Good post, peef. Thanks for taking the time to write all of this useful info up. =)
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DOs and DON'Ts of Livestreaming a Tournament: My Attempt at A Full Writeup
- Thread starter PEEF!
- Start date
standardtoaster
Tubacabra
Is there any way to help promote a stream so it gets more than like 8 viewers?
Sephirothxxx
Smash Ace
Well done making this thread, Peef.
I'm assuming you know about Team Smashbros?
If that isn't getting you the viewers, then idk what will...
MonkUnit
Project M Back Roomer
ST's stream is already on Team Smashbros. He's just wondering how to advertise a bit more.
standardtoaster
Tubacabra
Yeah, sanchaz posted my stream around on a few threads for the tourney last weekend and we usually only had like 6 people watching. Next time I'll try to make sure that there's always at least one match going on the stream tv.
Streaming for a larger tournament or at least where there will be high level play is a good way to attract more viewers. If it's known you will be streaming where top players x y and z will be there, more people will be inclined to watch.
Yep if there is a big tournament coming, make sure you advertise it in every livestream thread you can, make a signature, and just do everything you can think of to get that momentum coming
standardtoaster
Tubacabra
Ah, ok. I'll do that for the next tourney I stream, then.
iRobinhoood
Smash Lord
Dear Peef, I need help regarding settings for capturing. FPS, bitrate etc.
EDIT: plz <3
EDIT: plz <3
Capturing or streaming? I am not a recorder but a streamer, and it would be a sin for me to try to give advice about recording when there are probably dozens of people out there who do it better than me.
If you mean stream settings, then I will be more than willing to help out.
iRobinhoood
Smash Lord
Stream settings. I record in HD fine, it's the SD the boggles my mind lol.
Right now, assuming your savvy in streaming software tech this is my friends setup:
Dazzle DVC 100
VH Capture(for getting a video source)
xSplit(screen capture method off of VH Capture's preview)
However the quality is grainy and lines. Could you possibly post your xsplit settings or how your streams are setup with dazzles? What software? Thnx
Right now, assuming your savvy in streaming software tech this is my friends setup:
Dazzle DVC 100
VH Capture(for getting a video source)
xSplit(screen capture method off of VH Capture's preview)
However the quality is grainy and lines. Could you possibly post your xsplit settings or how your streams are setup with dazzles? What software? Thnx
Yeah the problem here is you haven't clicked the little "force deinterlace" checkbox in your xsplit settings. You get there by selecting the Dazzle DVC 100 source, going to configure and finding the box. You will have the option of "standard" or "optimized". Standard looks better but is more stressful on the CPU. If your CPU drops frames trying to encode standard deinterlacing, optimized is much easier on it.
As far as quality, try selecting quality 8 with a bitrate of 500kbps. That should be plenty good quality. Also choose a resolution like 360x480 or something like that. If any of your quality, bitrate or resolution is too high, your CPU will drop frames. If any of them are too low, the picture quality won't be that good. Finding the balance is all up to your own computer and it requires experimentation. Keep in mind though, always make sure you are maintaining a deinterlaced 30fps, as those are very important.
As far as quality, try selecting quality 8 with a bitrate of 500kbps. That should be plenty good quality. Also choose a resolution like 360x480 or something like that. If any of your quality, bitrate or resolution is too high, your CPU will drop frames. If any of them are too low, the picture quality won't be that good. Finding the balance is all up to your own computer and it requires experimentation. Keep in mind though, always make sure you are maintaining a deinterlaced 30fps, as those are very important.
I think you mean 320x240 or 640x480 for resolution? Or something else that's 4:3 and mod16.
For the record, I don't really like having both a quality and a bitrate setting. Don't know what the Xsplit guys were thinking there, the max bitrate setting limits the quality anyway, and weird stuff can happen if you try to set a much better quality than the bitrate allows.
Also, Xsplit's default profile has some very weird settings, so I recommend just choosing one of the many speed presets (fast-medium-slow) that fits your computer the best. Unless you know how x264 works and want to create your own preset.
For the record, I don't really like having both a quality and a bitrate setting. Don't know what the Xsplit guys were thinking there, the max bitrate setting limits the quality anyway, and weird stuff can happen if you try to set a much better quality than the bitrate allows.
Also, Xsplit's default profile has some very weird settings, so I recommend just choosing one of the many speed presets (fast-medium-slow) that fits your computer the best. Unless you know how x264 works and want to create your own preset.
iRobinhoood
Smash Lord
Thanks for the great settings help. I'll be sure to change these up next time we smash at my friends house. But I haven't paid for xsplit, and if I'm not mistake you can't choose the dazzle as a source unless you have the full version of xsplit. True or false?
rokimomi
Smash Lord
False, theres some other restrictions here and there, but you should be able to run a fine stream without membership.
Yeah, flipped those around.
The quality and bitrate thing confuses me as well. Is quality 10 always the best, and from there we should just focus on bitrate only? I am not sure how exactly those interact as well.
Yeah, the presets are **** for most applications and it just takes time on the grind when trying to figure out what works for your computer. Streamers should expect several streaming sessions to go wrong (either dropped frames or really poor quality) before honing in on what works.
As far as selecting Dazzle as a video source, you don't have to pay for that. If you've been streaming from a dazzle then obviously it can be selected. XSplit is going to stop being free in 8-9 days, so you will need to purchase it if you want to keep using the program. Since I am partnered, I have to pay 59 but you should only have to pay 39 for two years of usage. Not too bad, but something to keep in mind when thinking about investing a ****load of time to getting your settings perfect.
Tee ay eye
Smash Hero
wait, we won't be able to use xsplit free AT ALL after 8-9 days?
shiiiiit.
i don't want to dish out $40 of my own money just for streaming.
by the way, does anyone know how to edit xsplit's recorded videos now that free users are switched over to the god-awful speex codec for audio?
shiiiiit.
i don't want to dish out $40 of my own money just for streaming.
by the way, does anyone know how to edit xsplit's recorded videos now that free users are switched over to the god-awful speex codec for audio?
iRobinhoood
Smash Lord
What's the no xsplit alternative? WE NEED A PLAN B
Yeah you won't be able to use it according to their site. You also have no fix for the crap audio.
Plan b is.......Flash Media Live Encoder 3.0
iRobinhoood
Smash Lord
Should I just set this method up instead of the temporary xsplit fix?
CT Chia
Smash Obsessed
Just so people know:
There will still be a free version, but limited. How limited, I don't know. I would probably guess standard definition resolutions (which isn't terrible for Smash) and hopefully a fps limit no lower than 30 (leaving 60 fps for paid). If they want to compete with Adobe FME that's what they need to do imo.Xsplit Website said:
The quality setting is for x264's CRF, IIRC ranging from 33 (quality=0) to 23 (quality=10). Note that lower CRF -> higher quality.
If you set the quality too high so that it needs very much higher bitrate than what you choose as maximum, I don't think the results will be very good, or at least not optimal.
In my streams I just bypass the CRF thing and use bitrate mode instead, setting an average bitrate equal to the maximum (plus lots of other custom settings tuned for streaming and my CPU's needs).
MikeHaggarTHAKJB
Smash Master
thank you. this is certainly something flopmerica needs to improve in (amongst millions of other things)