How to Stream on Twitch.TV: Step-by-Step Instruction

So, you decided to become a famous streamer. You have a powerful computer, desire and skill. But you do not know how to stream on Twitch. We will try to understand the streaming platform and related programs. In the meantime, take care of everything in order.

The beginning of history

Before you figure out how to start streaming on Twitch, we learn about the history of the project. And it begins almost 10 years ago. In 2007, four young and ambitious young men created their own project. His task was to show the performance in real time. Justin Kahn became a volunteer and began broadcasting his life 24 hours a day. He daily and hourly was with the camera and showed the audience all his life's adventures.

The rest decided to tackle the technical component. The project was decided to be called JustinTV, and the work was launched. For the entire period of the expected effect of the new brainchild, the guys have not received. Most often, the audience treated him lightly and often joked with Justin. Once he was called to the police, saying that in the apartment the knifing, once declared to the rescue service about the fire.

I must say that the project was taken by the smart guys who already had experience in this business. Justin and Emmett after the university created an application that was later sold for a quarter of a million dollars.

When the guys realized that JustinTV can not continue to work, they decided to listen to people's opinion. Many were asked to let users create the broadcast themselves. In just a few months, the developers responded to these wishes, and everyone soon launched their own broadcast.

But then the guys ran into another problem. It was copyright infringement and a complicated situation with servers. Well, the worst case was a student's suicide on the air. Then the project met a lot of reproaches and criticism.

Twitch to replace JustinTV

But the positive thing was that a lot of gamers joined the platform. In fact, it was thanks to them that the project kept afloat. And then in 2011, Justin decided in parallel to make a platform for game streaming. Then very few people knew how to stream on Twitch. Nevertheless, the project developed and lived.

In a year, "Twitch" became the official Internet channel, which broadcast from cybersports events. Thus, the community of gamers found a home and got accustomed to this platform. In the top on the look out popular games: CS: GO, Dota2, LoL, etc. Immediately on this basis, began to form their channels and e-sports organizations.

In 2014, "Twitch" bought for $ 1 billion. Around the event there were a lot of rumors. But the guys themselves claimed that it was for them the main thing to preserve the independence of the platform. By the way, they immediately banned users from leading Stream in a half-naked state. Many tape drives earned just their appearance.

Now more than 100 million registered users spend a lot of time on Twitch. According to statistics, 60% of viewers watch channels more than 20 hours a week.

Streaming software

If you do not know how to start streaming on Twitch, then first of all pay attention to the software. You probably know that in order to view the broadcast, you just need to go to the site of the platform, and from the smartphone or tablet - in the appropriate application.

But if you do not know how to stream on Twitch, then you will have to get acquainted with the programs Open Broadcaster Software and XSplit. Of course, software is much more, but these programs are the most popular and, most importantly, almost free. Each of them has its advantages and disadvantages. For one program, more resources are required, for another, certain system requirements are needed. But most importantly, before you figure out how to stream through Twitch, you need to configure the program data.

Configuring XSplit

How to stream through XSplit? Twitch will start broadcasting if you correctly configure the program. First of all, you need to register on the site. It's easy to do, so there's no point in describing the process. Now download the program and understand.

So, first set up the channel. To do this, go to the Channels tab and click Add. We add all the data. Next you need to set up video and audio. The value of the video codec is set to X.264 by default, so we leave it. The Bitrate / Max bitrate value is responsible for the picture quality. The more it is, the better the quality, but also consider that the computer will absorb a lot of resources.

With regard to audio tuning is much easier. Here you need to adjust the codec, bitrate and format. If you downloaded the program for free, and did not buy the add-on, then there will be few options. Therefore, install the possible ones.

When you have prepared the channel, go to the main menu. Here everything is ready to start the broadcast. The preview is a window in which your broadcast is displayed, everything that is visible will be broadcast to the audience. Next, under the preview, the volume of the microphone and stereo mixer is shown. So you can check the sound on the stream. Below in the window you create a broadcast, choose a game, you can also add titles, additional elements.

What is OBS?

If you do not know how to stream on Twitch TV via OBS, this section is for you. This program is free and simple. The difference between OPS and Ixplit is that the first software allows you to capture any event that occurs on your screen. You only need to create the necessary "scene" and add the program, game, etc. But the OBS setting is more complicated: if you take into account the fact that XSplit is configured automatically, then you will have to suffer from the SMS.

Setting up a channel in OBS

So, we registered with Twitch. How to stream (OBS), we will understand further. In the program there are several modes that allow you to record video on the air or on your PC. In "Broadcasting Service" you need to choose the platform on which you are going to stream, in our case - "Twitch".

To install the server, you need to check the data transfer speed. But if you have a fast Internet, then it's best to install Amsterdam / Frankfurt. Next, you need to take the key for streaming. We find it on your own Twitch account. There, in the Broadcast tab, select "Show key".

Next, you need to check the box next to Auto-reconnect to resume the broadcast. The time indicator is set equal to five seconds. The delay of translation can be used, and it is possible not to think about it. If you do not need someone to strip the wire, you can set it up for half a minute.

Setting up video in OBS

If you do not know how to stream on Twitch, follow these guidelines. Although, as practice shows, you still have to change something. So:

• "Constant Bitrate" - tick the box next to "Twitch".
• We tick and opposite the CBR padding.
• The higher the quality, the more bitrate. The maximum value is 10, so try to establish the average indicator, and in which case you can adjust.
• The "maximum bitrate" is a piece, which will also have to be changed. Setting this value depends on your initial speed. If you have a fast Internet connection, then set the indicator from 2500 Kbps.
• The "buffer size" corresponds to the size of the "Maximum Bitrate".

Configuring audio in OBS

So, we have not yet fully answered the question of how to stream on Twitch TV. It remains to take time to configure the audio. In the settings there are three sections: for the codec we choose AAC; The average value for the bit rate is 112. The 44.1khz stereo format will be quite sufficient.

Next, many other settings will be available, but these will be enough to start the broadcast. The setup of the scene is almost the same as how to customize the broadcast in XSplit. You need to add a scene, and in the sources enter the address of the broadcast game. Here also add capture webcams, titles and other elements. So we decided the question, how to stream on Twitch TV.