Livestreaming Equipment 2021
So, your child wants to be a YouTuber or livestream their gaming? We’ve heard from many teachers that’s the most increased profession listed by kids. While the odds are low, there are many great opportunities to learn about tech, communication, and allow your child to discover their passions. But what equipment do they need? We’ve created a list of items under different budgets that we recommend.
Lighting
No matter how good your camera is, bad lighting can make your shot less than desirable. You typically want lighting directly on the subject of the livestream and ring lights are a great option for that.
This light has a ton of features! It comes with its own carrying case, dimmer control, desk stand, and light filters.
For a better lighting setup, look no further than the Elgato Keylight Air. We recommend two of these so that you can reduce shadowing. It is also app-enabled to control color and brightness via device. A minimal pole and base are included.
Scene lights aren’t the only lighting you can use in your livestream. Many professional streamers utilize lighting in the background to provide another level of coolness to their video. These strip lights are controllable via app and will even synchronize with music.
Camera
Many laptops have a webcam built-in (although the trend these days is to remove that so the bezel around the screen can be thinner) but having a standalone camera is probably a better option. These cams have larger sensors and are more flexible to use with desktops and gaming consoles.
This newer webcam is massively on sale right now (half off from $200). Razer is known for its gaming equipment (mouse, keyboards, headsets) and has built a great webcam. This webcam adjusts well to different lighting situations and has a wide lens to allow for creative scene setups.
Logitech is a fairly well known brand when it comes to computer peripherals. Similar to the Razer Kiyo above, this cam shoots at Full HD, 60 frames per second (fps) which is more than enough for streaming to YouTube or Twitch. Right now this camera is $40 off which makes it a great deal.
Microphones
There’s nothing worse than a livestream when you can’t hear the person speaking. Look for a good mic that you can position close to your mouth during the livestream.
Elgato makes premium livestreaming equipment across all categories. This minimal, sleek profile looks great on a desk and the tactile (button) mute on the front makes it easy to step away without broadcasting everything. Plus, if you’ve worked from home during the pandemic you know how useful it can be to be confident that you’re actually on mute 🙂
This mic looks awesome sitting on a desk. The shock mount is great for keyboard and mouse gamers where there’s lots of movement on the desk itself. We also really like the mute functionality on the top and red lights when you’re ‘live’.
Capture Cards
Do you want to include video from gaming consoles on your livestream? These capture cards have an HDMI input allowing you to directly connect your favorite console into broadcasting software (like OBS).
This capture card uses USB-C to connect directly to your laptop/desktop. Plug the output from your gaming console and you’re ready to stream.
AVerMedia Live PCIe Gamer Card
Looking for something a bit faster that you can install directly in your desktop? This AVerMedia capture card is a perfect addition to any livestream requiring an external source.
Miscellaneous
The above items (lighting, camera, microphone) are the bare minimum for a livestream. The items below make the livestreaming experience easier and more professional.
When you need to quickly switch between different scenes in your stream, there’s not an easier solution than the Elgato Streamdeck. We use this when creating content for our online classes and switch between the teacher, screen view, screen/teacher combo view. Each button can be customized with a limitless number of actions.
This portable greenscreen fits nicely behind a chair to block out unwanted background visuals. Since it’s a blue/green screen combo, you can easily add in your own visuals that look much better than those fake backgrounds in teleconferences.
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