Installation
1. Go to www.xsplit.com, select Gamecaster, then click the Download Gamecaster button.
2. Install XSplit Gamecaster after downloading.
3. Run XSplit. XSplit will ask you to connect to your streaming platform ( Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Mixer) or connect using your XSplit account.
4. In our case, we opt to connect using our XSplit account. XSplit will open your default browser where you can log in using your XSplit account.
5. If successful, XSplit will authorize your account to use XSplit Gamecaster. Your account will be automatically signed-in on XSplit app.
Setting Up Streaming Devices
1. On first use of XSplit Gamecaster, XSplit will guide you to set-up your streaming devices – camera, mic, and speakers.
2. Select stream Any Game on this PC option then click Next.
3. Select your camera or webcam on the drop-down list then click Next.
4. Select you microphone on the drop-down list then click Next. Do the same for Speakers.
5. At the end of streaming configuration, click the I’LL STREAM LATER option. We will set-up our sets and scenes before we start streaming.
Setting Up Sets and Scenes
A Scene is how the your stream would look like while Sets are a collection of scenes. You would like to have a different Set for different games you stream and have multiple scenes for each sets. Let’s create your first set.
1. Click the Create Set button (+) on the left side of Gamecaster app.
2. Type in the name of the game for this set, select an icon, and click the Create button.
3. Your Set is now added. To add a scene, click the Add Scene box or the Add Scene button (+).
4. XSplit will offer you to create your own scene or choose from their library of themes. These are premade scenes with color schemes, camera, and other widgets all set. Let’s choose a theme.
5. You will be directed to themes library. Select a theme that fits the color and design according to the genre of your game (sci-fi, fantasy, sports, etc.)
6. Upon selecting a theme, you will see how each scenes look like, the color schemes available, along with other details about the theme. Click Add to Studio to continue using the theme.
7. The scenes are now added. You can take a look each scenes. If you wish to edit a scene, click the Edit button (pencil icon) of the scene.
8. Most of the widgets you need when your stream are already added. If you wish to add widgets (text, background audio, image, etc), just click the Add Widget button. If you want to turn off widgets, just click the toggle button. If you want to delete a widget, select the widget then click the trash bin icon.
9. On to the right side of the window, you will have access to Color scheme, Advanced Mode, and Potato Mode options. If you want to change the colors, just click the Color Scheme button to access available color schemes.
10. Turning on Advanced Mode will unlock other settings for you to fully customize a widget.
Potato Mode will turn off animations to minimize the load and processes causing FPS drops. Turn this On if your PC is not fast enough or you need to maintain high FPS especially when playing fast paced games like CSGO.
11. Click the Save button to save all the changes you have made.
12. Test Center allows you to view and test a scene with its widgets. Click the Test Center icon to launch Test Center.
13. To see how each widget would show up in your stream just click each widget. Click the Back button to go back to Scene Editor.
14. If you are done doing the changes, click the Save button and click the X button on the top-right of the window to close the Scene Editor window.
15. To change the transition animation between scenes, select from the drop down list and click between scenes to view its animation.
Link XSplit to Your Social Network Account
We will now link your XSplit account to your social network account where you want to go live.
1. Click the gear icon at the bottom-right corner or click you account at the top-right corner then click Settings.
2. Click the Accounts tab then click a social network where you will go live. Your default browser will open.
3. XSplit will launch you default browser and direct you to YouTube (or Facebook). Do not click the Cancel button.
YouTube
4. Select your YouTube account then click the Allow button.
5. Click the Continue button on the first pop-up window and select Public on the second pop-up window.
6. On the third pop-up window, click Choose what you allow to manage which one of your Facebook Page will be linked (if you have more than one ) and what will be posted on Facebook through the XSplit app. Click OK when you are done.
7. Your Youtube and Facebook accounts are now linked to XSplit. You can do the same for Twitch, Mixer, and Spotify if you have accounts for them.
Stream Settings
1. Go to Settings, click the Streaming Tab, and select one of your linked account from the drop down list.
2. Select the Custom option.
3. Select the following values for each settings
-
- Resolution – 720p HD, or 1080p Full HD if you have a faster computer
- Codec – AMD VCE if you have and AMD Graphics card, HD 7700 or higher
- NVIDIA NVENC if you have NVIDIA graphics card, GeForce GTX 650 or higher
- Intel Quick Sync if you have Intel HD graphics, 2nd Gen Intel Core processor or newer
- Frame Rate – 30 FPS, 60 FPS if you have a faster computer and faster internet
- Bitrate – bitrate depends on your internet upload speed. You can check your internet upload speed on speedtest.net and fast.com
Below is our recommended bitrate for each internet upload speed, resolution, and frame rate.
Google, Facebook and Twitch have their own recommended streaming settings. Click the following links to take a loot at it.
YouTube – https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853702?hl=en
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/help/1534561009906955
Twitch – https://stream.twitch.tv/encoding/
4. Turn-off Stream delay and Record locally options. Here is our stream settings.
5. Go to Hotkeys tab. Input keys for In-game HUD and Switch to scenes 1 and 2. Click the + button if have more scenes then close the window.
Going Live
1. Select your Start scene then click the social media icon.
2. Select the account where you will publish your livestream then close the window.
3. Click the Stream button.
4. Fill-in the fields for the details of your livestream. Select Public for Privacy setting then click the Go Live Button. For Facebook, select your Facebook Page where you will go live. Click the Checkbox so you will not fill-in the fields again for your next stream.
5. A notification will appear when the streaming started.
6. You can view your livestream through your browser.
7. Press the XSplit HUD hotkey (Ctrl+Shift+H) to brin up the HUD. TheHUD willshow you Stream Events, Chats, and Stream Info. You can also change some settings, stop your livestream, and switch scenes.
8. To end your livestream, click the stop button from the HUD then close your game.
9. At the end of your livestream, you will be asked for a rating. You can skip this by clicking the Cancel button.
Setup Tipping
1. Go to Settings.
2. In settings window, go to Tipping tab, then set your username and your PayPal email address. Click here if you don’t have a PayPal account. A PayPal Personal Account would do.
3. You now have your tipping page. Copy your tipping page link to your stream description and social media channels.
4. This is what XSplit tipping page look like.
Troubleshooting
Games Not Detected
1. Click inside the game then alt tab to Gamecaster. Sometimes it takes a while before Gamecaster detects your game.
2. If that did not worked, go to Studio, click the Sources button, then select your game from the list. If you don’t see your game from the list, restart both Gamecaster and your game.
3. Your game should now be shown in your livestream. You may not see it in Gamecaster but it should be in your livestream.
HUD may no longer work but your hotkeys will still work.
4. If that didn’t worked, uninstall Gamecaster then delete the remaining temporary files using disk cleanup tool, Windows Disk Cleanup Tool and CCleaner are some examples.
5. Download and install the latest version of Gamecaster. Gamecaster recommends turning off third party anti-virus tools to avoid interference during installation.
