Twitch streaming help? It's for a good cause...

[128Kgames]

Does anybody have any experience with “Twitch Streaming?”  

Specifically, a “camera and microphone, and a gaming headset.”  Looking for recommendations to help my cousin shop for her partner’s son, who’s 17.  

She’s looking for “professional help” but I’m out of my league with this people so I’m turning to the AtariAge family for advice.  I pressed her for more information but all we have is he’s said he wants “a face cam for streaming and a good microphone.”  Oh, and a "gaming headset."  

Yeah, I got nothing, the only mic and headphones I have is from when I worked on the Bally Alley Astrocast podcast, but even then, I had to get help picking that stuff out.  Plus, we didn't use cameras. 

If anybody has any idea what this kid might need and can point me in the right direction, I would appreciate it – this young man lost his dad this past year and my cousin lost her partner, so I would love to help my cousin out in any way I can. 

 

Not knowing what this stuff costs, we don't know what kind of budget we're working with either, so I guess "affordable" would be a good place to start?
 

[Mockduck]

Assuming this is for the 17 year old that person should probably get some of the easier and more popular stuff out there to use. The one thing that doesn't really make sense is that the kid is maybe wanting both a "camera and microphone" along with a "gaming headset", but I don't know of any gaming headsets that don't have microphones in them. So, the person really needs either a camera and microphone and headphones or a camera and a gaming headset, but not all three.

 

So, two options:

 

Headset+Camera=can livestream:

 

Headsets, there are a million of them, and a million more showed up while I typed this. The main consideration is wired vs. wireless. Wired is cheaper.

 

For wired, I'd go with either the Razer Kraken or LucidSoundLS30:

 

https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Kraken-Gaming-Headset-2019/dp/B07N85FY1G/ref=sr_1_4

 

https://www.amazon.com/LucidSound-LS25BK-Stereo-Gaming-Headset-Esports/dp/B08LPX54P8/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=lucidsound&qid=1606663930&sr=8-11 

 

I have personally used the LucidSound and think they make fantastic versatile headphone/headset products.

 

For wireless, probably something like the Steelseries: https://www.amazon.com/SteelSeries-Arctis-Wireless-Gaming-Headset-Console/dp/B07X96DFR5/ref=sr_1_20

 

Camera:

 

There really is only one choice, but the price of it has gotten absolutely ridiculous during COVID. A year ago you'd get this for like $55 and it is now selling for twice that, but the Logitech C920 remains the standard for a reason due to its good quality, compatibility, ease of use, etc: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Logitech-C920-Webcam-HD-Pro/776703861

 

I dunno, if that isn't doable they may need to buy a crappy off-brand thing for now, but I don't have a recommendation.

 

If they want a Camera + Mic + Headphones:

 

Audio-Technica AT2005 USB and analog mic - https://www.amazon.com/Technica-AT2005USB-Handheld-Dynamic-Microphone/dp/B007JX8O0Y/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=usb%2Bmic%2Bat2020&qid=1606663095&sr=8-11&th=1

 

This is a relatively low-cost but quality name brand USB microphone. More "pro" broadcasters will use a Cardioid Condenser microphone instead of a Cardioid Dynamic microphone, but a dynamic mic is more forgiving and will not pick up as much room and computer sound. This mic can also be plugged into an analog mixing board, karaoke system, etc, so is a good versatile choice. I strongly recommend against buying generic-noname brand mics online. 

 

Camera again is the C920.

 

For headphones, as long as it doesn't need a mic, any headphone will work, whether wireless or wired, ear buds or over the ear, etc. Whatever the person likes, really. For this one were it me I'd go with something like a $20-30 Sony headset, but that depends if they want surround sound or whatever. 

 

If they have time to get the Black Friday deal, these JBLs are very nice: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/jbl-live-500bt-wireless-over-the-ear-headphones-black/6339235.p?skuId=6339235&irclickid=SDD0oWzRBxyLWoS0TWXZ0S3wUkEwqSzwK0%3AXQw0&irgwc=1&ref=198&loc=Ziff Davis%2C LLC.&acampID=0&mpid=10915

 

The person probably doesn't actually need a gaming headset, camera, and mic, but sees people on twitch with it and doesn't understand that a gaming headset already has a mic, or the person is using a mic with the gaming headset microphone detached. So, really, if you have a mic, any headphone is fine. 

 

This will get it done for about $300, but of course there are lots of more expensive options out there. If that is too much, you are going into the realm of knockoff brands, and you will have to take your chances. Could work fine, could be a massive headache. 

 

[Mockduck]

One other consideration: If the person is streaming from their computer, they don't need anything else probably, but if they want to stream consoles from their PC, they'll want something like the Elgato HD60S, which is the easiest way to get an HDMI input source into your computer, and is $150: https://www.amazon.com/Elgato-Game-Capture-HD60-PlayStation/dp/B01DRWCOGA

[Reaperman]

For note, I am not good at this, and certainly not "pro," but I did invest a few hundred hours into finding a decent setup.  My problems were with my own talent portion, and me wanting to just record things in my gameroom as-is, rather than re-arrange my life for streaming.  With that in mind, here's how I'd have rearranged my life for streaming:

 

Nobody wants to watch a headset, so if we're talking desk microphones (and we should be), make sure to stick with USB to keep costs/equipment/troubleshooting down. Analog microphones unnecessarily increase difficulty and setup variables for beginners. Microphone quality/price isn't actually the most important thing with usb units either.  More important is finding a proper stand and windscreen/pop filter setup--also tuning the volume/tone/delay/etc properly in software.  There are lots of guide videos for OBS microphone tuning.  Make sure whatever stand/arm compliments the direction the microphone is addressed from, and then it's very much about investing time into setup familiarization. I made a mistake of spending a lot of time tuning an old playstation 2 rockband mic into being decent--which can be done (and they used to be somewhat desired for their cord length), but I would start with something with better driver support (aka an actual pc mic).  Also buy or make panels to kill the echo in the room.  Cover some larger flat surfaces with them, and the OBS tuning gets easier.

 

Drop game audio volume to a very low level, it will be picked up on the desk mic. Streamers don't get the luxury of actually enjoying their games.

 

Logitech's 1080p webcams were the standard last I checked (but it's been years), and if it's corner-of-the-video streaming, they can run at a lower resolution for an FPS bump since not all will do decent fps at their highest resolution. My trusty logitech c920 seems to still have variants for sale. Stick with big brands, and there will be guides/help/troubleshooting. Like the microphone, the camera's not actually as important as the setup behind it, and it's about investing time. 

 

Probably go for greenscreen, chromakey it out, and don't forget to invest in natural looking lights.  Don't go with a ring light (flat lighting and ringed eye reflections) unless you're a heavily made-up camgirl. Buy at least 3 lights, one for each half of the face (keep one side more powerful than the other, play with elevation starting with the hot one being high) and use the third for the backdrop to help kill that shadow. If there are 4 lights, consider a hair light too, which should help the chromakey and add a highlight. Pick up a diffusion mechanism (softbox, umbrella, etc) to play around with on one or more of the main face light(s) to find something nice. Use your lighting and setup to keep the camera from working too hard, (cuts graininess, make chromakey work better) and don't do anything to the image in the camera's garbage software, do it all in OBS, because it reduces tuning variables especial with camera upgrades. Do not film with a busy background (like I did, because I didn't care enough)--have a space built for recording. 

 

Also for the chroma key, hair styles and types become important, and sometimes, that hair just has to go.  Unfortunately I'm one of those types, so I didn't do chromakey at all.

 

A big consideration is what will be streamed (PC vs console).  On pc, running the game, capturing the video, and then re-encoding with overlay provides an awful drain on a single device. Often for pc streaming, two computers are used, or if not possible, two video cards.  The encoding video card doesn't have to be stellar, it just needs to provide its hardware encoding bump, and streaming software all has settings for choosing which card provides the acceleration. 

 

For my setup, I grab the initial capture externally (for capturing both pc and console) with a slightly outdated external capture device (running in tethered mode) called an Avermedia Live Gamer Portable 2.  For retro consoles, this capture device is picky, and often needs sync 'corrected' to exactly 60, by something like a framemeister.  This causes stutter every 10s or so, but all online video platforms will correct to 60 anyway, so the stutter is unavoidable, and I might as well manage it myself. After capture, I pass it back into the computer for re-encoding with overlays.

 

Again, do as I say, not as I do, because all I ended up doing was filming in a dark room, in front of a front projection setup, with a desk lamp, and a stupid rockband microphone.  It got me about as far as you'd expect, and I got it out of my system in a few months.

Edited November 29, 2020 by Reaperman

[128Kgames]

Thanks Mockduck and Reaperman - I didn't even think to ask her was he planning to stream from a console or a PC.  I've reached out to my cousin again to find out. 

[128Kgames]

OK so my cousin got back to me, the response she got from him was "Probably both, but mostly the PS4."  

 

So I think it would be safe to recommend to her the SteelSeries or LucidSound headsets Mockduck recommended, and the Logitech Webcam you both did.  Does that make sense then?

 

I dig SteelSeries products (my MSI laptop has a SteelSeries keyboard) and I have a Logitech C930e Webcam myself.  

 

Honestly, I thought this was going to be way more complicated.  I guess I really am getting old...

 

Thanks to you both for the advise and suggestions, I really do appreciate it.