E53: From Your Console to Their Screen

Today, we’re gonna take a look at game capture.  We hear a lot of talk about capture cards. Do you really need a capture card to start streaming? Well, a lot of that depends on what platform you are trying to stream from, but on PC and some modern consoles, you actually don’t need a capture card for basic streaming!  We'll let you know how!

Last time we talked about cameras. But what good is being on camera if people can’t see you clearly? So, if we’re going to be on camera, we need to address the lighting in the room. You need to be lit clearly, but not so brightly that it overwhelms the camera. In some situations, the ambient lighting in your room will be serviceable enough for this task. Just make sure that it is lighting your face evenly, and you aren’t getting any weird shadows. If necessary, grab a small lamp or pick up a small mobile ring light for like 20 bucks at Walmart to help even out the shadows.

When we talk about what it takes to start a stream, you don’t need anything fancy for a webcam to get up and running. For some categories, like gaming streams, you don’t even really need a camera! You may have a webcam lying around the house or baked into your computer that can get the job done. As long as it’s outputting at a minimum of 240p, it will suffice to just get your face in the corner of the frame. If you’re looking to do a full-frame video, make sure you at least can output at 720p. If you are looking to get a halfway decent budget model, check out Walmart’s store brand, Onn. They have a few decent models that will get you by for less than 30 bucks.

One of the biggest barriers to new people getting into content production is not knowing where to start with gear. So, in these next few podcasts, we’re going to discuss the basics you need to start, and where to go with upgrades, specifically with regards to audio, video, lighting, and game capture. Today, we’re gonna take a look at sound.  Er, take a listen to sound.  Er, talk about sound.

One of the most rewarding parts of being a streamer is building authentic connections with fans in your chat. A lot of fans enjoy building those connections as well, and it can be a lot of fun when we all feel comfortable enough with each other to talk about our own lives and such. Unfortunately, sometimes, that sort of comfortability can lead to fans unloading about their personal life, their mental health, and even make threats to their own health/lives, or even the lives of others. So, naturally, we need to be prepared. In this episode, we’re going to discuss how to make a plan to handle this, what kind of resources to keep on hand, and how to gently handle the situation in the chat.

In addition to some updates about the Noname Nerd NFT projects (especially the Digidenizens!), I talk about why the criticism that you simply right click and make copies of NFTs invalidates the value of NFTs.  As I discuss, there are lots of very famous and very collectible items from famous art to basketball shoes that is either a functional copy of the real one because it has been restored or available as a copy (e.g. knockoff) that doesn't prevent people from wanting to get the real copy.  In fact, NFTs are part of a long-standing desire among human beings to be able to trace where the item that they own came from.  

I provide an update on some things that happened to the Noname Nerd Company and Community in 2021 and a vision for where we plan to go in 2022.

If you ask most streamers–especially new people–why they want to make a career out of streaming, one of the most common answers to this question is “because being paid to play games sounds fun!” It’s often not until we really dig deep into streaming that we realize how challenging of a job it can be. Around the discord server, we often refer to it simply as “The Grind”. In this podcast, we’re going to discuss how to survive The Grind, by setting the right expectations, setting SMART goals, and some techniques to keep positive.

Here at the Noname Nerd Communities, we’ve talked to countless nerds wanting to get into various content creation categories. We often ask them why they haven’t started, and the response is always some variant of the same answer. “I don’t know how.” “I’m not good enough yet.” We could keep going, but you get the idea. So, let’s take a deep dive into a concept known as “impostor syndrome.” We’ll define it, let you in on the industry secret on who qualifies as a content creator, and we’ll teach you how to beat it by using a student mentality!

Charity streams are one of the most fun ways to give back to the community as a streamer. Last time, we discussed how to pick a charity to work with. But now that we’ve found one, how can we fundraise as effectively as possible with our audience? Today, we’re going to look at some widely successful tactics that we can use to increase the revenue for our charity of choice. We’ll be discussing publicizing techniques, goal setting and incentives, and perfecting the “inform and ask.” Let’s take a look at how mastering these three items can maximize your fundraising impact.