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Michael Duckworth

Streamer’s Starter Kit

Part I

Streaming, the final frontier.

With all of the tech that exists today it’s never been easier to start up your own brand of entertainment, delivering gameplay of your favorite games to the masses.

This quick Streamer’s Starter Kit will be the first part in a three part series getting you ready to shoot, stab or use your Q on the opposing team.

I’m your host Adam Duckworth AkA AlfredoChickenz on the Sticks/Keyboard and Mouse, let’s dive right into it.

A couple things to think about right at the start of building your Gaming Empire:

  • What type of games will you be attempting to Stream/Record?
  • What is a realistic budget that I can assign to this project?
  • What few pieces of tech do I require to start streaming?
  • How much time can I and SHOULD I devote to this endeavor?

First and foremost you need to determine what you want to play. Streaming and uploading videos can and will always somewhat be determined by what is popular at the time. The rest of that equation is simply up to you!

Pick a genre of games you enjoy the most, or a couple different ones. Decide inside that genre which games you would like to feature the most on your channel.

Once you are able to narrow it down to a few different choices we can move on to the next step.

The gear that you need will ultimately be determined by the games that you want to play.

Below are two very broad examples (purely based off of my own experience):

  • I want to mainly stream and make videos for low intensity static games such as Hearthstone or older less resource hogging games. Thus requiring me to be able to save some money on a not so “Top of the Line” PC Build and external equipment.
  • I prefer to stream the newest of shooters and high motion games that love to eat my CPU and scream for more resources all the time! Having these kind of ambitions is going to cost you a bit more than the other option.

When you sit down and make a list of all the items you need to start streaming or uploading videos, anything that you need to purchase needs to fit into a realistic budget that you can manage.

There are about a billion things out there that can make streaming easier and better but to start simple you only need a couple things:

  • Your main Console or PC that you are streaming from. This can be simply your Xbox One/PS4 that you can stream right to your audience from the console itself. The other option of course is a PC that you use to stream all of your content with a Streaming/Recording service of your choice.
  • Internet! Simply put without this beautiful invention no one would be doing any streaming. Some people want to get as much Downstream/Upstream as they can but really you can stream on a fairly low DS/US. The biggest thing to remember is that the quality of the stream is very dependent on the DS/US that your ISP provides. Sometimes it can make or break the whole process!
  • A microphone of some sort. There are plenty of options out there for getting your voice onto those games you are playing. They range from the super inexpensive to the !OMG! I must now sell my car.

Once you have rounded up all the physical equipment to start your adventure the last thing to determine is just how much time do you plan devoting to your quest.

If you plan on streaming be prepared to sit down and play those games you love for 4–8 hours at a time, sometimes even more! Get a schedule going so that you are able to get into the groove of things.

Not only does a schedule help you but it also shows your viewers a commitment by you for them to be on and provide them with the entertainment they need!

That’s it! Part one complete!

You have the basic knowledge to start streaming and recording videos. Enjoy yourself and remember to always have fun while at the same time providing quality content to your viewers.

Remember to stay tuned for Part II: The Solo Streamer!

Also keep a lookout for a much more technical guide to streaming including this guy’s choice at hardware and software and even some basic settings for Audio/Video to sink your teeth into!

Thanks for the read friends!

Logging out for now,

Adam