Broadcasting Your Game To The World

The world of card game and board game design is rife with challenges — it’s often not enough to just MAKE a game, you also need to let people know you’ve made it! One of the most powerful tools to do that is video. Creating videos of and for your game can be invaluable, you have an opportunity to show your game, show how it is played, and talk about why you made some of the design decisions that you did. Being able to show HOW you play your game is huge. Many people can read your perfectly written rulebook and get a good feel for the game, but seeing it in action is second only to actually playing the game. Check out these quick tips on how to make your broadcast, gameplay video, or design devlog video more polished and professional.

Lighting

Be sure to light your space correctly. Directional light is best, as overhead lighting can create a shadowy look, but bright space is preferable — this will make your broadcast feel polished and positive. You don’t need to spend tons on lights if you follow the basics of lighting can take you a long way.

Key Light

This is your primary light source. Place it the side of your camera, shining toward you.

Fill Light

This is your secondary light source. Place it opposite of the Key Light to help fill in shadows cast by the key light.

Back Light

This lights the background to help separate you from the background and give depth to space.

Field of View (FOV)

Place your lights so that they are not in your camera’s field of view and doublecheck your screen before broadcasting.

Camera

In most at-home broadcasts, you will start out using the camera that comes embedded in your computer, and that will be just fine. You will have limited to no ability to adjust focus or zoom, so be mindful of your placement. You may never need more than this, or you may decide you want to up your game, so to speak, and there are plenty of great options designed just for streaming and broadcast.

POSITIONING

Make sure that you have setup up your field of view correctly, and positioned well. You don’t want to be too high and cut off your head. Try to place yourself either center horizontally, or one-third of the way to one side of the screen if you plan on using graphics or props, this is called the rule of thirds in photography and cinematography and is important for creating visually pleasing and easy to digest imagery. But make sure that you do not drift out of frame.

EYE CONTACT

In a typical setting, you would want to look at your audience as you talk, but in an online broadcast, your viewers won’t be visible, and any co-casters may not be in the same room with you. Try to look right at the camera when directing your comments to co-casters or your audience — usually, there is a small light next to your live camera. But if you are in the thick of it, and demoing your game or looking at components and other props, just act natural! No need to have continual eye contact; just do what you are doing and speak.

PROPS

Before your broadcast, gather any props or visual aids you may be using. Arrange them so they are easy to get to and test how and where they appear in the frame. You may not be able to see yourself in the broadcast, so practicing will help you get a better understanding of where to hold your items when you show them to the audience.

Wardrobe

Your wardrobe can represent your game and impact your engagement with viewers, so it’s important to get it right. We mostly recommend solid colors as opposed to garments with patterns. Be careful with black, while it can be slimming, wearing black can darken your overall appearance and pull out shadowy areas in your face giving the impression of tiredness. Jewel tones are highly saturated colors that won’t appear too light or muted against most environments, and they look great with all different skin tones. You can use pattern as an accent, but small busy patterns (like paisley, pinstripes, polka dots) can interfere with the camera and cause a “buzzing” effect.

Audio

Speaking of buzzing, audio, in general, can be a particular issue — with things often sounding “echo-y” or hollow. Some steps can mitigate that; however, some reverb is unavoidable without serious sound dampening that a purpose-built studio would bring. Often having subtle background music can lessen the effect, and give you some great vibes!

LOCATION SELECTION

Choose a space away from any distracting noises: children, animals, or other things that could divert attention from your broadcast. And, if possible, pick a location that isn’t a perfect rectangle or square. Selecting a location with carpet, upholstered furniture, drapes, and other soft surfaces can further dampen sound and cut down on echoing.

Headphones

Headphones with a microphone will help improve your sound quality by filtering out some of the background noise. If you do wear them, you can try hiding any wires under hair or by running cables through your clothing if you are wearing inconspicuous earbuds, or go all out with gamer mega-cans!

Microphones

If you’d rather go with a more professional/podcast-radio feel, get a stand mic that you can place out of the FOV and get great sound. These can range greatly in price but are usually worth the investment if you want to broadcast regularly. Look out for recommendations in a future article.

Technical

Technical issues are inevitable, but with some preparation, you can avoid many glitches that could hurt your at-home broadcast performance.

Hardwire Your Connection

Using a hardwired connection will help you avoid any issues with an unstable wifi connection, which can affect your audio quality and the overall broadcast experience.

Practice, Practice, Practice

To catch any possible technical glitches, you should do several practice runs, so that you can learn what might go wrong and how to fix or avoid it. Try doing several small live broadcast and sending them to your friends they will be entertained but also give you great advice on how you look towards your audience. Stuck? Need some idea’s to get your creative juices flowing? Check out our first live stream on YouTube! As always, remember we are available anytime to help you DM us your questions on Twitter – @keyankenny and @aarongriffin23