A small guide to streaming/making Youtube videos

MrChocodemon

Handsome Moderator
Disclaimer:
I myself just make Youtube videos so it would be nice if the streamers would help make this post better and even more complete (Youtubers are welcome too, to post their software and settings). Maybe leave a post with the software that you use and which settings you think are the best.

--> DO NOT post illegal software or links to illegal downloads to software here.
you use Fraps? Awesome. Fraps is nice, but don't post links to an illegal version of it.


This is, right now, just my knowledge as a windows user. If there is someone using mac or linux, i appreciate any additional software, tips, or knowledge.
I read this article once about recording on linux.

General Tips

- Record Video the same resolution you want to stream/upload them. In most cases 720p (1280x720) is more than enough quality. The benefit from doing so is smaller file sizes and faster encoding. When you record at 1080p and then encode to 720p for the file size, then it looks worse in most cases and will take longer.
- if you don't record any fast paced game like a shooter or so, record 30 Frames, it saves file size, encoding time, and is Youtube conform
- When you have the time take the slowest render possible. It'll result in better quality and smaller files which saves bandwidth and looks good. I you have super awesome internet, but you PC isn't the best, maybe you should just upload a bigger video.


Making Youtube Videos

1) Choice of recording software

There are several options and the biggest difference are file size and performance impact. Recording software can be devided in two major categories for this post. Free software and pay software.

Free Software:

- Shadowplay

A very potent recording software by Nvidia that has a very low performance cost, while making reasonably size files with very good quality and a good set of options. Is installed if you update the driver for your graphics card. Another + is that you can record ingame sound + you mic in one file. Most other capturing software doesn't have this feature. Normally you'd need a a second software just to record your microphone input.
Cons are that it can only be used fullscreen and is only available for people with a graphics card from the GTX 600 series or higher. And it is just the beta right now.

- Hypercam 2 --> downloads in english and german
Makes Videos in .avi format and the biggest plus i can imagine is that you not only can record games (like with shadowplay), but also windows (like folders or programs not the OS) of areas of your screen.
If you want you can just record the top left quarter of you screen.

- Camstudio
"CamStudio is able to record all screen and audio activity on your computer and create industry-standard AVI video files and using its built-in SWF Producer can turn those AVIs into lean, mean, bandwidth-friendly Streaming Flash videos (SWFs)" - camstudio
I don't think i could've put it in better words.

- LoiLo
Just recently heard of this and read some positiv feedback. I never tried i though and therefore i can't really comment in this one.

- ezvid
Never used this one either, sorry, but i think both deserve an entrance, as they might be just what you want.

- OBS
OBS (Open Broadcaster Software) is a free recording and streaming tool. It is loved by many, as it has a low performance impact and has a huge variety of settings.

Pay Software:

- Mirillis action ~25$/22€

Let's you record and stream gameplay and has a set of good and divers settings. You can easily set the audio levels or screen resolution. Like Hypercam you can just record a part of your screen which is always nice when you like to play in windowed mode, or want to make a guide or something that involves just the game. If you own a intel processor with an HD graphics unit you can use Intel quick synch for ultra fast encoding. (Later more on 'quick sync')
But you can't choose a custom framerate and not go higher than 60FPS.

- Fraps ~30$/25€
Old software with huge files, but can record nearly every directx game. Old but still in most lists of recording software, because it is compact, easy to use and you find very much help online.
Near the bottom at the QuickSync section i used Fraps as an example and the 10 min Video i made was ~27GB big. Fraps user need encoding Software.
Rule of Thumb: Record 720p + 30 Frames everything else far too extreme. Other recording software is way better for recording Full HD Gameplay.

- Bandicam ~35$/30€
Is able to record directx and OpenGL games adn can makes use of Nvidia Cuda core or intel quick sync for encoding.


2) Choice of Rendering Software
The choice is easy, but the usage more comlicated.

Some recording software has an internal encoding (every video is encoded, but i mean additional), so that the video you have on the harddrive is smaller. If you have some time to spare or are someone who (wants to) edits his videos before posting them, like making an intro or such, than you need additional software. Here are some.

Free Software

- Handbrake
Handbrake is one powerfull piece of software. You can decrease the size of nearly any video to a 1/4 to 1/20 without sacrificing video quality.
Original Record 23,7 MB
Without Losing much quality 2,7MB
Losing a bit quality 2MB

- MeGUI
iWAHN said:
So far i used MeGui wich is also pretty good at getting small size's without losing quality.
I looked into that and MeGui seems to have a little less style when you look just at the interface but it is pretty darn impressive what you can do with it. With a little work in you can do more than you could ever want from this piece of encoding software. Very powerful.

Pay Software

- Sony Vegas min 400$
As popular as it's expensive. It is the Photoshop of video editing.

- Magix ~40$
I never used magix myself, but i've friends that use it as professional video editors and say that it's perfect for nearly everything.

Streaming on Twitch

I never streamed on twith myself, so i can't offer great help there, but with the help of YOU i'd like to make this section more than a link to Twitch itself.

iWAHN said:
I am using Open Broadcaster to stream it is by far the best freeware streaming software imho.
Easy to use and with tons of features.

2 things you might want to check before you start streaming are your Bandwith and CPU power.
If you got ~1500Kbit/s upload you can get some good quality stream in 720P as allways more is better ;D,
(If you want to stream in good quality on 1080P without screen tearing and ugly fat pixel fragments you should have around 3000-3500Kbit/s up) but keep in mind that you need more bandwith if you want to play online and stream.
Even playing solo you should not use more then 80-85%% of your bandwith for your stream
since this could lead to frame drops/stream stuttering(at least using the Open Broadcaster can't speak for other software)

As for the CPU if you want to stream only Secrets of Grindea having a dual core with 2,5 GHz or more should be fine i guess. Basically if you can play Secrets of Grindea without problems streaming should be fine too.


Thats all for now if you got any questions feel free to ask.

Open Broadcaster can also be used for recording

Here is a guide from Twitch on variable free software solutions.
http://twitch.tv/broadcast


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Questions? Things that are wrong or there is missing something important/interesting? You want more Detail on something?
Just post and i'll happy to change or add or answer anything.

Or maybe you could post how you are doing all this. Which programs, with which setting and so on.

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iWAHN

Green Slime
I am using Open Broadcaster to stream it is by far the best freeware streaming software imho.
Easy to use and with tons of features.

2 things you might want to check before you start streaming are your Bandwith and CPU power.
If you got ~1500Kbit/s upload you can get some good quality stream in 720P as allways more is better ;D,
(If you want to stream in good quality on 1080P without screen tearing and ugly fat pixel fragments you should have around 3000-3500Kbit/s up) but keep in mind that you need more bandwith if you want to play online and stream.
Even playing solo you should not use more then 80-85%% of your bandwith for your stream
since this could lead to frame drops/stream stuttering(at least using the Open Broadcaster can't speak for other software)

As for the CPU if you want to stream only Secrets of Grindea having a dual core with 2,5 GHz or more should be fine i guess. Basically if you can play Secrets of Grindea without problems streaming should be fine too.


Thats all for now if you got any questions feel free to ask.


--Edit--
Open Broadcaster can also be used for recording
 

MrChocodemon

Handsome Moderator
Pretty impressive so far i used MeGui wich is also pretty good at getting small size's without losing quality, gotta have a look on Handbrake.
And i only used the shallow settings for that. In the video setting bottom half you can activate the advanced tab and a whole new page with setting i can't even start to understand open up. So it's perfect if you just are a beginner and use a slider from awesome to nice or can control that thing as if you were a helicopter pilot.
 

iWAHN

Green Slime
One important thing that just came to my mind finding your stream Key for twitch is kinda hard if you don't know where to look for it. At least i didn't suspect it there in the beginning ;D.

Key_01.PNG Key_02.PNG Key_03.PNG
 

MrChocodemon

Handsome Moderator
QUICK SYNC ADDITION

Q: What is Intel® Quick-Sync-Video? <-- Full name
A: A mode that uses the encoding power of the integrated graphics card on intel processors.

Q: But that's a shitty small graka, does it any good?
A: Yes. The graphic chip is very good optimised to encode x264. Every GPU is nowadays, but not the processors.

--> Right now Handbrake only has limited options for QuickSync and i use the highest quality possible.

This is a very simple example which is not awesomely representative and differs to every PC or Laptop greatly. Done with a i7-3770k @ 4.2GHz
I won't upload the videos to youtube. They'll end up looking all the same. The result of my encoding is always as small as possible without looking different from the source. It's just ten minutes of grindin in the flying temple.

Raw Footage (1080p @ 60Frames + GameSound) of 10 Minutes Secrets of Grindea with:
Fraps = Footage F = 27,2GB (yes) .avi --> Fraps 60FPS+1080p=overkill
Nvidia Shadowplay = Footage S = 1,1GB .mp4

Converted with Handbrake on x264 processor encoding on slowest mode for best quality and smallest files
Footage F = 133MB ~50mins for encoding (from 27GB to 133 MB)
Footage S = 146 ~63mins for encoding

Converted with Handbrake on x264 processor encoding on fastest mode for saving time
Footage F = 424MB ~11mins for encoding
Footage S = 460MB ~2mins for encoding

Converted with Handbrake using QuickSync with an integrated HD4000
Footage F = 400MB ~13mins for encoding
Footage S = 455MB ~7mins for ecoding

QuickSync is a good alternative if you don't want to waste much time and want to get nice results with good filesize. If you have the time you should always choose the better encoding.

For a "How To" on activating Quick Sync just ask
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
Ah, free rendering software! Thanks for that, gonna be very useful if I decide to re-ignite my channel over the summer.

We got anything about video editing options? At the moment I use Lightworks (the free version) but it seems to crash... like, a lot. It's a very detailed software and unfortunately due to its unreliability was one of the reasons I stopped making videos... I'll see if it's had an update.

Any other editing options? (Besides Windows Movie Maker?)
 

IHeartPie

Halloweed
Unfortunately, there isn't any decent free video editing software that I know of besides lightworks and movie maker.

Camtasia does offer a 30 day free trial for their recording/editing software [it's what I started with and got me acclimated to LPing, so I'll always rep it when I can].

Adobe does offer the creative cloud option where you pay $20/month for premiere pro or $50/month for everything [which helps a lot since I use photoshop, illustrator, premiere and after effects].

But yeah, most Youtubers do opt for Sony Vegas or Premiere.
 

The G-Meister

Giga Slime
I'd like to as well, but I don't want to put any money into something that I might not be using for very long... If I enjoy doing the videos I might splash the cash, but not yet :p
 
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