Nov 30, 6:00 am
For a while now I’ve wanted to be able to live stream and learn all the technical abilities that go hand in hand with running a live stream. I’m not the most computer or electronics savvy girl. I am the kick your butt at FPS and take names later type and usually don’t spend hours researching the technical sides of things. It’s not that I’m not interested in it, it’s just that my attention span and being so impatient causes me to see something shiny and all of a sudden I’m off doing something else. But this time was different I really wanted to get this running so I’ve created a step by step guide for setting up a live stream using the Black-Magic Intensity Shuttle and using Wirecast 4 to broadcast. First and foremost you need a computer to be able to handle running a live stream. This is the most important step because without a lot of memory and a USB 3.0 well you probably won’t get very far.
Step 1 The guidelines recommend at least 4GB of system memory but if you’re going to be using other programs associated with your live stream then I recommend doubling that to 8GB because all of these programs running together uses a lot of RAM.
Step 2 In order to stream in HD your computer has to have a USB 3.0 port. The Black-Magic Intensity shuttle also requires the NEC 3.0 chip in order to run and all Drivers and Firmware to be updated.
1. To find out if you have the NEC 3.0 is actually quite simple because your computer has a little tool that tells you. In your start menu look at your programs and scroll down till you see the Renesas Electronics folder if it is there then you already have the NEC 3.0 chip and you will just have to update the Firmware and Drivers.
2. Inside the folder is a USB 3.0 Controller Utility and when you run the program it gives you your current Driver and Firmware information. These will have to be updated by going to station-drivers.com/page/renesas and updating to the latest Firmware and Drivers.
3. Unplug the USB 3.0 cable before updating. Download and update the Driver first and it will likely ask you to reboot your computer. Once the Driver is updated, download and update the Firmware and once they are installed you can plug back in the USB 3.0 cable. You can re-check with the USB 3.0 Controller Utility tool to make sure both updates have been successful.
Step 3 Now that you have updated the next step is to install the Shuttle. There are many capture cards out there that can be used for live streaming. But for HD gameplay I decided to go with the Black-Magic Intensity shuttle. It’s a fairly simple piece of equipment that requires no removal of the hard plate on the computer to install.
1. You will need 2 HDMI cables to setup the shuttle. Plug the HDMI cable from the Xbox into the HDMI In on the shuttle, then the HDMI out goes into the monitor/TV of your gameplay and the USB 3.0 cable plugs into the USB 3.0 port on the back of your computer.
2. The next step is to install the components that go with the shuttle. On the disk that came with the shuttle there is a list of like 10 things on there to install. Unless you have the hardware for all of them they are useless. The ones you will need to install are the Desktop USB 3.0 for windows and the Media Express Windows. I recommend instead of using the disk go to blackmagic-design.com/support and download them directly from there since they are the most up to date versions and will work best with your Driver and Firmware you downloaded and installed earlier.
3. The first install will require you to restart your computer and will take a few minutes. The Media Express takes just a split second and once you double click on the program it should open a new window that shows a video screen.
Step 4 All software and hardware should now be installed so the next steps are to insure that it’s all working properly and all your components are set to read each other.
1. In your start menu go to the Control Panel, click on the Hardware and Sound and you will see the Black Magic Design Control Panel. Make sure all outputs are active and that all inputs and outputs are set to 720p since your Xbox cannot stream in 1080p.
2. Then go to your Xbox and get into the system of your Xbox and make sure your Xbox is set to 720p because the factory settings are 1080p but you can’t stream in 1080p.
3. Once all settings are the same open the Media Express program that you downloaded and it should show your Xbox gameplay on your computer in the Media Express under capture. However I personally know that the software is quite finicky and if you do get an error saying hardware not found it could be as simple as unhooking the USB 3.0 cable and restarting your computer then plugging back in, or having to just reinstall the latest firmware again.
Step 5 Alright we have the capture feed from the Xbox on our computer, so the next step is to setup your Wirecast so you can broadcast wherever you like. Using Wirecast is quite handy because it can grab the feed straight from your intensity shuttle and can stream many feeds at once. Wirecast also has a program called Desktop Presenter that can pick up regions of your computer or programs that are open. So you can broadcast Skype and or other programs at the same time you’re using the Intensity Shuttle feed and your webcam/camera. Wirecast is very easy to setup but is rather pricey to buy, the base model is $450.
1. Once downloaded and installed from telestream.net/wire-cast/overviewyou setup your window so it can pick up straight from your Intensity shuttle.
2. Desktop Presenter is another program with Wirecast that can be used to show certain parts of your screen or a program you wish to live stream like Skype or any other you wish. I use Picture in Picture so I have a few outputs that need to be broadcasted. There are placeholders in the Edit shot that through the media tab under edit shot where you can place your webcams/presenter shots/intensity shuttle shots. Once you place them it’s just a matter of playing around with the Wirecast to your liking and you can easily spend a full day just going over all its features and functions which I can go over at a later time.
In conclusion, I am not a techy girl and I was able to figure most of this stuff out on my own with little or no help and just playing with trial and error. I wanted to maybe help out the next person so they wouldn’t have to go through the pains I had of learning how to setup my live stream. I am by no means an expert but each day I am learning a little more about each program I am using and getting more and more comfortable with directing my live steams and helping others become successful with theirs!!
If you have any tips or helpful hints on how you live stream and what kind of set-up you have, let us know. Leave a comment after the jump. 
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