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Gen's Guide to Streaming
14 years ago
Livestreams are taking off in popularity and for some are becoming an essential tool to communicate with your fans. I get asked a lot about what I use to stream with so I'm writing this to try and help people out.
Before I begin though I want to say that were it not for
wolfkidd I never would have started in the format I did. He was kind enough to show me a photo of his rig and discuss it with me. I got the idea to do sketchcards after buying a pack for fun and doodling on them during one of my early streams. People LOVED them so I continued, but the initial idea to try cards at all came from my friend Momochanners, and you can see a video of her making a card here. So, you hear that folks? I totally ripped people off to get my start and that's okay. But it's only polite to give credit where credit is due. Thank you, both.
Getting started:
The first step depends on your format. Do you primarily work in digital, pen and paper, a bit of both? Or do you work in a format like clay or felt? Knowing will help you determine what tools you need. If you work completely in digital you might not need a webcam at all. You might just need a microphone and some webcast software that will capture your desktop.
If you plan to use a webcam, don't buy a cheap one. You get what you pay for. Most good webcams also come with some software that allows you to adjust the focus, brightness, color levels, and zoom level. Getting familiar with those is very useful as it allows people to view detail work or faint colors that otherwise might be hard to see. Make sure that your camera is mounted on a stable surface so you won't have to constantly adjust or fiddle with it. (And my viewers have unfortunately noticed this themselves. Before I bolted my camera mount to a table, the thing took two head-dives right into my chest.) Setting up a good angle is good as well, because a badly mounted camera will have skewed perspective and will distort your work.
Another thing that people don't mention but is extremely useful are USB extender cables. Most webcam cables are short and attaching a longer cable makes stringing it up where you want it a lot easier.
If you do plan to use a webcam, don't forget lighting. You stream your art because you want people to see it, right? Well, if the lighting is bad that isn't going to happen. They're expensive, but I recommend an LED bulb if at all possible. They're healthier to sit under long term than a florescent light, and not as hot as a normal electric or halogen bulb. An LED bulb isn't necessary, but really is healthier over the long term. (Little extra note... LED bulbs also tend to be heavier than normal light bulbs and if your mounting surface is flimsy it might weigh it down.)
I also tell people to please try and be ready when they turn the camera on. If I come to a stream and find myself staring at a blank sheet of paper and silence for 5-10 minutes I'll probably quit and go elsewhere.
Benefits from streaming:
Having an audience is a really great motivation tool. Knowing that people are watching you will help you stay focused and finish a project instead of getting up and getting distracted. You can also communicate with a client and make sure you don't get any details in a project wrong. Plus when someone sees a picture created from start to finish they're more prone to having an emotional attachment to it and thus more prone to buy copies or even the original.
Where to go:
I'm fond of livestream.com because I found their procaster client the most user friendly. That doesn't mean I particularly love the procaster client, but the ustream.com client never worked for me, and justin.tv was a little wonky as well. There is also a furry service called watchtail.com, although I've never tried it. My suggestion is to poke at all your options and pick the one you like the best.
Talk or not:
Most webcams have a microphone built into them, but some people don't talk during their streams. If this is the case then see if you can go into your streaming client and turn off the sound feed from the microphone. Otherwise your viewers are going to get to hear you shuffle and cough and sniff for the duration. Some people prefer not to talk, but a lot of viewers tell me that they don't like streams where the artist doesn't say a word. On the other hand, if they view your recorded streams after the fact then the viewers get to hear you giving a one sided conversation for hours. So it's your call.
It's good to at least have a little bit of music playing during your streams even if you don't say anything. Dead silence makes viewers often think that their speakers have broken. I've yet to talk to someone who watches a stream that tells me that they like it when there's silence.
Stream length:
This also should be determined by the artist. Some people can only go for an hour or so. I once streamed my whole 24-hour comic day and my streams average 4-6 hours sometimes. But really it's all a matter of what you can handle and I happen to be a crazy person who never sleeps...
Donations and sales:
I have heard that some artists will draw the characters of people in their stream, and THEN tell them that the person needs to pay to get a copy. This is bad form, really. Stream a commission, or some doodles and let people know they can pay to see the doodle finished, or offer to do very quick portraits of people in channel in exchange for donations, but don't play dirty tricks by making someone think you were doing them a favor or giving them a gift and then slap a price tag on it at the end.
Making money is good, but giving freebies away will often plant the seeds for future customers and will help with loyalty. Give doodles to your favorite people in channel or to your moderators. Draw extra freebies for your more loyal customers. Making your viewers know that you see them as more than a wallet helps a lot. And if people like you, they're more likely to buy from you.
Rules and Behavior:
I have a VERY strong belief in punishing the individual offender instead of writing a new rule for every offense. If you write a new behavior rule for your channel every time someone acts up, you're going to end up with a huge laundry list of rules and people who will still act up in your channel because they don't give a crap about your rules. You will also end up with a bunch of people put off from entering your channel because you'll have so many instances of “DON'T DO THIS!” splashed across your format that the good people will question every action they make because they don't want to offend anyone. If you have an individual acting up, tell the individual to shut the hell up and stop.
My format is simple. I tell people to try to get along with the other people in channel and keep their behavior civil. I don't like it when my screen is filled up with people posing and roleplaying back and forth (because eventually it spams the channel and also could easily be done via AIM as it has nothing to do with what's happening in chat or on the stream) so I ask that people keep the RP to a minimum as well. With this in mind, I can count the number of people I've had to perma-ban from channel on the fingers of one hand.
And finally, assign mods. As more people come to your stream it becomes harder and harder to keep track of the conversation. Having people you trust minding the chat will ease your burden a bit.
Misc:
Art isn't the only thing you can stream! I seriously think Uriel and I could probably just talk at one another for an hour and thirty people would come just to hear us. I also like sharing my favorite video games via livestream.
That said, keep in mind that there is a pending bill that may affect streaming copyrighted materials. This mostly pertains to movies, so streaming your favorite movie probably isn't a good idea. This may also affect music and games, but the specifics of the bill have not been released yet.
And finally, take some time to get feedback from your viewers. Ask them what they like the best, what they'd like to see more of, and what they don't like. Livestream is awesome in that you can get instant feedback and you should definitely take advantage of that fact.
Before I begin though I want to say that were it not for
wolfkidd I never would have started in the format I did. He was kind enough to show me a photo of his rig and discuss it with me. I got the idea to do sketchcards after buying a pack for fun and doodling on them during one of my early streams. People LOVED them so I continued, but the initial idea to try cards at all came from my friend Momochanners, and you can see a video of her making a card here. So, you hear that folks? I totally ripped people off to get my start and that's okay. But it's only polite to give credit where credit is due. Thank you, both.Getting started:
The first step depends on your format. Do you primarily work in digital, pen and paper, a bit of both? Or do you work in a format like clay or felt? Knowing will help you determine what tools you need. If you work completely in digital you might not need a webcam at all. You might just need a microphone and some webcast software that will capture your desktop.
If you plan to use a webcam, don't buy a cheap one. You get what you pay for. Most good webcams also come with some software that allows you to adjust the focus, brightness, color levels, and zoom level. Getting familiar with those is very useful as it allows people to view detail work or faint colors that otherwise might be hard to see. Make sure that your camera is mounted on a stable surface so you won't have to constantly adjust or fiddle with it. (And my viewers have unfortunately noticed this themselves. Before I bolted my camera mount to a table, the thing took two head-dives right into my chest.) Setting up a good angle is good as well, because a badly mounted camera will have skewed perspective and will distort your work.
Another thing that people don't mention but is extremely useful are USB extender cables. Most webcam cables are short and attaching a longer cable makes stringing it up where you want it a lot easier.
If you do plan to use a webcam, don't forget lighting. You stream your art because you want people to see it, right? Well, if the lighting is bad that isn't going to happen. They're expensive, but I recommend an LED bulb if at all possible. They're healthier to sit under long term than a florescent light, and not as hot as a normal electric or halogen bulb. An LED bulb isn't necessary, but really is healthier over the long term. (Little extra note... LED bulbs also tend to be heavier than normal light bulbs and if your mounting surface is flimsy it might weigh it down.)
I also tell people to please try and be ready when they turn the camera on. If I come to a stream and find myself staring at a blank sheet of paper and silence for 5-10 minutes I'll probably quit and go elsewhere.
Benefits from streaming:
Having an audience is a really great motivation tool. Knowing that people are watching you will help you stay focused and finish a project instead of getting up and getting distracted. You can also communicate with a client and make sure you don't get any details in a project wrong. Plus when someone sees a picture created from start to finish they're more prone to having an emotional attachment to it and thus more prone to buy copies or even the original.
Where to go:
I'm fond of livestream.com because I found their procaster client the most user friendly. That doesn't mean I particularly love the procaster client, but the ustream.com client never worked for me, and justin.tv was a little wonky as well. There is also a furry service called watchtail.com, although I've never tried it. My suggestion is to poke at all your options and pick the one you like the best.
Talk or not:
Most webcams have a microphone built into them, but some people don't talk during their streams. If this is the case then see if you can go into your streaming client and turn off the sound feed from the microphone. Otherwise your viewers are going to get to hear you shuffle and cough and sniff for the duration. Some people prefer not to talk, but a lot of viewers tell me that they don't like streams where the artist doesn't say a word. On the other hand, if they view your recorded streams after the fact then the viewers get to hear you giving a one sided conversation for hours. So it's your call.
It's good to at least have a little bit of music playing during your streams even if you don't say anything. Dead silence makes viewers often think that their speakers have broken. I've yet to talk to someone who watches a stream that tells me that they like it when there's silence.
Stream length:
This also should be determined by the artist. Some people can only go for an hour or so. I once streamed my whole 24-hour comic day and my streams average 4-6 hours sometimes. But really it's all a matter of what you can handle and I happen to be a crazy person who never sleeps...
Donations and sales:
I have heard that some artists will draw the characters of people in their stream, and THEN tell them that the person needs to pay to get a copy. This is bad form, really. Stream a commission, or some doodles and let people know they can pay to see the doodle finished, or offer to do very quick portraits of people in channel in exchange for donations, but don't play dirty tricks by making someone think you were doing them a favor or giving them a gift and then slap a price tag on it at the end.
Making money is good, but giving freebies away will often plant the seeds for future customers and will help with loyalty. Give doodles to your favorite people in channel or to your moderators. Draw extra freebies for your more loyal customers. Making your viewers know that you see them as more than a wallet helps a lot. And if people like you, they're more likely to buy from you.
Rules and Behavior:
I have a VERY strong belief in punishing the individual offender instead of writing a new rule for every offense. If you write a new behavior rule for your channel every time someone acts up, you're going to end up with a huge laundry list of rules and people who will still act up in your channel because they don't give a crap about your rules. You will also end up with a bunch of people put off from entering your channel because you'll have so many instances of “DON'T DO THIS!” splashed across your format that the good people will question every action they make because they don't want to offend anyone. If you have an individual acting up, tell the individual to shut the hell up and stop.
My format is simple. I tell people to try to get along with the other people in channel and keep their behavior civil. I don't like it when my screen is filled up with people posing and roleplaying back and forth (because eventually it spams the channel and also could easily be done via AIM as it has nothing to do with what's happening in chat or on the stream) so I ask that people keep the RP to a minimum as well. With this in mind, I can count the number of people I've had to perma-ban from channel on the fingers of one hand.
And finally, assign mods. As more people come to your stream it becomes harder and harder to keep track of the conversation. Having people you trust minding the chat will ease your burden a bit.
Misc:
Art isn't the only thing you can stream! I seriously think Uriel and I could probably just talk at one another for an hour and thirty people would come just to hear us. I also like sharing my favorite video games via livestream.
That said, keep in mind that there is a pending bill that may affect streaming copyrighted materials. This mostly pertains to movies, so streaming your favorite movie probably isn't a good idea. This may also affect music and games, but the specifics of the bill have not been released yet.
And finally, take some time to get feedback from your viewers. Ask them what they like the best, what they'd like to see more of, and what they don't like. Livestream is awesome in that you can get instant feedback and you should definitely take advantage of that fact.
...Now I still need to learn to draw first and getting some fanbase before considreing doing any sort of stream of my own. =p
Although being in a different time zone might give some difficulties as well
What do you use to stream your video game playing? I was thinking of trying to stream me playing some old PS1 games, just to try it. Watcging you play Zork: Nemesis was fun
I'll look into blogtv. Never heard of it before.
Also, another thing to consider is how many people are in the chat/stream. Livestream only allows 50 or so people to watch the stream, but may let others chat. I'm not sure on the limit for other sites, but it is a thing to consider.
It seems like picking a place to use just involves finding someone who works with your setup and has a chat system you like, and can accommodate enough people. I think I'd have a hard time keeping up with the chat window and drawing. Do you pay for the streaming you have? It seems like you can plug that into a website, or does that cost extra?
I know if I did it, I'd have to start from scratch. I only have a cheap and very old mic and webcam. I don't really know how I'd do music- I honestly don't usually listen to anything while I'm working, I just tune it out anyway. If anything I have an old TV show on I can mostly ignore (like an 80s cartoon.)
I don't really like talking, but I could talk. It seems like the easiest way to communicate with people in chat, and if someone is re-watching it they can just mute it or something.
How do people know how to commission you and give you money during livestream? Do you just have a computer window open to keep track of commissions coming in (and references) and money coming into paypal? Do you ship out the art later on?
Are you streaming from a desktop or a laptop? I saw you mentioned having a long USB cord.
Having an audience is REALLY good for production. Knowing that there's people there watching is very good at making you sit and keep focus.
Sometimes when the viewer count gets big the best thing to do is assign a moderator and just tell folks that you'll probably miss things.
I use livestream.com and it's free. If you verify your email address you can get 50 viewers, and if you eventually have enough videos in your library and have video of older shows running you can break that. Livestream will also break it if you shuck out $350 a month, but that's too rich for me. So in other words, I don't pay for it, no :)
You really need a good webcam to stream. The quality on a cheap one will make your art blurry. I have a logitec webcam that has zoom capabilities and focus controls that I can adjust from my computer. Leastwise you need something that can do HD.
I actually don't really listen to music when I draw, but I like audiobooks. The music is for the viewers more than me ;)
The livestream client has a chat window where people can talk to you and you can type stuff in if you don't feel like talking. When people want to commission me they know my paypal addy and the basic costs of the cards.
One thing I should stress is that I didn't get my success overnight. I've been doing this for almost a year and it's only taken off over the past couple of months. So if you decide to try the streaming route be patient and persistent.
Yeah, I'd think you need a pretty sharp webcam for art, its not like with people who its of them and its ok if they're a bit fuzzy. My old one was logitech, they seem to have a good reputation.
I do figure when starting out your first couple streams will be somewhat crickets. Seems like most things for artists are persistence and word of mouth :) I've been at the artist alley gig for quite a while now and I'm only moderately known.
I was just paying more attention to people's journal posts and realized a LOT of artists on FA stream. Like I saw 5-6 people say they were broadcasting this afternoon. That's pretty cool.
I really have respect for you- you seem to work really hard. You're always doing stuff every day.
Anyhow, I know this weekend and next weekend are busy, but maybe after that. AWA is at the end of Sept but that's about all I have to deal with major in the art world.
Thought I'd inquire as to a solution seeing as I was linked back to this journal.
Other than that I'm not too sure what to do.