I’m Changing How I Do Streaming. Here’s What You Need to Know…

Yep, I’m changing some behind-the-scenes parts. So the way that will show on stream is going to change.

How?

Well, here’s the situation:

I had done past live streams using StreamYard. Now, StreamYard DOES allow for streaming on YouTube AND Twitch simultaneously…but there’s a catch.

In order to do this, StreamYard saves streams in its own archive. The amount of hours you can save depends on how much you pay StreamYard per month. I’m on the basic plan because I’m frugal and don’t want to spend much money. Streaming is not the most significant thing I do (it’s making comics).

However, the last stream I did made me reach my cap on the number of hours I can have stored. In order to free up space, I have to delete past recordings. And here’s where it gets weird on a technical level that I can’t figure out.

I went into the StreamYard storage of my account and deleted past recordings. (Don’t worry – they’re still available to watch on YouTube). BUT, StreamYard tells me I’m still maxed out on the number of hours I can record, which doesn’t make sense. Aren’t I making more space by deleting these recordings?

So, until I can figure out what the hell is going on here, I can’t use StreamYard to host my streams.

Instead, I will be switching to OBS.

OBS Studio is a lot more technical than StreamYard, but it’s open source and free to download. So I have some basics set up for OBS now.

The problem with OBS is – I can’t stream simultaneously on two platforms. I can only stream on one.

So, I have decided to ONLY stream on Twitch for the time being.

This DOES change how streams are archived. Twitch does have archived streams available for folks to watch – if the viewer is subscribed to the channel. Not followed, because following is free. Subscriptions cost some money. And the minimum subscription is $4.99 a month. As the creator, I can tell you that Twitch takes half that amount, so I only get $2.50 of a $4.99 subscription. It’s not my favorite cut, but it’s the one that exists.

WITH THAT SAID…

You don’t have to subscribe on Twitch if you don’t have the means.

I will still be streaming Tuesdays and Saturdays at 2 pm EST. If you would like to watch it for free, be sure to tune in at those times on my Twitch channel.

However, if you would like to watch streams that get archived, you gotta’ subscribe. If you DO decide to purchase subscriptions, know that your sub will support the comics I make and the work I do! This means better tools, which make better comics, art, and videos.

What About YouTube?

The things I post on YouTube will ALSO be changing. But I’ll share that in a later post.

If you have questions or concerns, leave them in the comments and I’ll reply as soon as I can.

That’s all for now. Thank you for your support and understanding.

You. Are. Awesome.

LiveStream This Saturday (If All Goes Well)

You read right – there will be a LiveStream this Saturday!

I found an app called StreamYard that should work. I would use Twitch, but I don’t have the camera set-up or microphones for that sort of thing.

(Also Twitch is linked with Twitter and I refuse to return to that hellscape of a platform. I have better things to do with my life.)

So I’m using StreamYard to livestream on both YouTube AND Facebook at the same time. (Because it can do that, apparently.) If for some reason I didn’t set it up right, the stream should, for sure, air on YouTube at least.

The stream will air on YouTube (and Facebook, if I did it right), THIS SATURDAY, Nov. 23 at 1 pm EST.

I’ll be sharing my screen as I work, while also answering any questions you may have for me.

Be sure to add this to your calendar, and hit the notification bell on YouTube.

I hope to see you there!

Thank you for reading.

You. Are. Awesome.