Source
r/PS4•
AaronTreble

[PS4 best streaming set up 2017?]

Hey guys,

I'm sure you've all been asked this a millions times (I'm sorry!), but I've learned I can trust you fine people on reddit for great information.

I'm getting into podcasting, and I'm a casual gamer, so I thought if I'm buying all of this expensive gear already for one thing, why not see if I can get some multi-use action out of it and then my 'relaxing enjoying games time' can double as potential video content time, too. That way I can feel like I'm being productive while having some fun with my PS4.

I'd like to get your thoughts an opinions on what I'd need to make Let's Plays, and do some live-streaming.

I've googled, YT'ed--and please correct me if there's better options--but it seems like:

-Elgato is the way to go for capture cards

-the new PS headset is getting good reviews, so that could work (I'll have podcast headset + mics, but it's an excuse to upgrade my Sony Golds, anyways)

-OBS, x-split seem like the 'editing stuff' (yup, not a tech guy)

-And a newer laptop that runs w/ i7 + 8-16 gb of ram is needed?

What do you think? And is there anything else I'm missing, or that you'd recommend that I should look into?

My apologies as I'm sure you guys get asked this a million times over, but I've got one shot to buy the proper gear and can't afford to waste this opportunity and would love to hear from the PS experts here on reddit.

Thank you in advance, I appreciate anyone taking the time to help a brother out. Total noob here.

Posted Apr 1, 2017, 12:34 PM UTC

015
TabooMasterCadillacShow•

Its all really good but don't expect anywhere near close to a "successful" audience.

6
AaronTrebleOP•

No expectations for a successful audience at all. It's all for me, for fun, for potential throw in video content.

I feel like you guys have trudged over quite the bloody gamer battlefields in your time.

Thanks for taking the time, TabooM. I appreciate it, mate!

2
killgore755•

Sounds like an excuse to upgrade your PC and grab a better headset..

But if you really want to blow a couple grand for streaming purposes, just try streaming with your current equipment and see if you can even pull it off first.

Not to be a downer, just giving a realistic view.

Would be a terrible waste of money if you bought the Elgato and whatnot but your actually not entertaining to watch and can't pull viewers.

6
AaronTrebleOP•

I love these realistic views.

They threw me off a little at first and confused me, but I get that by saying 'noob' and all that stuff, that I come across as an inexperienced gamer who's going in over his head because he thinks that's his ticket to being rich and famous or something.

And it takes balls to be this honest with people. I admire that. I know this would be every gamer kids dream, and things seem so easy or fun or whatever and we all know that's not reality.

I'm inexperienced in gaming tech, but somewhat experienced in life and business. I have no expectations for this to provide any fame or fortune. Nor to I intend on getting into the industry or anything like that.

In regards to pulling it off, I won't be whoever the famous gamers are, or as great as a professional gamer at any game or anything like that at all. This isn't my industry. Not my wheelhouse in terms of playing games and all that.

I just want to have some fun. But I want things to look good. Not insanely great, but better than what comes with the PS4, you know?

I'm already going in deep with my other ventures, a couple hundred to add in some potential extra video content, and play some games isn't a big deal for me.

This isn't about making a career in this field or this industry. It's about fun, and it's doing it as well as I can for myself.

Thanks for taking the time to comment, KG. And I do appreciate the honest advice, no sarcasm. It's good that people help young gamers out with the reality of life and art. :)

1
dubzilla941Celsior_F1•

Just stop and think a second.

One, I'm assuming you have no audience as of yet. Well then build one first. You may find that it's a challenge to even get a handful of people watching you after a few months. Streaming is so saturated, you will sit with 0 viewers for over a year unless you either know people or you can provide special content that others can't. That or you are a professional in a particular game. And if you do get viewers, expect only a very few.

Two, why spend all this money when you can accomplish your goals for cheap? You want to podcast? There is free software for that. You'll need a microphone too and you can pick up a decent quality one for less than $100. As for streaming, the PS4 streams fine enough for what you want to do now. You may want better headphones though cause who doesn't? I'd splurge on those. And no, not those cheap Sony products. Something like Astro or HyperX. Hell, you could use those as a microphone if they can connect back to the PC.

Let me break it down for you, okay? ElGato HD60 is still like $170 since I last checked. Good headphones are another $200 or more. A really good microphone will be more than $200. And a computer that will be able to handle not just streaming, but also using overlays, a webcam, all while previewing the stream and looking at chat will cost more than $1000 for a laptop no less. And even then, it will struggle because laptops have slower clock speeds than an actual PC. A good editing software Like Vegas Pro will cost, I don't know, like $300-$500?

I admire you are aiming high, but this is one of those things where you need to take a step back and reevaluate your goals and adjust your expectations.

3
AaronTrebleOP•

Thanks for the feedback and the realistic advice, Dubz.

I do appreciate your honesty, and it's certainly great advice if someone thought that this was the road to fame and fortune or even to make a career out of it.

I 100% do not think that this will lead to anything. I'm not counting on this to get an audience, nor do I have big plans to become anything in gaming. Not even a little bit.

This is just to have some fun, potentially some additional video content to throw up once in a while, nothing more, nothing less.

I've never streamed or made a Let's Play, but I do have an audience from other various other ventures that are into gaming. And I really loved gaming when I was a lad.

So my thought process was to ask you guys what I would need, and just have some fun and throw up anything that seems entertaining - while having some fun gaming myself. Zero expectations of this being anything, going anywhere, or thinking of anything other than additional fun.

I really appreciate that you'd be firm with a beginner in this industry as you see countless people going all in on something and then giving up when they realize that shits hard, man.

Nothing is easy, nothing comes quickly in life, and like you said, this is a flooded market. If you're thinking you can make a career out of this, you're in for a rude awakening.

I'm not one of those people. But I respect the kind of honesty you lay on people. It's tough, but fair, and absolutely true.

I'm just looking for advice on gear by people who'd know more than me to have a look at it all.

Consider my goals evaluated and expectations with gaming zero. :)

1
dubzilla941Celsior_F1•

Of course. I just see a lot of people on this sub and elsewhere splurge on equipment with expectations of being the next Summit or Lirik. It can take quite the commitment and investment if you truly want to make it big in streaming. I would assume the same goes for podcasting as well. It has taken some of those guys 5 or more years of streaming nearly every single day for 6 to 12 hours each to get where they are.

Here is my advice if you have some money to throw around - get a good headset for gaming and get a good microphone for recording audio on your computer. To me, those are the two biggest components of streaming and podcasting. Most people have poor Internet speeds and can't watch a high quality stream anyways, but they can definitely relate to quality audio. And you will benefit from a wider range of sounds in game with a nice pair of headphones. I would recommend Yeti microphones and personally, Astro headphones. But definitely do your research as my experiences may be different from yours.

An ElGato is worth the money, in my opinion. I don't stream very much anymore, nor do I record much (because ElGato only has a 1080p passthrough and I play on a 4K TV), but it is fun to mess around with. It provides a lot of functionality. For instance, you can save streams in order to use those for Let's Plays later on. That being said, I do have a laptop that can handle the basic software function. Once you turn on overlays and webcams, my CPU takes a huge hit. And yes, I have a +$1000 workstation laptop too. It's an i7 but it only clocks in at 2.4Ghz, which is a little more than half the speed at which many i7 desktop processors run at. RAM is important, but you shouldn't be using that many programs at once with a CPU bottleneck.

Personally, just pirate a copy of Vegas Pro. It's worked perfectly fine for me so far. I'm not sure what software you would use for podcasts, though. And definitely learn how to use Vegas, as it is an awesome tool to even just mess around with. The good thing about OBS is that it is free and when used in conjunction with the ElGato software, it gives you more robust options for audio and video quality.

2
AaronTrebleOP•

Holy shit, haha.

Thank you so much for this detailed response, Dubz! I appreciate it, my friend.

I'm taking all of your wisdom and applying it. This was amazing, thank you so much!

The PC stuff will be the biggest x-factor. My wife needs a new laptop and that shit is expensive. I've heard about people getting Elgato and it not working well due to their PC not being able to handle it, so I think that'll be the x-factor in whether I go more 'upper end' or get whatever I can.

I have no idea who those gamers/streamers are, which should tell you exactly how far our of this/how old I am, lol. But that's exactly right, mate. Like the saying goes, 'it can take 20 years to create an overnight success'. It's true in every business. The reality is that most of us aren't the next BLANK superstar genius. But those are those people who reach those heights, and the people we all look at for inspiration.

I made those same mistakes you were warning me about when I got into music in my younger days and thought every single new song I wrote was a potential hit and MUST be recorded right away to get the hell out of my hellish day job.

Needless to say, they weren't, and nothing came of anything. And by rushing into everything we threw around 10K away in the beginning years before we had any idea of what we were doing or why or how hard it is for anything to become anything in life.

That was my harsh reality lesson, lol. So being a little older and wiser, I appreciated your warning and understood it was coming from a good place of experience and caring. It takes balls to be that direct with people and I admired that a lot, Dubz. Thank you!

This stuff is for fun, but I'm the type who wants to try and make the most out of whatever you do, add it to the pile of creative things you enjoy, and it is what it is.

Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to get back to me with such an awesome and detailed response. I appreciate that greatly.

Have an awesome weekend, mate. And sorry again if I came across super noobish. I am when it comes to tech/gaming, but well aware that life is an uphill battle for us all. And your warning was coming from a great place.

Thank's, mate! Have a good one!

1
dubzilla941Celsior_F1•

Yeah, no problem.

Seriously, do some research and figure out what fits your budget and your wants. The good thing about the PS4 is that it comes with a number of easy to use resources. You would only need to invest in certain areas if you want to take it further. It definitely is a creative experience and it really is fun to just throw some stuff together for the hell of it.

Enjoy it man. And if you need more help with other resources or set ups, just let me know.

2
One_Half_Hamster•

OBS and XSplit are for recording and streaming. For editing you will want Premiere, Vegas, or if you don't want to spend money iMovie or Windows Movie Maker.

2
AaronTrebleOP•

Cheers, One+half!

This is the kind of stuff I was looking for, thank you!

I really appreciate this, my friend. I had no idea what OBS/X-split was used for, and I need to get video editing software for another venture, so this works out perfectly.

Thank you so much for this advice! :)

1
AaronTrebleOP•

And is Elgato a decent capture card? Still quality? I imagine the tech is upgraded often.

1
One_Half_Hamster•

If it's the HD60 it will be fine!

2
AaronTrebleOP•

Cheers, one_half! I appreciate this, mate.

Have a great weekend!

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