What Twitch streamers taught me about Video call etiquette
By: Marko Mitranić
Tags: Video Conferencing, Zoom Meetings, Streaming, Work From Home, Twitch

Streamer Inspiration time

I wanted to see how the profesionals do this, and found a perfect balance of professionalism in Twitch. Looking at the setups and usage patterns in a variety of streamers like Hasanabi, EsfandTV, Asmongold, Madseasonshow, JinnyTTY and many others. This research inspired the whole setup, and here are the main conclusions:

Get a better microphone like Madseason but try not sounding like him.

Use a better camera or even a set of cameras like Esfand, Nmplol.

Spice things up by looking more presentable like Tim, Hasan, Marques.

Always show up. Not activating your video is very rude. Yes, even when you won’t be actively participating.

It is not a sin to NOT look at the camera, they all know I’m probably browsing Reddit anyway, why hide it? Just look at Zack or Hasan, make the camera capture your pretty side iregardless of where the screen is.

Using a filter or even a virtual avatar is completely fine, as long as it is in good spirit and doesnt bother others.

Look at those esports speakers or DeepCuts, pronounciation is super important stuff. This takes practice but IS WORTH IT .

. Background does not need to be dull. Having a non-orthogonal perspective instead of a wall can make you become more alive. Especially so if you use a lens with a bokeh. A colourful bookshelf is better than a wall, but a room with a bookshelf, a sleeping dog and a coffee table is way better.

Have some prepared presets for camera switches or zoom. Tricia and Esfand have 2 cams.

Try not to have a window or other enormous source of light in the background.

Sunlight is the best, if not, use an incandescent light bulb. More on this later.

Prepare for the meeting by quickly going over any notes or your expected meeting structure. Also google diction exercises for speakers.

Disable all Zoom’s post processing. More on this later.

Take regular breaks.

And finally, wipe that dirty camera lens regularly.

No regrets!

Don’t be afraid to ask for recess when you feel the need. Make regular bio brakes, behave like a tomato timer — every 45min you need a 5min break and a glass of water. We are all in the same boat and everyone will understand. In the beginning you might feel that making such a pause will distract some super productive meeting, but it won’t, that’s the basis of the Pomodoro Timer theory. You’ll just get even more creative!

A cat walking across the keyboard, or a dog vomiting on the carpet in the background are fun. Don’t be ashamed, behave naturally. We are all in the same boat. Your spouse telling you something from the background or walking around is not bad, embrace those moments, make them briefly smile and say hi to your coworkers. It might sound weird but everyone will appreciate it.

Be aware of the environment. Do not treat your house as a filming set. If you have a nice sunset happening, share it with colleagues. Do the same for them, if you notice something interesting in their background, ask them to show it to you.

At the same time, you do need to keep up the appearance of being clean and organized. A messy table, stained sirt, old food platter or greasy hair are bad. Duh.

Fixing my appearance — the camera story

An example shot from the newest MacBook Pro 16 camera. As you can see, top notch quality

The MacBook Pro’s 720p camera won’t do. The lens is simply bad and thats it.

I’ve briefly tried my friends Logitech HD cam, the super popular one. It was far worse than anything my iPhone could do, as well as being tougher to manage.

Coincidentally (¿fb is toootally not tracking me?) I saw an Instagram ad for a GorillaPod on a decent discount, so I went out and bought it. I attached my iPhone to it and found a nice, flattering height for the camera.

According to my wife who is aparently a pro at this stuff, camera should be either at eye level or slightly higher (unless you are: A using korean filters, B trying to get that innocent girl look, or C are super masculine). I put a bunch of books on the table, placed the contraption on those and tried it out. Height— somewhere between Hasan, Tim and Esfand.

The results were already better™. The the overall scene lighting was more natural and I my change in appearance was clearly appreciated by the other side. Prototype was a success.

Yet, the whole experience felt weird, it felt like trying to take photos on a musical concert, with your iPad. I had to touch the camera/screen/viewers all the time and couldn’t see them clearly, nor could I see any screen sharing that was happening.

Better camera time — Reincubate Camo

Advice itself worked, but the medium was bad. If I wanted to use the good camera on the back, I needed to set up the iPhone camera as my computer’s webcam.

As the first MVP I captured the iPhone screen via USB connection and QuickTime Player. It worked, but as I soon found out that theres an app for that — Reincubate Camo application for iPhone.

The Camo app allows you to tether the iPhone to the mac, and literally have a fully compliant webcam. No drivers no fuss. It works flawlessly, respects the rotation, the lens correction, all phone lenses, manual camera settings etc. I mostly use either the Portrait camera for its bokeh effect or the normal camera. The app is free to use, but if you decide to pay you do get a lot of very cool settings. Oh, also you support the developer, which is really nice and you should do it.

Back to the topic, now I looked way better than before. The image was super sharp, but most importantly I now had a camera lens that can properly deal with light. No more weird artefacts in the background, shadows under my eyes or orange skin under LED bulbs.

On the flip side, now everyone knows that I own a very furry Corgi and havent vacumed the floor in 24 hours. Or that my moustache is not nearly as full and manly as the potato-camera would have you beleive. That thing was so dark, furry and blurry that I instantly went from Tom Selleck to being more of a Charles Bronson lookalike.

Me and my assistant prepping for the meeting.

Jokes aside, it went great, the new camera is truly a wonderous discovery, and I aint going back anytime soon. In fact, since then I decided to attempt an overkill scenario wherein I attached my Sony a6000 via the Elgato CamLink. Oh golly, what some propper lenses can do to your image is unbeliveable.

Anyways, the point I’m trying to make here is to use whatever you have around. iPhone, DSLR, Blackmagic, webcam. You needn’t buy, anything is better than the built-in stuff.

I soon started using OBS in order to have some image post-processing as well as effects, company logo, and different scenes for utility, for example SuperZoom or screen share. Not much to say on that front, go and search YT for some tutorials, its pretty easy. Again, as with the Sony camera, this is an overkill and there is no real need to do it for most people.

Poor-mans’s Lighting

I am not a film school pro. Not by any measure. Here is some common sense I had picked up along the way. Use an incandescent light near yourself, just a normal lamp, no need for special setups. Use multiple smaller lamps instead of one that makes you eyebleed.

If you have a permanent setup, research how to do lighting positioning, people have written literal books on it. There is loads of 3minute youtube tutorials.

Warm LEDs are okay, but allegedly not as good. Here is a nice little article explaining my choise of incandescent bulbs. Consider it a poor-mans lighting setup. Costs nothing and works like a charm.

Cleanliness is next to godliness

And finally, wipe that dirty camera lens regularly. There is nothing worse than you doing your best while everyone else in the call is wondering why is it so blurry or where did that gunk piece come from.

I always have some “rice paper” for lenses lying around, or use those non-alcohol glasses wipes. Heck use your cotton shirt if you have to, just get it done before every meeting.