Keep in mind that unless you're a partnered channel (assuming you're going to be streaming on Twitch), you have to consider your viewers' bandwidth as much as your own. If you stream 1080p60 at 4000kbps, your internet may have no trouble pushing that out. Your viewers may have trouble taking that in, however, causing your channel to constantly buffer and resulting in the loss of viewers. Twitch also seems to favor partnered streams over non-partnered. Even though I have 75/35 internet, I often find non-partnered streams at high bitrates buffer for me.
The baseline suggestion for a non-partnered stream is 720p30 at 2000kbps. That is usually the best balance between video quality and stream quality (as far as buffering) for those who are non-partnered. If/When you become partnered, users will be able to manually adjust video quality, so you'll be able to push out the highest quality possible without harming viewership.
As far as software, I use and suggest OBS, as it's free and good quality. Other streamers use Xsplit, but keep in mind that Xsplit does have a monthly cost associated with it. I'm sure there are other options, but to my knowledge these two are the top free and paid options.
I do not stream console games, so I can't comment on the capture card, but I do know that Elgato is a good brand of card.
As far as accessories, I'm currently using a cheap webcam (Logitech C110, which could use an upgrade to a C920) and haven't seen any complaints about quality. For audio, I use Takstar HI 2050 headphones. They're extremely comfortable over long-term play sessions and great quality for the price point ($50-70ish). I use a CAD GXL2200 mic fed into a Behringer XENYX 502 mixer. I'm not sure if a fixed mic (as opposed to headset mic) would work well for a console gamer. I suppose it would depend on your physical setup.
Hopefully at least a little of this has been helpful. If you have any more questions or need help with OBS setup (I'm not as knowledgeable on Xsplit), let me know. I'm not a huge streamer, but I do have experience with the technical end of things.
|