How to stream to Twitch tutorial
Written and Media by James Hudson
For this tutorial, we’re going to go through the step on how to stream to the twitch.tv platform. This is a simply and free setup that anyone can do!
First we’re going to need to install Open Broadcaster Software and you’re going to need to sign up on twitch.tv.
Twitch.tv sign up: https://www.twitch.tv/
Step 1
Sign up on twitch.tv to get your account started
Step 2
Click on the drop down menu and click on dashboard
Step 3
On the following page, click on stream key
Step 4
On the next page there’s a button to show your stream key. Everyone has a personal key so make sure no one else see’s this key.
Step 5
After getting your stream key and installing obs, you’re going to be presented with the window below. Click on the settings option.
Step 6
You’ll be presented with the options screen. On the left hand side, click on stream.
In the service section, click the drop down menu and select twitch. For the server location, click on the closest server to your location. In our case, it would be US East: Chicago.
Remember that stream key we obtained earlier? This is the part we’ll be using that. Insert your twitch stream key into that box and click apply.
Step 7
Going down the list here, next we’ll be working on the output settings.
Step 8
From here, go to the output mode and the top and select Advance then Streaming.
Step 9
This is where most of the magic happens, for your encoder, you’re going to select x264
.
For Rate Control, it should be already set but if not select CBR.
The Bitrate is the most important part as it determines the quality of your stream. This is measured by kilobits and determines how much upload speed your have. Do a speed test to determine your speeds.
Generally, you’re going to want to take 30% of your upload speed and set that as your Bitrate. In my case, it would be 2500. The higher your upload speed, the better quality your stream would have.
Lastly, set your Keyframe Interval to 0 secs, CPU Usage to very fast and everything else is set to default.
Step 10
Almost done here, the last step of these settings is to mess around with the video settings. On the left hand side, click on video.
Step 11
Your base (canvas) resolution would be the resolution your screen is at. In most cases, the standard resolution is at 1920×1080 but set it to your current resolution.
The Output (Scaled) Resolution would be what your audience is viewing the video. If you’re playing at a 1920×1080 resolution, then set your output to 1280×720.
Downscale Filter determines how much stress is being put on your computer as well as your quality. Low end computers should select Bilinear, higher end computers should select Bicubic and over the top rigs should select Lanzcos.
The common FPS values determines the refresh rate of your images happens on your stream. Most practice selects 30 FPS but if you want the glorious quality of 60 FPS then that option is there too.
Step 12
Now its time to start streaming but first we need to add scenes and sources. On the main hub screen in the bottom left portion, you have your Scenes and Sources. Right click in the scenes and select Add. Name it however your wish.
Step 13
Now for your sources, do the same thing for your scene except you’ll get more options. When you right click, select game capture.
Step 14
For my specific settings, I’m playing in window mode, The option is normally set to full screen which all applications are set to by default which would make this set nonexistent. However if you are playing in windowed mode, then choose Capture specific window and right below that option, select the application on which your game is using.
After going through the settings above click ok and hit start streaming. You’re now streaming to twitch.tv. Congratulations!
