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As you may know, I've been streaming on Twitch for a few years now. I started off streaming directly from my PS4, and then directly from PS5 when I upgraded consoles. That's because my computer was a potato (refurbed mini business desktop with +shudders+ integrated graphics).

I finally had the money to replace said potato computer, and so I now have a gaming PC. It's on the cheaper side as those go, but even so, a run of the Final Fantasy XIV benchmark resulted in an Extremely High rating. I am pleased.

So, I want to start streaming through the PC so I can do more, fun things with my stream. ANY advice is appreciated! I know I'll need a capture card to get input from PS5 and Switch, but that's a future goal... I'm okay with continuing to stream direct from PS5 until I can afford said card.

But I'd really like to start streaming Final Fantasy XI (yeah, I went back to that game, thanks to the new Vana'diel raid in FFXIV) which I know I can do WITHOUT a capture card, but I'm a little confused as to the logistics of HOW.

What I have done:

1. Downloaded OBS Studio, let it auto-configure, and set a source for FFXI.
2. Downloaded veadotube mini and Gimp and messed around with some photos in Gimp to create a simple animated avatar for veaodotube mini.
3. Installed the Spout2 Capture plug-in for OBS Studio.
4. Added a new Spout2 Capture source and had it point to veadotube mini.

So I now have my avatar and the game in the streaming window.

I have not tried going live yet, because I'm a little confused as to how to actually play the game while monitoring the stream. Do I need a second monitor to shove the OBS stuff onto, so I can play the game fullscreen on my default monitor? Right now, my "monitor" is a older Smart TV. I don't have much room on my desk for a second monitor, but maybe I could get a small one?

Thanks in advance for the help. Any and all tips appreciated!

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Forspoken
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

I would say that you've probably already done more for your setup than I ever have in several years of streaming on and off.

To answer your specific question, I think that it is immensely helpful to have a second monitor for OBS that is different from the one you're playing on. It's surely possible to do everything on one but it would require shenanigans and compromises that probably aren't worth going into.

Since I don't do anything with an avatar or live video on CoN streams, at least not yet, my setup is really just OBS on one monitor and the game on another, with my two matching but quite old Dell 1920x1200 screens that I inherited from work. I tend to also have my personal Twitch account tuned in from my work laptop while I stream, on mute, but there's really no good reason for it other than being able to see out of the corner of my eye if what viewers can see matches what I think they're seeing.

I would recommend keeping an eye out for garage and especially estate sales in your neighborhood if you want to get a second monitor for cheap. I see them all the time in formats that I would never want to buy new but would do the job for you for next to nothing - to show your OBS setup on one screen would work just fine even if you only had an ancient 1024x768 LCD thing.

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"To create something great, you need the means to make a lot of really bad crap." - Kevin Kelly

Why aren't you shopping AmaCoN?

Just wanted to drop a "thanks for the input!" here, it's appreciated. I've been keeping an eye on estate sales but no luck yet. However, a local friend is checking her stash today and might have something suitable, so I live in hope! If she doesn't, I might break down and buy a portable monitor. They aren't terribly expensive, and I made some extra money from doing a crochet commission recently, so I have some money to I wouldn't feel bad about spending.

(The commission was a NIGHTMARE. Not the patron, she was lovely. But I just did not enjoy working on it, and did not get anywhere near enough for all the work I put in, so I kind of feel justified by spending the money on something fun.)

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Forspoken
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans

Update on this: my friend checked her monitor stash but they're all +shudders+ VGA, so no go there. And I'm opting not to buy a portable monitor at this time. I'll keep an eye on the estate sales.

BUT! I did my first stream from my PC last night! I did splurge and use some Christmas money on a new mic (the cheaper HyperX one) because the headset I couldn't get the headset I use on my PlayStations to work. Plus, the headset was throwing static in my ears anyway; it can be relieved by unplugging it and plugging it back in but having to do that multiple times in a stream is annoying, so probably not a bad idea to get a new mic. Though it was really weird to be "on" without wearing a headset. My voice sounded strange to my ears.

I'm surprised I didn't have technical difficulties. I expected some issues but nope, it all went well, except for the fact that since I was playing fullscreen and don't have a second monitor yet, I missed someone in Twitch chat because I didn't have the stream open on another device at first. If that was any of you, I apologize! And the answer to "What server is this?" is Valefor.

So going forward, my schedule will be a single-player game on Mondays (currently Forspoken), Final Fantasy XI on Fridays (played it last night for fun --I needed to relax after busting my butt doing 100 hours of real-life crafting in December), and Final Fantasy XIV on Saturdays. We'll see how well I stick with that.

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Watch me play games on Twitch!
Schedule:
Mondays: Forspoken
Fridays: Final Fantasy XI
Saturdays: Final Fantasy XIV Dawntrail Side Quests & Shenanigans