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  • In this video I’m going to show you how use the Twitch Inspector to analyze your streaming

  • bitrate and troubleshoot internet connection or encoder related issues.

  • Let’s get right into it.

  • Twitch just released a new tool that lets us figure out what bitrate we should use while

  • streaming, as well as help you troubleshoot connection or encoder related issues. An encoder

  • is basically something like OBS or XSplit. I’m going to show you how to run some tests

  • first, then well go over what everything means, as well as how to troubleshoot different

  • issues. This tool is fairly new, so make sure to subscribe for any future updates about

  • it.

  • Let’s head over to https://inspector.twitch.tv and click the login button. Authorize your

  • main channels account to proceed to the next screen. When you first log in you won’t

  • see very much, if youre a new streamer. If youve streamed before you may see some

  • of your past broadcasts in the main area. Let’s start from

  • square one and take a quick look at the interface. In the top right we can add additional accounts

  • that we’d like to test if needed. Below we can see a button to run a stream test,

  • as well as a “view tipsbutton that is extremely helpful in answering common questions

  • about bitrate and encoding troubleshooting. The main area will eventually show us the

  • breakdown of our tests.

  • Let’s go ahead and clickRun a stream test”. The popup here basically tells us

  • to get our stream key from the Twitch dashboard then open up our encorder, such as OBS studio,

  • and append ?bandwidthtest=true to the end of it. Once we add that in, we can then hit

  • start streaming.

  • So, let’s go ahead and grab our stream key from the Twitch dashboard and then open up

  • OBS Studio. In settings > stream I’m going to paste my key into the Stream key area.

  • I’ll go ahead and clickshowso that you can see exactly what I’m typing. At

  • the end of my key I’m going to enter ?bandwidthtest=true - to do this easily I’ll just copy it from

  • the inspector website and paste it after.

  • I’m also going to go to the output tab and and make sure that my video bitrate is at

  • 3500, which is the highest that Twitch specifys to use. I’ll talk about server selection

  • at the end of this video, but for now just select the one that is closest to your location.

  • After this is complete, I’ll hit Start Streaming and then go back into the inspector tool.

  • After a short while well see a couple of things change on this page. Once your connection

  • has been established well see the dark box in the top right corner turn into a live

  • chart that displays our bitrate. Youll also see information about what your connection

  • is currently stable at.

  • I recommend leaving this test running for at least 5 to 10 minutes if you can. The longer,

  • the better. The problem with some online speed tests is that theyll only measure a short

  • amount of time. With this tool, be can take an in-depth look at what’s happening with

  • our bitrate.

  • So what should you set your bitrate at? You want to set it to the average bitrate from

  • your test. You can monitor your current connection on the main page, but let’s get some more

  • detail in the test by clicking one of our current or past test streams in the main area.

  • Well be presented with a full chart of our bitrate that shows the average, max, and

  • minimum bitrate. So in my case, I’ll be safe to set mine around 3,400 kbps. This means

  • I can safely stream at 1920 x 1080 resolution. If youre not sure what resolution to set

  • in OBS Studio, you can check out this article which will be linked in the description.

  • Back on the inspector page well see more information in the sidebar, as well as a “View

  • Troubleshooting Tipsarea at the bottom. If you click this it will show you different

  • types of graphs and what they mean. If you don’t have a stable graph, then youll

  • want to compare these graphs to your own, in order to better troubleshoot your problems.

  • To go back to the main page we can clickall broadcaststowards the top.

  • While the tips are still open I want to mention that if youre a new streamer, you should

  • consider taking the time to read through these different sections. As I mentioned before

  • this area will contain information to help you quickly identify different problems, and

  • it will answer a lot of common questions.

  • They even has sections about troubleshooting dropped frames and delay. The common factors

  • here would be an issue with your upload speed, a need to lower your bitrate, or changing

  • your ingest server.

  • Earlier in the video I mentioned picking the server closest to you - while this is generally

  • the best thing to do, it’s not always accurate. As explained here there can be issues with

  • how your ISP routes your traffic - so sometimes the geographically closest server isn’t

  • the best. For this reason, I still recommend using the Twitch bandwidth test tool. I made

  • a video about using this tool, which I’ll make sure to link as well.

  • For any streamer, I’d recommend first using the test tool to determine a the best servers

  • for you to stream to. Then, I think it’d be a good idea to use the Twitch inspector

  • to get a better understanding of what’s happening with your bitrate - so that you

  • can figure out what’s really causing your dropped frames.

  • Hopefully in the future Twitch makes a first part tool that help you select a server in

  • an easier way, but for now, I still think the inspector is pretty awesome, and very

  • powerful.

  • If you have any questions about this video, make sure to leave them in the comments below.

  • Don’t forget to like this video if you enjoyed it, and subscribe to the channel if you’d

  • like to see more streaming and gaming content from Nerd or Die.

  • I’d also like to say a sincere thank you to my Patrons: Reinessa, TrainsyTV, Notorious

  • Monster, Mark F, Lleuca, and my newest Patron Callum. Thank you all for your support, and

  • thanks for watching.

In this video I’m going to show you how use the Twitch Inspector to analyze your streaming

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