Streaming Your Console to Justin.tv

Streaming games is becoming more and more popular, and the primary place to do so seems to be Justin.tv. I do some streaming myself (not nearly as much as I used to) and have used multiple programmes and techniques to do so. I'm by no means a seasoned pro, but I've mainly used the browser broadcaster and Flash Media Encoder so far and I like to think I know my way around them. Since this forum was created, I know some people have been banking on streaming topics to be discussed so here's a guide on the popular ways of streaming to Justin.tv using your capture card.

Browser Broadcaster
Justin.tv comes with a basic browser broadcaster built in. It's not the most advanced option, but if you're looking to do some basic streaming in your free time, without the hassle of setting up an external programme, then this should work fine. First of all, go set up your capture card and make sure you're getting a signal to both your computer and TV. Once that's set up, then go to Justin.tv and sign in.

When you're signed in, you should see a number of red buttons saying Broadcast. When you click the main one, a broadcasting window will appear, and you'll need to give JTV access to your computer's hardware. Once it has that, it'll then choose a video and audio source. If you have a webcam connected, it might choose that, but don't worry.

Click the settings icon at the bottom, and click "video setup". If you've configured everything with your card correctly, then you should see your card in the list of available devices. Choose your card, and then go and select "audio setup". Again, choose your card's audio, and click "Broadcast". That's all there is to streaming your console with the browser broadcaster.

Flash Media Encoder
This is my broadcasting software of choice. It's made by Adobe, meaning you'll be using a programme from a respectable and trusted company and updates are constantly coming. Best of all, it's free and easy to use.

When you launch the programme, you'll be greeted with a well-laid out interface, which can look complicated at first. At the top, you'll see Preset. I recommend sticking this at Medium Bandwidth (300kbps) for your streaming. Below that, there are two tabs: Video and Audio. As you'd expect, these are to configure your ... video and audio. The first dropdown menu in the video and audio tab is the Device menu. When you install your card's drivers and such, it should appear in this menu (just like the JTV broadcaster). Choose this and we're good to go.

Next is the format. I tend to leave mine to the default H.246 as it hasn't led me wrong so far, and MP3 for the audio tab. For the frame rate, I use 59.94 but feel free to experiment with what works best for you, your channel and your bandwidth. On the audio tab, choose either Mono or Stereo, depending on which one you want to use.

Next up on the video tab is Input Size. This is dependent on your card and your console's settings. If you're using a HD capture card, 1280 x 720 always works well with me, but SD cards can choose between 720 x 486 and 720 x 576, solely dependent on your bandwidth and the quality you're after. On the audio side you'll see Sample Rate. Truth be told I've never had to change from the default 22050Hz so not too sure about this one. I would advise to leave it at default as it hasn't given me any problems.

My audio bit rate is left at 48kbs which works fairly well. The bit rate for your video is dependent, once again, on your connection and its speed. I find anything below 500kbs looks bad, so above that is what I'd advise. The higher the better, though, so go as high as you can handle. As for the output size, I guess that's up to you too. I use 960 x 540 and it works well. I'm not too clued in on this part so excuse the lack of information on the output size. Hopefully somebody can clarify this.

When everything capture card related is configured, it's time to set your broadcasting settings. Instead of trudging around looking for all of the information, go here:

http://www.justin.tv/broadcast/advanced

Then sign in. You'll then be given the option to download an XML profile for FME. Download it locally, and then go to the programme. Choose File -> Open and select the profile. Voila! All of your data will have been entered. So that's everything set up.

Click "Connect" under the Stream field, and then click the green start button down the bottom. And congrats, you're streaming to JTV using Flash Media Encoder.

They're the most popular ones I know of the Justin.tv - I can't think of any others off the top of my head other than the bigger pieces of software like Wirecast, but if you're gonna splash out on software like that, then I'm sure you've done your homework. Questions are welcome via PM and reply! Also, if you're using another programme and need help, post a reply here because I might well have used it.