Want to Become a Twitch Streamer? Here is My Gear List…

Firstly, I wanted to start this article with a disclaimer. I am not a technology or gaming expert by any means, but have a passion for sharing what I’ve learned in my streaming journey thus far. It’s been such a great experience and I look forward to learning and growing more!

With that being said, if you’re thinking of becoming a streamer, but don’t know where to start, I have a few suggestions on what helped me kickstart my experience, and hopefully, I can offer some alternatives that will possibly save a little cash in the long run, in what could easily become a big investment upfront.

For those who have asked on stream about my gear, here is the place you can find out!

The Set-Up

PC and Laptop:
When it comes to choosing where to start, it’s in the computer, itself, that you’re streaming from. You may have a laptop or PC, but here are my suggestions in what will help you best feel set up in running a smooth streaming experience.
Whether it’s PC or Mac, my personal preference is going to be with a PC or Windows setup, every time. All in all, streaming is built for PC gamers, especially when you’re trying to buy the games themselves that you want to stream.
In my go-to streaming setup, we invested in a basic tower model that was on sale a few years back, and I recently upgraded to an ROG Zephyrus G14, from Asus, for more of my mobile needs. Both of these basics have 16GB of RAM, which

Software:
Though there are many streaming softwares out there, I swear by the tried-and-true OBS. Not only is it a free platform, but it continually improves in the user experience, regularly. The only down sides that come with these applications are that many come with a learning curve of their own. If you’d like to have some tutorials on how we use OBS at Glasse Factory, let us know in the comments!
In terms of other software, I gather most of my games from Steam, and in my photo-editing streams, I have never been more satisfied with Adobe. Lightroom and Photoshop come as a photography bundle for just under $10/month, too!

Capture Cards:
After researching for many alternatives to the Capture Card to connect to not only my Face Cam, but my Nintendo Switch, I ended up with Elgato’s Cam Links. And although those cheaper alternatives exist, when it comes to technology I made an investment in, I felt like I couldn’t skimp to save a couple of bucks. I wanted to feel a bit more peace of mind on how my connections to my camera were made.

Face Cam:
I initially started streaming with my main photography camera, a Nikon D850 and my go to lens: a 50mm 1.4G, and WOW, the quality is absolutely un-beatable. However, with the heavy use my camera receives on a daily basis, and suddenly having to run streams for hours straight via HDMI? I worried about it breaking down faster, so I went with an alternative: my cell phone!
Yes, you can use something as simple as a cell phone without a capture card, and without any HDMI capabilities. I currently use a Bluetooth connection and an app I downloaded on my typical app store. DroidCam App is what works for any typical Android phone, and there are Apple alternatives that work just as well through something as simple as a Bluetooth connection. No capture cards, no HDMI connections! The only downside is that you miss out on the quality of a DSLR camera, but for anyone just starting out, it’s a great money-saving alternative if you wanted something a bit different and more mobile than your typical computer webcam.

Lighting:
There are honestly tons of options when it comes to lighting, and I used what I already had in my home!
Smart bulbs and a good halo light can really add to the lighting atmosphere and up the quality of the streaming experience itself, and even though they’re a little more expensive than the typical light bulb, they’re fully customizable.
If you didn’t want to opt for a smart bulb, switching to various colored light bulbs manually works, too!

View my full gear list here! I stream on Wednesdays at 6pm PST on our Twitch platform, and vary between playing games, editing photos, and drawing digitally. Come join me and say hello!