My Twitch Live Coding Setup

[Last Updated: 2021-05-14]

This is a rundown on my streaming setup that I use for streaming on Twitch. The main section will talk about the hardware I use and then we will move on to my streaming software. I'm going to break that down into the simple setup and then move on to the more complicated stuff. I will also cover a few of the things I did on my Twitch channel as far as the page design.

Most of the hardware that I am using I either already had or I wanted to make minimal investment in since I am just getting started with streaming.

• Laptop: Dell XPS 15 7590

  • 32 GB Ram

  • 1 TB SSD

  • 4K Display

  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

• Webcam: Logitech C920

• Microphone: Neewer NW-800

  • Neewer Boom Arm

  • Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB Audio Interface

• Mouse: Logitech MX Master

• Keyboard: Redragon K556 RGB LED

• Dock: Plugable USB 3.0

• Monitors: HP EliteDisplay 24"

Now I know you may be thinking "Holy crap! That is some expensive equipment in there!" but you should know that most of this equipment I either already had or I have because of work. The only equipment that I purchased to start streaming (which I didn't HAVE to have) was the webcam, microphone, and boom stand. Everything else I already had and most if it you don't need to get started. So if you don't have most of this stuff don't worry. All you really need is a machine with a webcam and a microphone.

I use Open Broadcasting Software (or OBS) to stream to Twitch. There are many other options out there and if you're looking for something relatively simple I would suggest looking at Streamlabs OBS since it manages a lot of the settings that you may not care about. If you like being in control of every aspect of your stream I would go with OBS. I also use a website called Stream Elements to help manage a few stream overlays as well as chat commands and alerts.

There are a few plugins that I use to enhance the base functionality of OBS. Currently I am using StreamFX, Move Transition, OBS Websocket, and VST plugins from REAPER to enhance the sound of my microphone and remove any distracting background noise. See my post [LINK TO ADVANCED AUDIO POST] about advanced audio configurations to view my settings.

OBS Scenes

The scenes that I currently have setup are the following:

• Starting Soon

• Chatting

• BRB

• Full Screen Cam

• Main

• End

I organize my scenes in OBS with labels based on two different categories. Those categories are either scenes or components. Components are scenes that I use to embed into other scenes. By doing this you have flexibility of using assets in that are preconfigured across multiple scenes without having to rebuild them. Primary components that each scene have include a camera, microphone, desktop audio, a scene background image, and my logo. Each of the individual scenes are slightly different with a few things added to Chatting, Full Screen Cam, and Main for interacting with stream viewers. This organization methodology is all thanks to HeccBrent and his video on OBS Organization.

Starting Soon

This is what I use to kick off the stream. It has some info about my Discord and Twitter along with a blurred camera view so people can see me while I get the stream setup. This scene allows me time to get everything with the stream up and running while giving people time to get into chat before we start chatting or working on the code project for the day.

Chatting

This is typically the first scene we use when we are just chatting. I have an image background with a section for my web cam and then a window for chat. This normally happens during the start or end of a stream or when I get sidetracked interacting with chat.

Main

This is where I spend most of my time and is the most complicated scene. This scene looks simplistic on the surface and is made up of my webcam in the bottom right hand corner and my desktop. Know that you can either share your entire desktop or you can share individual applications in OBS. It is helpful that I have 3 desktops and I share only one of them so I can keep my other monitors for monitoring the stream. There are other items here that are turned on and off based on what is happening during the stream and when users redeem channel points. I also have a pixelated secrets screen that can be activated if I don't want chat to see what I'm doing. This screen is something that was shown to me by @SociableSteve and our friend @LuceCarter did a nice writeup on her blog on how to accomplish this.

BRB

This scene is exactly what it sounds like. It's something that gets used if I need to step away, but we're not done yet. It's just a screen very similar to my chatting screen except it has the blurred out webcam and lets viewers know that we are taking a short break. It also displays chat so that the conversation can keep going between viewers while I'm away.

Full Screen Cam

This is a scene that I can use if I'm wanting to zoom in on something that we are working on or if I am talking to chat about something that I'm wanting to emphasize.

End

Yup. It's the end... Similar to the START and BRB scenes but it's the end of the stream and it thanks people for watching as we wind down, prepare for a raid, and wrap things up.

Streamelements is what I use to manage stream alerts, and manage a few stream commands (along with a chat bot).

Huge shoutout to @whitep4nth3r for her work on P4nth3rb0t, P4nth3rlabs, and P4nth3rdrop. I currently have P4nth3rb0t running on Heroku to automate shouting out stream friends and emitting Twitch events that are then used by P4nth3rlabs and P4nth3rdrop. P4nth3rlabs manages the chat overlay and will eventually take over stream events like follows, subs, and raids in the near future (this is currently being managed by Streamlabs). P4nth3rdrop is just a fun overlay that allows viewers to drop emotes using different commands in chat.

When streaming you may want to have some music in the background. I typically have music going while I'm working and I think having music can add to the overall atmosphere of the stream. When I am working my playlist will typically depend on my mood and what I'm working on. The stream is no different. If you plan on uploading your videos to YouTube you will want to use royalty free music. There are great playlists on Spotify or there is a great app/website called Pretzel.Rocks. I have their desktop app and use it fairly frequently even when I am not streaming.

Hopefully this information about the setup has been helpful and informative. If you want to see a really great write up on a stream setup feel free to check out the Stream Setup post by Suz Hinton (Noopkat) or this one by Salma Alam-Naylor (Whitep4nth3r).

Feel free to find me streaming at http://live.toefrog.com or if you have specific questions or want to hang out while I'm not streaming you're welcome to stop by the Discord server.

Build. Learn. Share. Repeat.

-ToeFrog