4 Game-Changing Fixes to Level Up Tom Bilyeu’s Live Streams!
Hey everybody. I'm Noah with Corporate Streams. We help Fortune 500 companies live stream their corporate events, and in this video we're gonna be tackling a 4.5 million subscriber YouTube channel, Tom bilyeu. In just a few minutes, I will talk you through some of the technical weak points that can hold your channel back when live streaming and some low hanging fruit we can all fix. So let's talk through some of the technical things that we can make better Now. These tips and tricks not only apply to Tom's channel, but can also apply to yours.
So I'll be improving off of some notes and it'll fit this framework, which will be four simple questions.
What's the goal?
What's the struggle?
Why is it tough, and
how do we solve it?
Let's dive right in.
Countdown
So kicking off Tom's video, we're gonna start with the countdown. Now the goal here is to have your viewers have a clear entry point or clear start of the show. Dead air in the beginning is not fun for anybody. And awkward silences kill momentum. It's not necessarily hard, it's just often overlooked, and a lot of live streams tend to skip this polish. So what do we suggest? Have a 2 to 10 minute countdown video with chill background audio or something that fits the vibe of your show. Trim that countdown in post-production, so the video on demand has a clean start with no fuss. For smaller channels, you can do what Tom did, which is a starting soon graphic, which does work, but at this level, a countdown would really help.
Audio
Next step is audio. We wanna have crisp and competitive audio that matches top streams and other videos on YouTube. The struggle for these live streams is that the law mic make sounds when it's adjusted and doesn't match the SM7B quality on Drew and Tom's microphones. dynamic voices like Tom yelling and getting loud, and then also talking quietly swinging the volume wildly and overall the mix is a little bit too quiet compared to other channels and other videos on YouTube. And there was times where audio from computers sounds distant or not from the computer and recorded off of another microphone.
There's sometimes double audio, muted computers, all these things we're gonna address here in just a moment. So why is this difficult? Well, livestream audio can be unpredictable both from a volume perspective and a source perspective. And so we wanna make sure mastered videos, get a post production polish that's missing and harder to accomplish while live streaming. So let's talk through some of the fixes that we can offer. What we want to do is go back to the source, which is usually a mouth and microphone, getting that relationship as close as possible.
For the moderator, I would suggest upgrading the microphone to another SM7B, so you match the other presenters. Use the thicker pop screen filter so that there's less plosives on the Ps and the bs. This is what the thicker windscreen looks like and for close proximity talking, it really helps with those close ups. Use a hardware mic mute or at least a stream deck mute to help kill distractions like coughs and sneezes when you're on air.
Computer Audio
I think this has been one of the most frustrating parts about the show is audio has been inconsistent. I know the team has also gotten frustrated with this, so let's talk about some of those solutions here.
Separate the streaming computer from the playback computer. This will allow you to know for sure. Which computer audio you're listening to. Route your computer's audio into a mixer. Now you're probably using some sort of XLR system. What I would suggest is looking into Dante, you can use Dante virtual sound card and put those computers on the same network as your mixer, like the Yamaha DM3. This will allow you to route multiple computers into the mixer and control everything from one spot. So whether Drew's sharing or a moderator sharing, you can have complete control of your audio stream. What's great about using the Yamaha DM3 or other mixer like this is you can use compressors and limiters on each microphone. I would start at a 3:1 ratio with a threshold of about -20db. What would be even greater is if you used a side chain compressor with Tom's microphone in the mix. This will help duck the overall volume when Tom gets excited. From a monitoring standpoint, make sure you're monitoring the stream mix and not a monitor mix. I would do this directly from the Yamaha. You could also use the Yamaha as a USB interface in your streaming software of choice, which we'll talk about here in a minute. You wanna monitor your audio, not just by ear, but with a loudness meter. YouTube likes -14 LUFS.
Dynamic Range Compression
Another disadvantage that live streams have compared to YouTube videos is DRC or Dynamic Range Compression. YouTube can analyze a video differently than a live stream. And it can add compression to help try to hit that -14 LUFS target. With the livestream, it doesn't have that luxury 'cause it can't scan ahead or think ahead in real time.
So what can we do to help compensate? Well, we already talked about this a little bit with limiters and compressors, and depending on your streaming program, you can also add another compressor at the end of your signal chain. This is all tightening up your dynamics so that it's more consistent and louder to help get you to a better overall volume to match other videos on YouTube. For smaller channels and smaller budgets, you wanna start with a USB audio interface and free plugins like Reaper's. Recomp. OBS also has some compressors that are worth looking at.
Screen Sharing
Now, moving on to screen sharing. One of my old professors used to say, say cat, see cat. And what this means is you wanna show what's being talked about on screen, whether that's comments or videos, or sites. And honestly, your team does a pretty good job of this already. It's 90% of the way there, and hopefully that last 10% we can figure out in this next section.
Screen share is not always visible. Sometimes videos were buffering. At one point you didn't have YouTube premium, which we had commercials playing. Some of this has already been fixed, so good on you guys, but it definitely can still be a distraction. Tom often asks for somebody to scroll through the comments, and this is a clunky execution. It's really hard for live streaming because there's a lot of elements to juggle here and signal paths can really get messy.
So what's the fix here? Well, if you have a dedicated playback person to help manage visuals, they can focus on just that task. Tom needs to have control of the scroll as well. So having a wireless mouse or trackpad would be beneficial. Have an SOP for pausing and playing back videos. Here's an example. A host can interrupt a video at any time and they can pause the video with their stream deck, or your producer pauses it as soon as they hear the host speak. Speaking of stream deck, let's talk about some of the things that can give you more control over your live stream.
Make sure you hit command Plus(+) to enlarge video players if you're not in full screen. Test your audio to the mixer ahead of time and mute it at the mixer. Don't mute it at the computer. Now, there's two ways of handling this, either full screen video or video within a platform. If you'd like to show a video within the context of a platform showing off X handles and other info, click on the video, which will unmute it and start playing it. Then click the video again to pause it or hit space to pause it. Use the left arrow to reset the playback from the beginning. Now this video will be queued from the beginning and paused. When Tom or Drew calls for it. Unmute it on the mixer and hit play on the computer. When you full screen a video on X, it'll unmute the video automatically.
Obviously, you might run into buffer issues, so I would encourage you to pause the video, use the left arrow to queue it back up again, and then hit space when you're ready to go. Make sure to unmute at the mixer once again. Getting your video signal out of the computer might seem pretty straightforward with HTMI, but honestly, it's a big headache. So what I would recommend is a Blackmagic media player, 10G or a deck link for clean output. SDI systems are my preferred hardware choice when possible. Another option is download these videos ahead of time and share just that window. Software-wise, it looks like you're using E-cam Live for your setup. I would suggest looking into Vimeo's livestream Studio for smoother integration, you can build out more scenes and it works like a software switcher. For smaller channels, you might look into screen shares with OBS and downloading your clips ahead of time before you go live.
Power
Alright, here's the wild card of the video, which is power. Obviously we wanna have a stream that is uninterrupted by power outages. When you lose power, your devices go offline and they often have to get reset. In a worst case scenario, you might even lose the recording that you have. So having things on battery backups is a must. The reason why this is hard is because backup power isn't always cheap, and it's often not top of mind because it's so rare.
Here are some of the fixes we have from cheapest to most expensive. Start with a UPS battery backup, like a A PC 1500 VA. This will cover short outages up till about 10 minutes. Honestly, this is no longer the best solution because there are lithium ion batteries that are sold in the same format, like a 1U or 2U rack system. The lithium ion batteries will last longer both from a backup perspective and a longevity perspective. You can also get a portable power station like the Jackery or EcoFlow for flexibility for those. With a bigger budget, you can back up your whole office with a Tesla Powerwall. For smaller channels, a hundred dollars UPS will cover your PC and your modem to give you some peace of mind.
Super Source
The goal here is to have all three hosts plus the video or webpages on screen as needed. The struggle here is we're missing speakers or context in programs sometimes. it's hard because it takes effort and hardware often has limitations. I'm assuming you're using a Black magic, ATEM Mini Extreme ISO, or a Blackmagic 2 M/E, which both have Super source capabilities.
Again, going back to my SDI comma earlier, I would encourage you to upgrade to the SDI version if you're on the mini. Trust me, the SDI is gonna save you headaches in the long run. Use Mix Effect Pro software. This is a $50 tool which unlocks your super source layouts, where you can fully customize it and have animations. You can set up tri splits and picture and pictures this way. For smaller channels, OBS has some multi-view features or Zoom's gallery mode is a decent budget hack.
Control Surfaces
Let's talk about some control surfaces. The goal here is that your team can own all of the elements and you no longer have to babysit who has control of what. Tom often had to ask his team for help on simple tasks, like scrolling or muting. This is difficult because it takes a little bit of planning and effort upfront, but it is well worth it in the long run. So what do we suggest for fixes? Use a stream deck for each position or person that has pre-programmed buttons.
Like a button for Tom to pause a video. Map rules to controls,, like playback, camera switching and mutes. Share a Google Doc with a run of show and add these links to the live document. Stop using Slack because your team often has to scroll through to find the right video. For smaller channels, use a hotkey app like Auto Hotkey and Stream Deck has a software version that you can use as well.
Alright, so we're on the rapid fire section, so we're gonna hit a few more points before we close this out. When you're switching between cameras. Make sure you're paying attention to the rhythm of the human voice. Use pauses, breaths, and ends of sentences when you switch, when your camera's on air, try not to adjust it. Look into PTC cameras like the Sony FR7 so that one operator can control multiple cameras and make those micro adjustments. Use black sleeve XLRs for a cleaner microphone look. Get your cameras to eye level for your medium shots. There's a link to a free framing camera guide on our website. Add a slight drop shadow to your logo. It will help make it stand out versus the lighting in the background. Use LUTS or a color grade in your camera or in the encoder to help create a better looking image and for Eric, use dual monitors. One that's a public view or something that you're willing to share online, and a private view that has all your other controls.
Prep a playlist of often used B-roll like project KYZEN, LISA show and AI clips. And for Drew, we're missing your closeup. So where's that camera? For the moderator seat, you might add a background or light behind them. So that's our playbook, some simple fixes to help transform Tom Bilyeu’s live streams and level yours up to. I could have easily made a video that's twice as long praising all of the killer content that they produce.
So hopefully this is constructive love. Your work has really inspired me, Tom, and I hope these tips will help you and your audience even more. Try 'em out and let me know how it goes. We'll see you in the next one.
