Twilight’s Setup
Creating content is something which is often seen as something which will change your life, but many people have no idea where to start and what equipment or software you need to get starting to make cosy gaming content. Here’s a list of everything I use for streaming and making videos.
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Computer or Laptop
In order to make content, you will need a device which can run everything you want to do. Whilst a lot of this can be done on a mobile phone or tablet, a lot of features are still limited to PCs or laptops. Which one is right for you will depend on what you want to do with your content. I started with an old Apple MacBook, but realised quickly that the capture card I bought wasn’t compatible with it. Always double check the specs you have on your computer before you buy any new equipment!
If you are planning on editing videos and gaming on a device, I would personal speak to someone who can make you a custom build PC as they will be able to give you a computer with all of the specs you need to do everything you want. It is more expensive, but the benefit is you can upgrade your computer at any point. When I bought my PC, I was told I would need at least 32GB RAM to edit videos. If that doesn’t make sense to you, I would recommend speaking to a PC specialist.
Capture Card
If you are working with a console, the likelihood is you will need a capture card to be able to send the signal from your console to your computer. There are two different types, internal and external. If you go with an internal capture card, it will need to be fitted into your computer before you can use it. If that sounds like it’s complicated, I would recommend an external capture card. The one I use is the Elgato HD60 X(*) but I have used an older version of this capture card before which is no longer available. You can spend less on a capture card to get you set up, but if you are playing from a console primarily like the Nintendo Switch, you are going to want to invest more into a capture card which is not going to cause too many issues later!
Microphone
If you want to stream or record your voice for videos or vertical content, you are going to need to invest in a microphone. There’s nothing wrong with starting out on a webcam or using a headset mic, but if you want to improve your audio quality of your content, I would highly recommend purchasing a microphone. The amount you spend here doesn’t need to be huge as you can get great sounding audio by playing with the settings in your recording software. Typically your microphone will content to your computer in one of two ways, either directly into your computer through a USB or through an XLR cable. If you don’t have an XLR port on your computer, you will need to use a USB one. The one I started with was the Hyper X Quadcast S(*) which is a good baseline microphone to use and is USB. What I use now is a Shure SM7b(*) which is an XLR mic but I wouldn’t recommend buying a Shure SM7b straight away until you know you are happy with content and want to commit to it for a while as it’s a lot more expensive compared to other microphones!
I would also recommend getting a boom arm for your microphone. Although some of the microphones on the market do come with a stand, if you are prone to knocking or hitting your desk, you are going to want to take that sound out and the easiest way to do this is with a boom arm. The one I use now is the Rode PSA1 Professional Studio Arm(*). There are cheaper ones available, but you should check your microphone’s compatibility with a boom arm before you buy one!
Consoles
I’ll be honest now and say I have too many consoles. It was over 20 at last count! You don’t need a console to start getting into cosy gaming as a lot of games are available on the PC through Steam. However, the consoles that I do have connected up that I’m most likely to play games on are Nintendo Switch(*) and a PlayStation 5(*). I’m a Nintendo girl primarily, but if I ever fancy playing something else, I’m likely to play it on PlayStation.
For Nintendo Switch, I would recommend getting a separate Nintendo Switch Pro Controller(*). Although the joy con are great and you can have a lot of fun with using the joy con, when you are in a small space and want to be a bit more precise with movement, using a separate controller is a lot easier! I have three which I use interchangeably between my four Nintendo Switch consoles (yes, you read that right), and it saves me a lot of time trying to work out which joy con are for each console.
Software
For editing software, when I first started out, I was using iMovie and a lot of people do use this as it comes inbuilt into most Apple MacBooks. However, the editing software that I use now for all of my videos and shorts is Da Vinci Resolve. This is free to use and has a ton of features which most professional editors use for all sorts of different projects! There is a paid version of the software which I do have, but it isn’t necessary to pay for Da Vinci Resolve.
There are two different recording software you can use. OBS and Streamlabs. Both of them work similarly, but the one I would always recommend is OBS because it’s a lot better for your computer’s processing power than Streamlabs.
There are different videos which show you how to set it up, and I would always recommend using a tutorial at least to get you set up as this will then get you into a good place.
Content creation posts
Being a content creator is a lot of fun but there’s a lot to learn. Here are some of the things I’ve learnt as a small cosy gaming content creator.