Run your first stream

This guide takes you from asking for approval to cutting clips from the recording. As an example, Hollow Oak Games streams an hour of its game, Lanternfall, on YouTube and Twitch.

You need the Admin role on the brand by default, because asking for approval, seeing the stream key and going live all take it. Allow time for step 1: GreenMind's staff answer it, so start well before you want to stream.

1. Ask for approval

Open Live. In Streaming needs approval, say what you will stream and where, such as "Weekly Lanternfall dev stream on our YouTube and Twitch channels", and press Ask for approval. Keep working while you wait: everything else in Marketing is open, and the steps up to 3 can be done now. See Asking for approval.

2. Check the credits

Relay time is paid for in credits, by the hour, from when OBS starts sending. To start, the org needs credits for a whole hour, and a rehearsal counts. For an hour's stream, keep at least two hours' worth in the balance, because the next hour is held before the current one runs out. See What it costs and Credits.

3. Connect a channel and make the stream

  1. Connect Hollow Oak's channels on the Connections page. See Connect YouTube and Connect Twitch.
  2. On Live, open Channels in the Setup area and press Use it on each.
  3. Write a title and press Make stream.
  4. In Stream details, fill in the description and tags, choose a Twitch Category, and press Save.

Check YouTube's Who can watch. On a channel's first stream it starts at Only the channel, so nobody else can see it until you change it to Everyone or Anyone with the link. See Setting up a stream.

Want to announce it? Once the brand is approved, turn on Schedule for later for a YouTube link you can share.

4. Connect OBS

Once the brand is approved:

  1. In OBS, open Settings, then Stream, and set Service to Custom.
  2. Copy the Server and Stream key from the Live page into OBS.
  3. Check your output settings. See Setting up OBS.

If you want chat and viewers in OBS, add the links now. See Docks and overlays.

5. Rehearse

Press Start Streaming in OBS. The Live page changes to Receiving from OBS. Nobody outside your team can see this, but relay time is counting.

Look at the preview, turn its sound on, and check that From OBS says Good.

6. Go live

Press the go-live button, which names your channels. The stream goes out, and each channel shows its own state. Wait for Sending, then open Public page to see what viewers see.

7. Run the stream

  • Read and answer Chat in one place.
  • Press Clip that when something good happens, and Add marker for anything you want to find again.
  • If a teammate is producing, they can send you Producer notes.

See While you are live. If a channel says Trying again, see Live problems.

8. End it

Press End stream on the Live page and confirm. Stopping OBS alone leaves the stream open, with viewers looking at a stall.

9. Cut your clips

The page now shows how the stream did and how its recording is arriving. Press Open clips to see the timeline, with your markers and Suggested moments on it. Pick one, set its layout and captions, check the price, and press Cut the clip.

From there the clip is in the Library, ready for a post. See After the stream, and Clips for the detail.

For the next stream, make a new one: it has a new key, so paste that into OBS.