Stream only machine - not pc games

[SirStephen]

Hi all, 

 

TL/DR: friend wants to stream board games and D&D, will an Ebay workstation PC be enough?

 

Friend of mine has a you-tube channel for board gaming, currently just uploads videos of all the different games he has as we play them.

He would like to start streaming as we play, and maybe even do a D&D stream. 

 

I'm looking for advice on a pc (and camera options) for doing this.  

 

I am currently thinking that a 2nd hand workstation from ebay for the system, i5, 8GB ram etc, can get hold of one of these for less than £100. 

For cameras i am assuming i can use a few usb webcam via OBS, and then maybe a DSLR via a capture card? any advice appreciated.  

 

thanks in advance for any info  

[LaPlume]

Maybe someone will have a different view on it, but here is how I see it:

- A basic computer is fine, but to alleviate load/ avoid drops, a -even basic- nvidia GPU is to consider. Even a really low end one, as long as it's not too old. The lower end available are the 1050 or some P400 or P600 quadros (low end professional gpu), and telling OBS to encode via hardware NVENC encoder.

bonus perk: both are available in low-profile form factor and don't require external power, so would fit in most low/mid range second-hand thin workstation

 

-Having a few cameras to work with is great, a combination of 720p cameras in like a tile view with several angles of the board and players, but more than video, SOUND is like the most important thing, and what you have to consider with the most attention.

 

>MY< go to would be an XLR sound card from beringer or focusrite, with cheapo decent condenser mics like the NEEWER NW-800, which often comes bundled with arm, pop filter ect.

(I recently grabbed a Behringer UMC22 + a Neewer Microphone with arm and stuff for ~65€, it's far from what I'ld call high end, but tinkering with the gain and applying a low and high pass, I got a clear decently-rich sound out of it)

 

On the even lower end, you can go for a dynamic microphone like the BM-800, which tend to not have great sound fidelity, but decently grabs even distant sound in a cone in front of him, doesn't NEED 48v phantom power, and often comes with a XLR to 3.5mm jack cable so you can plug it in a more consumer sound card (I strongly advise AGAINST using onboard sound, especially on an cheapo workstation).

 

Last option would be to pack up with some USB microphones, of which I can't attest of the coverage, capability ect, but if you set an omni directional USB mic in the middle of the table (like dangling from the ceiling upside down or from an arm, so it doesn't cover the board map and doesn't make dice tosses sound like earth quakes), it should capture everyone's talk "decently".

 

///

 

Going for multiple directional mics (shotgun or some of the cardioid variants), no matter if it's condenser/dynamic xlr or usb mics, not needing 1 for each person but like 1 for the GM and 1 by group of players (like depends if all the players are next to each other, or separated on each side of the board), it's easier to level everyone's sound, and avoid lines being lost or saturation taking over the stream.

 

Going for a single omni-directional mic, once again, no matter the type or connection used, but would be the cheaper solution, asks for EVERYONE to remain conscious through-out the whole game of how loud or low they speak, and you won't also have any real way to tune out ambiant sound, be it from the stream, other parts of the building, appliances, ect.

 

A "mix" of the two would be, in case the GM is on the end of the table, and players divided on both sides of the table, that the GM would get his own cardioid microphone, to make sure they're always heard on the stream, while the players would share a bi-directionnal microphone which would cover both groups accross the table, while naturally tuning OUT the game master, who would be positioned perpendicularly to it... but for that to work, it has to be both good quality microphones, very likely condenser ones, not dynamic ones.

 

 

TLDR:

-no matter how jank your streaming setup is, hardware encoding is mandatory, even more on the low end, to avoid drops or poor quality.

-clear audio is more important than crisp picture.

[SirStephen]

Thanks for all the info, i have been considering sound for conventions but didn't think of how it could improve the recording in general. 

 

Will take all the above on board, thank you