mention the beast machines you’ll need to encode full HD 120 fps footage and beyond.

New Encoders

Speaking of encoding, X.264 and its derivatives will likely soon have to be put out to pasture for other video encoding methods that are more efficient at delivering high-quality video at lower bitrates. The current front runner seems to be AV1, which is open source and backed by major players in online video like Google, Amazon, Netflix, and more. Nvidia has included an AV1 decoder in its latest GPUs.

The next most popular is HEVC or H.265, however since this has licensing fees, it will likely take a backseat in the long run. The main hurdle at this point is there are no publicly available AV1 encoders, both software, and hardware-based. However once this changes and live streaming sites are able to ingest AV1 video, I imagine there will be a lot of opportunities for the people that will be using this technology as it will make encoding high frame rate video possible.

Is Live Shopping the Future of Live Streaming?

Throughout most parts of Asia, this is already a well-developed practice, but I think in North America this is going to catch on, either as a meme or seriously. Think of a home shopping network like QVC, but on Twitch.

We’ve seen Amazon themselves do something like this before and a few more companies have caught on to the idea. I’m thinking the energy, creativity, and excitement a content creator can bring to something is only going to help companies with fun activations that we all get to watch! Win-win!

TikTok

TikTok is the looming giant of all social media platforms and it feels like it’s basically just waiting to unleash the floodgates of its live streaming service. This year we’ve seen streamers jump between Facebook and YouTube, but I feel you’ll see someone be the pioneer and sign their TikTok deal. The nature of gaming clips, which is honestly the best part of Twitch, just works so well with their platform.

The question is can it solve the discovery problem that so many new streamers encounter? That will be something that if they can crack, may put them in as a potential front-runner.

Big Production Budgets

With the world, maybe, possibly, depends on what awful news comes out around the time this post releases, getting back to semi-normal and people can travel? I think we’ll see some serious production values on streams again now that streamers can go to physical events.

We’ve already seen the Twitch Ultimate Royale, the Botez sister’s travel stream. No longer are the scuffed webcam and scratchy microphones of remote streams going to be enough. We’re going to see the RED cameras, massive LED walls and drone shots make a comeback. Like seriously, give Sushi Ninja a budget and production team already! 

So these are just a few of the predictions I have for the future of live streaming, what about you? Let us know in the comments below!

So you’ve started your own virtual talk show, maybe it’s bringing video to a podcast or you’ve decided to interview people in your industry. Now the first show is done, but perhaps you had some technical issues, bad frame rates, low-quality audio, and missing cues. So what can you or your guests do to improve your virtual talk shows?

Pre-Production is Key to Virtual Talk Shows

Pre-production is that thing we all have to learn how to do the hard way. This includes preparing scripts or runs of shows, doing research on guests, and designing the look of a show.

But perhaps the most important element is rehearsals. Aside from learning timings and transitions, you also need to make sure the remote guests have good connections. If your schedule permits, it’s always good to take time to ensure the connection is stable and help your guest figure out any technical issues that may arise. It’s also a good opportunity to get your host and guests to get to know each other a bit so that the conversation during the recording or stream goes a lot smoother.

Call Software for Virtual Talk Shows

While VOIP software like Zoom, Discord, Microsoft Teams have evolved quite a bit in response to more people working remotely, they still lack some of the fundamental tools and controls to make producing virtual talk shows seamless.

Vmix Call is a popular option, but if you have the time, VDO.Ninja is a free open-source alternative that offers all the customization you need. You can actually check out our extended VDO.Ninja tutorial below but some key tools are the ability to separate audio and video sources for your callers, a director’s video/audio channel to manage talent, and basically ALL the customization you’d ever need.

Tools for Remote Callers

Sometimes, remote guests will have problems with their setup. This can range from a noisy AC unit to a messy background, or a struggle to share their screen or presentation. Thankfully XSplit provides tools to improve and simplify this process.

First is XSplit VCam, this can help them with their background by blurring or replacing it. If they don’t even have a webcam, then they can use VCam with XSplit Connect: Webcam to turn their mobile phone into a camera. Then you can add VCam in XSplit Broadcaster. You can also screen capture in Broadcaster and add your google slides as well.

The key tool in XSplit Broadcaster is the virtual microphone. This outputs whatever audio your produce in Broadcaster to your video chat app. Some useful tools in XSplit Broadcaster add noise reduction to your microphone and VSTs to tweak your microphone like EQ or Limiters. Then you just set XSplit Broadcaster as your microphone in the video chat app.

Segments and Time Limits

While some people you can just listen to endlessly, it’s good to create segments or set time limits for certain topics. Certain topics you just run out of things to talk about and it’s good to move on to another topic to keep things fresh and interesting. You see a lot of sports shows where they’ll display that episode’s topics with a timer on how long they’ll be discussing that topic.

Now you don’t have to use that method, but if you’ve prepared a run of shows as mentioned earlier, your host can follow this and help move guests over to the next segment of the virtual talk show. Unless of course, the show you are producing is a free form talk show, then just let your guests rock for however long you like!

Think About Post-Production

Finally, you need to always be producing with post-production and promotion in mind. While it would be great if the podcast or talk show could promote itself as the main content, we live in a world where hot takes, drama, and headlines are what is going to get eyeballs on stuff. So again it’s important to create segments within your show so whoever is editing will know where to look for clips on specific topics.

If you didn’t know XSplit Broadcaster can record multiple profiles and you can determine which scene to record to a particular profile. So if you were on a 3 shot, but one guest went on an extended monologue, if you had a scene recording that particular guest’s camera, you can focus on that recording and create a highlight out of that segment. The greatest chance you’re going to have for your content to be found is on social media, so make your podcast as TikTokable as possible.

If you’re looking for new ways to grow your channel’s audience and reach this year, one thing to consider trying is multistreaming. This means that, instead of going live to just one channel on a single platform, you send your stream to multiple platforms at the same time. It can be done directly from inside XSplit Broadcaster, giving you an easy pathway to new potential viewers and subscribers. Read on for our guide on why and how to multistream.

Getting yourself out there

Before we discuss the benefits, you may be wondering exactly how to establish a multistream. Fortunately, it’s more simple than ever to get your channel live on more than one platform. You can use XSplit Broadcaster to set this up easily. In a matter of minutes, you’ll have connections to your channels such as Twitch, YouTube, Facebook, etc established.

Go to Broadcaster and create a new output from the dropdown ‘Broadcast’ menu. You’ll see the most notable streaming services listed here for quick and simple connections. If you’re using another streaming service, however, you can also go to ‘Find More Outputs’ to add the one that works for you. Once you’re all set up, you’ll just need to activate each of your outputs and you’ll be multistreaming in no time. If you don’t see an option for your platform of choice you may need to set up a custom RTMP.

More platforms can mean a bigger audience

You will likely be keen to maximize your content’s reach as much as possible, especially when starting out as a streamer. The bottom line is that the more platforms you’re on, the more potential viewers you will reach. It’s worth mentioning that if you are partnered with one platform, it’s generally against their partnership agreement to stream to another at the same time.

If not, the possibilities are huge. Let’s say you’ve been trying to make your way in the Twitch world, this platform has a daily user base of around 2.4 million for you to attempt to capture with your content. Also, you may not be aware that YouTube Gaming Live has an average daily viewership of about 640,000, and simply adding a YouTube stream to your broadcast would increase your potential exposure by another 27%. It is certainly worth looking closely at the stats and perhaps thinking about platforms you may not have considered previously.

Testing your content with multistreaming

Multistreaming is also very useful in helping you figure out where to focus your efforts as a content creator. While it may initially seem that all live streaming platforms are more or less the same, the demographics of each vary wildly. Perhaps you have considered trying to stream to a smaller platform such as Trovo but are unwilling to give up your set Twitch schedule? Not a problem. Just use XSplit Broadcaster to stream to both platforms simultaneously, and see what happens. If you’re concerned about bandwidth and want to stream to multiple channels at once, you could also make use of the Restream plugin through Broadcaster.

You’ll need to head over to Restream first, to set up an account (where you can choose between a free one or one of the paid premium accounts, depending on your needs). Once you’ve done this, you can open up Broadcaster and download the Restream plugin from the plugin store. After downloading it, you just need to select Restream as the output from the Broadcast menu.

Why not give multistreaming a try? It could help broaden your audience. Check out our guide to better streaming through storytelling for tips to jumpstart your channel’s growth.