How to run a multi camera livestream!

Hello! It was a pain in the butt figuring out how to run a four-camera, five microphone stream setup for our D&D game, so I’m compiling the way that we did it. I’ll try and remember to include the equipment that some of our current gear is upgraded from. To me, this is the cheapest way we could set up a stream with a decent quality; it still isn’t super cheap. Not counting the PC, total equipment for startup was about $1000.00 pre-pandemic. We start with my kitchen.

We push three tables together instead of using one or two large ones because it makes a tiny gap in the center to run cable through. We use five Sennheiser 835 xlr microphones (about 100.00 each) and specifically use the model without the on/off switch, as we noted a bit of a hum from those. Initially we wanted to use cheaper USB microphones, but in terms of power draw and also properly recording five separate people, using XLR was the way that worked the best. We began with these mics because they future proof us a little. Positioning on these is key, they need to be pointed at your chin. Also pictured is the Elgato Sox-button stream deck, which is not needed but absolutely helpful if you want to be able to cycle through camera angles, etc without being near a computer.

We use four Logitech c920 webcams. These things, for like a 60 dollar price tag when we got them, are great! As they are USB they do have some limitations (to avoid, we built a PC with four usb buses so that each was on its own and didn’t kill our power.) we use StreamLabs OBS to further tilt, zoom, and pan the cameras to frame them each time. My biggest knock on this camera is the little screw mount; it has terrible adhesive and comes off quickly if you are mounting and Unmounting every week. We want to upgrade cameras soon, but we need a better PC first. This is a great starting stream camera though!

Also, the wires are wicked short. A big part of figuring out this setup was learning that active usb extension cords exist. These are powered, and extend each camera range to 27 feet. Cable management then becomes very important.

Speaking of, this might not look organized, but it took a long time for me to learn to keep it even like this; this is with only two cameras and no audio run though. I work in mental health, not A\V so don’t come at me

We mount the cameras in like three different ways to fit the environment. Also pictured top right is a speaker we use to play music and sound effects through a program called Syrinscape; it pics up just enough in the background of my mic to be ambient on stream and not overwhelming for us.

Alright; here is where the microphones feed into a Mackie 12 channel mixer. This is a HUGE upgrade over what we started with, but to begin we used an Audio2000 6 channel which we got for 89.00. Recommend going that route to start, but the quality of Mackie is amazing and I love this board. That feeds to a FocusRite Scarlett i2 that condenses the audio into a single signal that OBS can than pick up as one channel. Miles, one of my players, figured this all out for me. He adjusts sound levels on the fly from the Mackie. The PC is a piece of crap frankesntiened together over the years. The most important thing we have learned is CHOOSE A GOOD POWER SOURCE because running four web cameras and an Elgato switch is A LOT. Also, try and not just have a lot of USB ports but usb buses as well; I think it helps negate some of the weird problems people have using multiple Logitech web cameras on one machine.

Finally, at 8:25 butts are in seats. Back left is Miles, our audio wizard and Tiefling warlock. I’ve known Miles since we were 3. Matt is up front, he runs our audio cables, sets up our lighting, and is on his third character in our 96-session campaign. I forgot to take a picture of the two big stage lights we use, but LIGHTING IS SUPER IMPORTANT, if you don’t have good lighting, you won’t get good performance from your cameras, which causes lag and stutter. Good doesnt just mean bright. It means balanced. Take shadows into account.

Tina is in the flannel. She helps run cable and is the person who makes the computer parts work. When we pivoted to digital games at the beginning of the pandemic (Tina and I are both direct line healthcare workers in mental health and had a lot of exposure risk) Tina single-handedly figured out how to stream off Discord while using syrenscape from the same computer to add audio in for us live AND in-stream. It’s a crazy setup and if people want help with that I can ask her to write a guide. She’s a straight up tech wizard though. Aly is in the back; she plays a tabaxi rogue and also moderates the chat for our channel alongside TalonNail, a wonderful human being who has watched over 350 hours of us playing D&D and stuck along through all our weirdness. Since her seat is nearest the fridge, she also has been stuck with the task of distributing drinks right before the stream begins, and also pours us shots to take right before coming back from break. Traditionally we’d do that and cut back to our cameras just in time to catch our faces after taking the shots, because the reactions were pretty funny; it’s also a nice little ritual along with several others that have evolved at our table (like Matt and Aly trying to have a distracting conversation right up until we cut into our introduction to try and make me laugh right as I start our welcome. Hope this was helpful! I’m happy to answer questions. #gaming_setup