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How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

jordanlewis.org

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Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#41

Post by mrkwse »

Jordan was a little vague in terms of how to get the iPad as a source. I know that QuickTime can capture i(Pad)OS devices as an input source so it might be some built in compatibility when the device is connected via lightning/USB, but another route is NDI. [1]

NDI is doubly useful as it:

  1. is wireless over the local network
  2. allows you to use your phone/tablet's camera as a video source, which can be a reasonable webcam stand in (although latency will never be as good, so possibly better as a sort of secondary vanity camera)
  (3. definitely works on Windows)
There are apps on iOS that will share the screen content and camera content and a quick google seems to surface the same for Android.

As someone who used to work in TV too, the importance of good lighting cannot be stressed enough. It doesn't have to be expensive, but a reasonable, ideally diffuse source of light will make the biggest improvement to your stream vs an expensive camera (and some webcams may need manual adjustment via OBS to best utilise the available light).

[1]: https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/obs-ndi-newtek-ndi%E2...

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#43

Post by jordanlewis »

mrkwse wrote: post #41

Jordan was a little vague in terms of how to get the iPad as a source. I know that QuickTime can capture i(Pad)OS devices as an input source so it might be some built in compatibility when the device is connected via lightning/USB, but another route is NDI. [1] NDI is doubly useful as it: 1. is wireless over the local network 2. allows you to use your phone/tablet's camera as a video source, which can be a reasonable…

Whoops, you're right that I didn't mention that. Connecting it to your Mac via Lightning makes the screen available as a video source.

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#44

Post by Sodman »

I love live coding streams but I don't understand why you'd stream a video of your keyboard at all times? From the screenshots it doesn't look like you'd be able to pick up on things like hotkeys when watching in real-time, but as mentioned in the article it does open the possibility for somebody to watch replays and figure out your passwords.

Keyboard cameras make sense to me if somebody is streaming eg starcraft where they're hitting 300 APM and it's impressive to watch, but I just don't see the appeal of it for coding.

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#45

Post by mdoliwa »

space-candy wrote: post #30
mdoliwa wrote: post #28

What do you think about running live coding stream on YT vs Twitch? I'm about to start streaming myself, but not sure what platform should I use. Last time I checked Twitch it looked a little bit overwhelming.

Not sure of what OS you utilize, but Twitch recently released an app called Studio for Windows/OS X that allows you to very easily stream your desktop to their service.

Linux

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#47

Post by jordanlewis »

Sodman wrote: post #44

I love live coding streams but I don't understand why you'd stream a video of your keyboard at all times? From the screenshots it doesn't look like you'd be able to pick up on things like hotkeys when watching in real-time, but as mentioned in the article it does open the possibility for somebody to watch replays and figure out your passwords. Keyboard cameras make sense to me if somebody is streaming eg starcraft wh…

It's a totally impractical, goofy thing - just for fun!

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#49

Post by rustyconover »

wtallis wrote: post #40

Does anyone know of a good presentation system that does not consist of compressing raw pixels and sending that to the audience? It's a huge waste of bandwidth that I'd rather see used to provide reliable low-latency audio. I'd love to be able to teach programming in a way that lets the students explore the live state of my working directory and follow along with file edits, but rendered locally on their machines at…

I think you'd be surprised how efficient video codecs with regards to bandwidth used, nobody sends raw pixels at all. Also with HLS latency can be very short with the right settings.

A few tips for coding screencasting:

For coding screencasts you should make sure that chroma subsampling isn't enabled when you're doing the encode of the video otherwise it may look worse with highly contrasting areas.

Decrease the encoding frame rate if its primarily going to be just a screencast without a lot of motion on the screen. At the expense longer mpeg segments (and more latency) you may want to increase the group-of-picture size.

There shouldn't be a reason that the encoded screencast looks worse then how it appeared to you unless the encoder you are using is just mashing the quality down.

Re: How to Run a Live Coding Stream on Twitch Using OBS

#50

Post by lcrz »

daenz wrote: post #4

Do a lot of programmers feel like they could be effective on a livestream? I might be in a minority, but my preferred coding style is very non-linear and sporadic, and wouldn't make for an enjoyable viewing experience.

During quarantine, me and a couple of colleagues have been doing pair-programming sessions with three or more people. We were joking on doing a twitch stream. I think it could work.
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