10 Tips to Improve Your Broadcasts
If you are reading this, I’ll assume you’ve just started
your broadcasting journey and I’m proud of you. We all are! Or maybe you are an
experienced broadcaster. Regardless, these tips could help guide your
broadcasts to new heights. Some of these may be obvious, but it is always nice
to have good broadcasting habits. So without further ado, let’s take a look at
10 tips to improve your broadcasts.
1. Internet Connection
Improving your internet / mobile connection can be a crucial
step in improving your broadcasts. If you are broadcasting from a computer,
having an Ethernet connection can greatly improve stability. People and things
can interfere with your WiFi connection, causing dips in your speed and
reliability. If you must go with WiFi, try to stay close to the router. If you
are streaming on the go from a mobile device, you will have to be reliant on
your signal unless you can connect to a hotspot or WiFi.
2. Bitrate & Resolution
To follow up on your internet connection, choosing the right
bitrate for you is also important. As a general rule, you can set your bitrate
up to half of your upload speed at most. For example, say you have a 3 Mbps
(3,000 Kbps) upload speed. You should be able to support a bitrate of 1,500
Kbps.
Next we need a resolution for your bitrate. If your
resolution is set a lot larger than the bitrate can generally support, your
broadcast quality will appear blurry. Here is a rough guideline to keep in
mind:
Recommended bitrate for 720p: 2000 Kbps
Recommended bitrate for 480p: 1000 Kbps
Recommended bitrate for 360p: 750 Kbps
Recommended bitrate for 240p: 400 Kbps
These recommendations are just a general outline. The more
active the screen, the more bitrate is required to keep it looking smooth. However,
this will affect gaming streams more than social streams.
3. Closing Programs/Applications
If your stream is running slow or choppy, try closing all
unused programs and apps. Broadcasting uses a lot of your computer’s or mobile
device’s resources. Specifically the encoder you are using to live stream. You
want your computer to be putting forth all of its effort towards the broadcast
and not on unused programs.
If your stream continues to buffer
a lot, try lowering your bitrate.
4. Which Encoder?
There is a plethora of ways for you to broadcast on
AfreecaTV. You have our own software, the PC Studio, OBS/Xsplit, and
apple/android mobile devices. All have their own pros and cons, but maybe
one is better for you than the others.
The PC Studio is a simple way to get started on your
computer and offers chat advantages to the Dashboard when using
OBS/Xsplit. However, the PC Studio doesn’t run on OS X. If you would like to
broadcast from your apple computer, try using OBS.
For gamers, I would highly recommend setting up your
broadcast with either OBS or XSplit. You can find a quick guide on how to get
started here:
http://www.afreeca.tv/help/#pt=faq#no=12.
There is also a large amount of resources and guides online for setting up your
OBS/Xsplit for broadcasting.
With your mobile device, you miss out on a lot of the
advantages that a computer offers. However, you have the advantage of being
able take your camera and show anywhere! Your portable device allows you to
pick up and go when you want or to broadcast on the fly when you see something
cool.
5. Test Your Broadcast
Broadcasting without doing a test run is like skydiving
without checking your parachute. Sure you might have a lot of fun, but you
might look back and find a few holes in your chute. Run a full test of your
broadcast. Invite a friend or two to watch your broadcast to check the sound
and quality of your broadcast.
You can always password/hide your test broadcasts to prevent
others from coming in and interrupting.
6. Viewer Interaction
Don’t forget about your viewers. Interacting can be one of
the best ways to gain viewership. While you have tons to offer your viewers,
they will most likely want to offer something back. Having the ability to ask
questions and interact with you, plus the other viewers, can have a profound
impact on your live stream.
7. Promote Yourself
If you don’t let people know you are streaming, how are they
going to find you? Sure, people on the site will stop by and watch, but perhaps
you have a following elsewhere. Let your followers on YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr
or other platforms know where you broadcast!
8. Consistency
This is an important tip for not only regular broadcasters,
but for first time streamers as well. Try to keep your broadcast schedule
consistent. You will be hard to follow if your broadcasts are random and
sporadic. Keep consistent with the day and time you stream to keep your
viewership consistent and informed.
Take advantage of the new
scheduling feature. Schedule your broadcasts so that users can see when you
plan to go live on the homepage.
9. Patience
Success doesn’t happen overnight. It will take time to learn
what works best for you to gain more followers and viewership. Try out new
things and build up your community over time.
10. Ask For Help
You can always come to us for help with setting up your
broadcast and getting started. Alternatively, you can always give us
suggestions on how we can improve your broadcasting experience on AfreecaTV.
You are more than welcomed to email us anytime at
support@afreeca.tv.
