XSplit Blog

Building your streaming brand and increasing your viewing figures can be the result of many factors, but the one thing underpinning them all is your ability to deliver high-quality videos consistently. If you want to showcase superior streams to your viewers, check out these tips on how to improve stream quality and give your broadcast that extra edge.

Connection – hardwired or Wi-Fi?

A hardwired connection is the cornerstone of a reliable stream. While convenient, Wi-Fi can be too unreliable for consistent video streaming. Streamers using Wi-Fi can lose signal strength and speed, which can result in pixelated streams, buffering and freezing issues – all of which are immediate turn-offs to your audience.

It might be an idea to invest in an ethernet connection directly from your PC to your router to improve stream quality. If this is not possible because of the room you are streaming from, consider buying a separate router. Alternatively, you could also use powerline adapters. These devices are relatively easy to install and utilize your home’s electric wiring to transmit the signal from your router to your PC.

The need for speed to improve stream quality

Another factor that comes hand-in-hand with connection is your upload speed. High-quality streaming at 1080p at 60fps requires upload speeds 7.5 to 11 Mbps. To reach these sorts of speeds with any level of consistency, you may need to shell out for your internet provider’s premium plan. This is likely to vary (both in terms of speed and cost) depending on where you live and which providers serve your area.

You may also wish to do a bit of forward planning as streamers push towards 4K streaming as the norm. In fact, YouTube already supports 4K and HDR. However, to stream at this quality at 60fps, you will need a super-fast upload speed somewhere between 24 Mbps and 61 Mbps.

Which resolution and frame rate should you aim for?

While gamers want to play the latest games in crystal clear 4K resolution, streaming at this level is in its early days. YouTube supports 4K streaming but other popular platforms such as Twitch, at the time of writing, do not. As a broad rule of thumb, it pays to focus more on the frame rate than the pixel density when you’re looking to improve stream quality.

For example, the ideal streaming rate is full HD 1080p with a frame rate of 60 fps. This will present your viewers with a sharp, smooth broadcast, though your internet upload speed may not be able to cope with this. Lowering the resolution to 720p will help you maintain 60 fps. An alternative to this is to reduce the frame rate slightly, but no lower than 30 fps, which is where you will find issues and pixelation.

Which bitrate should you output at to improve stream quality?

If you are streaming footage in full HD 1080p resolution, most streaming services recommend that you set your bitrate around 3500 kbps to 4000 kbps. The higher the number, the better looking your stream will be.

For those who have very high internet upload speeds, you could push this to 5000 kbps to 6000 kbps for pixel-perfect streams. Those looking to adopt 4K streams will need to be reaching somewhere in the region of 8000 kbps. One thing to be wary of is that streaming services may frown upon higher bitrates or even cap it depending on your platform of choice.

Which codec offers the best encoding?

If you have an Nvidia graphics card, then you can stream using the NVENC H.264 encoder. Those who don’t will need to employ the standard .x264 codec. This may result in the loss of a frame or two as the CPU powers the stream, so it is worth investing in a good graphics card. Either of these are possible with XSplit Broadcaster which will automatically optimize your stream based on the system and connection speed you have!

The main difference between the two is how you set your encoding quality. Those using the NVENC codec should ensure that the Encoder Preset is switched to Max Quality. On the x264 codec, you will have a CPU Usage Preset, which ranges from ultrafast to very slow. What you use here will depend on your computer’s CPU, but if it can handle it, switch to fast or medium for a high-quality stream.

Following these tips should place you in a prime position to grow your viewing figures and start capitalizing. There are many other tweaks and settings that can be fine-tuned to further improve stream quality, such as the profile, keyframes and B-frames. Experiment and see which combination works best for your PC setup.

While going live is easier than ever, learning how to livestream an online podcast can still be a bit difficult. Adding a guest, especially with video can be a bit tricky depending on the platform you’re trying to use. In this article, we’re going to discuss how to produce your own talk shows or podcasts, add some production values and make your life as a host and producer easier.

Setup

We’re going to be using XSplit Broadcaster to set all this up. For the host, they just need to set the microphone device and add their webcam to the main scene. This part is pretty easy in XSplit Broadcaster, for the audio head into the Tools drop down menu > settings > Audio and select the microphone you wish to use. For your webcam, in the Sources menu select Add Source > Devices > Video > and select the webcam you wish to use.

Adding a guest really depends on the software you’re planning to use. If you’re using something like Discord, Zoom or Hangouts you’ll need to use the screen capture feature in XSplit Broadcaster to get the video feed. This is found in the Sources menu again, Add Source > Screen Capture, and either Smart Selection or Window Capture and select the program. From here you can crop and move the source around. If you have multiple monitors, I recommend dedicating one monitor to place all your video calls and be sure to set them to full screen so you can get the highest resolution from the window capture.

The only outlier to this process is Skype. With Skype you can enable NDI output, which means you can pull the video feeds of your guests as an independent NDI source. This is easily done in Skype by going into the Settings > Calling > Advanced > Allow NDI Usage, then is XSplit Broadcaster go to the Source menu > Streams > NewTek NDI stream > select the caller you’re bringing in. Also, if you’re pulling all your system audio as your main output for the stream, be sure to mute the NDI source in XSplit Broadcaster or you’ll end up with doubled up audio, this is easily done by right-clicking on the video source and hitting the “mute” button.

One pro tip, if you have an additional laptop or PC to livestream your podcast, designate that as the call laptop. You can then capture the calls from the laptop via a capture card and use an audio mixer to adjust levels. This is a bit more expensive and you should only really do this if you’re planning to invest in your online talk show.

Production Elements

If you want to add some production elements, here’s where you’d call on a designer to make some graphic overlays to use, but if you don’t have access to such resources there are some tools within XSplit that can help!

First, if you need a background for your cameras or a bar for a lower third, you use the color matte source. This can be found in the XSplit Plugin Store which can be found in the Source menu by clicking “Find More Sources” and once installed it will be found in the General Widgets section of the Source menu. Adding a Text Source (again, in the sources menu) will let you add names and other info on top of a color matte source to make a lower third! You can then group these sources together and add source effects like animating in and out during the scene changes. Source effects can be found by right-clicking on a source and selecting the “Effects” tab. In these same settings, you can also add a border around your video feeds like your screen capture and webcam source.

Combine all this with presents and/or scene transitions so you can dynamically add in or out guests throughout the broadcast. One particularly useful element is having a countdown timer before the show starts. You can easily create one of these using the text source we used earlier and clicking enable custom scripts. You can use the clock script and either use the count or timer function to set up a timer.

Recording and Streaming

Streaming with XSplit Broadcaster is pretty straightforward. Login to your platform of choice and use the setup wizard to configure your stream settings. For recording, you want to record in the highest quality and highest audio bitrate possible which can be changed by clicking on the Record drop down menu and clicking the cog symbol next to the recording profile you’re using. Enabling multitrack audio will allow you to adjust the audio levels later in your editing software of choice.

Setting up these multiple recording profiles can also be very useful when you’re recording a talk show. Basically, you can setup multiple recordings from different scenes, so for example you could set up a scene per camera source, and then when you come to edit the talk show later for YouTube you can zoom in or crop your guests based on what’s going on. You can find out more about multiple recording profiles right here.

Managing your show

One important final element for livestreaming a podcast or talk show is that your guests need to be able to see what’s going on! XSplit Broadcaster can act as a virtual camera which means you can display whatever the current live scene is as your camera output in programs like Skype or Zoom. This means that your guests can easily see when they’re live, when you’re on a break, or just what the focus of the stream is. It’s good to know you’re not on camera if you need to take a sip of your coffee!

Another important feature is split view mode. This mode will give you a preview scene that you can edit before pushing live. This is really helpful for cueing up your next segment or easily adding new elements smoothly before pushing them live. So, for example, did one of your guests just mention a new trend or video? You can find it and add it to your scene then push it live in a smooth and seamless way. This can be easily accessed in the top right corner drop down menu for the resolution > work space and selecting split mode.

As with most things practice makes perfect, so don’t be dissuaded if the first few shows don’t go off perfectly, we’re all at the mercy of the internet! Just stick with it and add production elements as time goes on, remember the content is what’s most important when you livestream your podcast or talk show!

It’s a tough time across the world right now, and those with careers in the performing arts are particularly limited at home. Social media is a great tool, but let’s face it, it’s the live experience your fans really want. Musicians are increasingly tech-savvy these days, as album production, mixing and mastering is largely software-based. What you might not know, however, is how best to live stream music. Whether you’re looking to set up a live-streamed concert or simply produce content about the creative process for your YouTube channel, here’s what you’re going to need.

Minimum hardware requirements

In order to live stream music, you’re going to need everything you use in your home studio and a few key add-ons. As bands are likely to be contributing from separate rooms and, in some cases, separate countries, you’ll need to ensure that all members have the same basic set-up available to them before you can arrange this type of performance.

If you already use an audio interface to record, you’ll be familiar with the process. The Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 is ideal for solo artists and bands alike. It combines studio-quality sound and affordability, making it one of the most widely used audio interfaces around. If you have multiple instruments to mic up, you might need to hook up a mixer, but you can easily achieve a solid setup for a mic and guitar, two guitars, a drumkit, or another non-electric instrument. In terms of vocals, condenser (studio) mics are great if you have one, but a dynamic (live performance) mic will work in a pinch – and, of course, a pop shield is always a plus.

Lights, camera, action

It might seem obvious, but a quality camera is almost as important as your audio set-up to live stream music. Your fans will be missing the gig scene almost as much as you are, so audio alone is not going to cut it. If you don’t have a top of the range webcam lying around, you can easily convert your phone into a high-quality webcam with XSplit Connect: Webcam. If you’re more of a shy performer, no problem. Live streaming your Ableton (or preferred Digital Audio Workspace) screen is going to give your fans something interesting to look at whilst they listen.

Back to the concert-goers. Though not essential, if you can access some, smart lighting rigs will add an extra touch of live performance authenticity. The Philips Wiz Connected Smart lights don’t need a hub and can be fully controlled via a phone app. There are some great tutorials available on YouTube, like this one by artist Aaron Rutten.

Achieving optimal broadcast quality to live stream music

Hopefully, you’ll have the required set-up in place at this point. Essentially, this is still a live performance, so though it might not feel as important as playing Glastonbury, remember that this is your chance to provide a high-quality alternative for your audience. I would strongly suggest plenty of rehearsals using this set-up, as it’s not always as cohesive as you might imagine, particularly with multiple musicians.

Once you’re good to go, XSplit Broadcaster is a great choice for your live event. You can stream in 4k 60 FPS (Frames Per Second) from multiple sources simultaneously to provide your fans with an experience as close to the real thing as possible. You can even preview scenes prior to the live broadcast to ensure everything is in place. While the show is underway, you can also get feedback and virtual cheers from your audience via your social media platform of choice, as XSplit Broadcaster supports all web-based alerts and widgets.

We’re living in crazy times but it is possible to set up a live-streamed concert for your fans from the comfort of your own home. This could be the well-needed boost that gets you through to your next live event and who knows how many more lives you might help to brighten in the process.