START STREAMING WITH XSPLIT TODAY
Step-by-step guide
YOU’LL NEED THIS
A TWITCH ACCOUNT
Register at www.twitch.tv.
XSPLIT GAMECASTER
Download from www.xsplit.com.
HEADSET, WEBCAM, PC, AND ONLINE CONNECTION
This takes a lot of CPU power.
GAME STREAMING IS A SERIOUS BUSINESS. For some people, it’s actually possible (though improbable) to make a living sitting in front of your PC, thanks to the generosity of viewers, and Twitch’s numerous partnership schemes. We’re not here today to teach you those particular secrets, though. We’re working on the most important step: getting yourself out there in a presentable, watchable manner.
It’s worth mentioning here that this tutorial doesn’t only work for Twitch, though that’s the service most people use—you can also use XSplit Gamecaster to send your various embarrassing misplays and goofups to Hitbox, YouTube Live, and a number of other services. We’ll show you how to add additional accounts. And we’re working with the basic version of XSplit here; picking up a license (from $2.50 per month) will add heaps of extra features, and enable 1080p streaming without a watermark, so it’s worth considering if you’re picking up streaming steam.
1 DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL We’ll begin with the obvious setup steps, and not go into huge detail because, hey, you can handle it, champ. Register a Twitch account at www.twitch.tv, register an XSplit account at www.xsplit. com, then follow the links in your email to activate these accounts. Download XSplit Gamecaster and install it—if your machine is missing any of the prerequisites it needs, it grabs them and installs them for you, so make sure you’re online while you install. Run Gamecaster for the first time, and you’re given the option to connect to your streaming service [ Image A]. Twitch is selected by default, so click “Open Authentication Window,” log in, and click the “Authorize” button to share the relevant security keys from your account with XSplit.
2 YOUR FIRST STREAM Once Gamecaster has fully run, you’re already set to pull off a basic stream—simply open your chosen game, hit Ctrl-Tab to see the XSplit overlay, then hit “Stream” to begin sending your video to Twitch. XSplit automatically works out the optimal bitrate, based on your network connection. Switch away from your game, and XSplit displays a default BRB message to your viewers—this is a limitation of the free version, so if it bugs you, you should think about upgrading.
3 HARDWARE TIMES Quit your game for now (this stops the streaming automatically), and head back to the Gamecaster interface, so we can make sure it’s using the correct hardware to do its thing [ Image B]. In “Settings/Devices,” use the drop-down box to ensure it’s using the correct microphone for your headset— we wouldn’t recommend using, say, a laptop mic, just for the sake of those watching—and check that your webcam is hooked up, too. You should see a preview in the top-left of the window if it is. You can also tweak the audio levels that go out to your stream here—although, because these settings are also available through the XSplit overlay, you may be better altering them there, based on the feedback of your viewers.
4 ADD YOUR CAMERA What would game streaming be if your viewers couldn’t see the look on your face as you get destroyed for the 32nd time? It would be rubbish. Thankfully, Gamecaster makes adding a camera to your stream a trivial matter. Go back to your game (you don’t have to resume streaming just yet), hit Ctrl-Tab to bring up the overlay, and click on the camera icon to plop your webcam on top of your game. Now drag the edges to resize it, and drag the center to place it where you want it, trying not to cover up anything important. It can be tough to play games with the self-conscious feedback loop caused by staring at your own face, but you can choose to have the cam only appear to stream viewers, thankfully. Hover your mouse over the bar on the edge of the webcam [ Image C] and find the visibility icon, then switch off “In Game HUD” to have it only appear to stream viewers.