You’re here because you want to learn how to stream on Twitch, right? That little website where gaming, creativity, and community converge. Whether you’re an aspiring content creator or a seasoned gamer looking to share your skills, mastering the art of Twitch streaming is your passport to building an engaged audience. In this quick guide, we’ll not only walk you through the basics but also delve into advanced tips to elevate your streaming experience and capture the attention of the Twitch community. This video will cover the basics and get you live streaming on Twitch in just a few minutes:
Table of Contents
Sign Up for Twitch
If you have an account already, then proceed to the next step. If not, go to https://twitch.tv and choose your username. Enter in your password, date of birth, and phone number. Alternatively you can use an Email to verify your account instead, which is our preferred method. However, using your phone number can come in handy for two-factor authenticaton.
Download OBS Studio
Go to the OBS Studio website, select the version you want to use, and click install. OBS Studio (Open Broadcaster Software) is not only free, but also the best choice to start your streaming journey in learning how to stream on Twitch. It’s an open-sourced software that allows you to set up the appearance of your stream and send that feed to Twitch. There’s other options, but we always find ourselves going back to OBS.
Run the Auto-Configure Wizard
In OBS Studio go to Tools > Auto-configuration wizard. You may also be prompted with the wizard if it’s your first time opening the software. For streaming, we recommend the first option Optimize for streaming, recording is secondary then clicking on next. For new streamers, a base canvas on 1920×1080 is ideal, and 30 or 60 FPS comes down to preference and PC performance. Click next again.
For the service drop down select Twitch. Then, click Connect Account. Next, log in to your Twitch account. Once this is done, you can click next and allow the wizard to run. Hit apply settings.
Add a Source to Your Scene
In the source panel, hit the plus icon and choose either Game Capture or Display Capture (note: using Display Capture will show EVERYTHING on the monitor you select). For beginners, we highly recommend using the game capture option.
Name your source and hit Okay. Leave the mode option to Capture any fullscreen application. If desired, you can also select Capture specific window to assign a specific game to capture in your screen. This can be done in the Window drop down.
Configure Your Audio
For your gameplay audio, click the Settings button in the bottom right of OBS Studio. Navigate to the Audio tab. Under the Desktop Audio drop down, set this to Default. This will enable OBS to hear everything on your desktop and relay it to your Twitch stream.
Under the Mic/Auxilliary Audio drop down select the microphone input you’d like OBS to include for your stream. This is likely the same microphone you’re using for things like Discord or any other voice chat application. Hit Ok to close the settings window.
Set Up A Webcam
In OBS Studio add a Video Capture Device source, give it a name, and then under the Device dropdown select the name of your webcam. There’s other useful settings here, like the ability to lower the resolution, set the frame rate, or even flip the webcam vertically. We recommend choosing Custom in the Resolution/FPS Type dropdown, and selecting either 1920×1080 or 1280×720 in the resolution field. Hit Ok to add it in.
While it’s selected in the canvas area (the area showing off your stream setup) you can click and move it anywhere you’d like. You can also drag from the corners to resize your webcam.
Update Your Stream Title and Category
Use the Stream Information dock to set your stream title, go live notification, and category. The category will be either the game you’re playing or streaming category like Just Chatting. You can also set some tags to help with discoverability as well.
These docks only appear when you connected your Twitch account in a previous step. The Stream Chat dock will show all your messages on Twitch and allow you to type messages as well!
Hit Start Streaming – That’s how to stream on Twitch!
Hit the Start Streaming button to go live. That’s how to stream on Twitch!
What Else Should I Consider Setting Up?
Recording VODs
For those eager to review and learn from their content, enabling Video on Demand (VOD) recordings on Twitch is essential.
To enable VOD recordings click the user avatar in the top right and then select Creator Dashboard. From here, click the Settings tab on the left and go to Stream. Click the button next to Store past broadcasts to turn it on. While you’re here, we also recommend ensuring that Latency Mode is set to Low Latency. This will allow your stream to appear more quickly to your chat and save your streams on Twitch for later review.
Mix Your Audio
You might have noticed the Audio Mixer section in OBS Studio. This will allow you to adjust the sound levels of both your desktop and mic audio. VODs or a friend can help you get a mix that works best for your settings. Find the levels that make it easy to hear your voice while talking, but also allows for the gameplay audio to be heard without overpowering yourself.
What’s Should I Do After My First Stream?
Relax, Enjoy Yourself, Reflect
You know how to stream on Twitch. For now we suggest you simply go live and just have a good time until you’re comfortable. Share your stream with your friends, family, or just play some games and have a good time. There’s no right way to stream on Twitch that works for everyone, especially for your first few months. After your stream is done we recommend that you check out your VOD and see if there’s any video or audio issues and then go from there.
You can also work on setting up your Twitch panels, banner, avatar, and other features in your creator dashboard and channel page. But, don’t worry about that too much just now!
Add Twitch Stream Overlays and Widgets
Beyond teaching you how to stream on Twitch, at Nerd or Die we make stream overlays, widgets and tools. So are we bias? Yes, but it’s worth considering the value these can provide. Displaying overlays and useful widgets (such as alerts or chat box) can really help incorporate your audience into the experience and provide much needed context around what you’re doing on stream. In addition to this stream overlays are an immediate visual cue as to what sort of personality and interests you have.
We’ve got loads of designs styles that cater to fun, sci-fi, street or even spooky halloween! Whether you use a complete stream package or just try us out with our free streamer overlays and widgets, it’s completely up to you!
We genuinely hope this “how to stream on Twitch” guide was helpful. For more advanced tutorials and guides you can check out our YouTube channel or our “Learn” section where go beyond how to stream on Twitch and move toward more creative aspects on streaming.
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