The Ultimate Guide to StreamElements in 2022

The Ultimate Guide to StreamElements in 2022 – The complete tutorial to configure StreamElements, Today, StreamElements become more and more interesting when you are a streamer. Moreover, it is for this reason that more than  200,000 Twitch and YouTube channels have already gone through this platform…! 

Whether on mobile, tablet, or PC, StreamElements aims to facilitate the management and animation of the stream as well as to facilitate interaction with its community. Bots, overlays, chats, alerts, reduction of drops, notifications… In short, here is a tutorial, as complete as possible to help you get started with this very nice little tool.

What is StreamElements?  

Similar to StreamLabs, Stream Elements was designed to be an “all-in-one” kind of platform to make life easier for streamers on a daily basis. The difference is that: Stream Elements does not require any download because everything goes through its browser (or OBS.Live for a more complete tool). 

In short, Stream Element has a lot of features that are appreciated when you are a streamer, such as:

• A  dashboard to get an overview of the stream (donations, followers, subscribers…), 
• A  view of the chat stats (number of messages, most active subscribers, most used emojis (or vice versa to exchange them),
• An  overview of his Twitch channel’s activity stream,
• A  diversified and secure payment system for donations as well as better management of donations with the creation of a donation page, visualization of stats, etc.
• A  song request to allow subscribers to select music without using a bot,
• A  chatbot, allowing you to moderate your community, create orders as well as integrate a “loyalty” system for your subscribers,
• Sending reports when a streaming session is over, 
• And most importantly, a  collection of overlays and widgets (see adding your own overlay designs) directly hosted on the browser and reducing its processor consumption.

Basically, it’s a rather complete platform that it may be interesting to test! It may not please, after all, everyone has their own preferences in terms of taste and functionality. But testing is the best way to improve your daily streams. 

Get started with StreamElements

To get started on StreamElements, especially when you are already well established on another software such as StreamLabs, it will be necessary to follow certain precise steps:

1. Connect to StreamElements

The first step to do is of course: registration. To do this, it will be possible to connect from your Twitch, YouTube or Facebook account. To receive donations, it will be necessary to enter your Paypal email address, depending on the payment method selected of course. 

2. Import elements from other platforms to StreamElements

Like many, you may already be using other platforms. But, good news, it is possible to import multiple elements on StreamElements that one has on these platforms if, of course, one decides to choose and use StreamElements permanently.

To access this feature, just click on “Import” in the right side menu, at the top of the dashboard page. Then, click on “Others” to see the list of streaming platforms. All you have to do is choose your old platform.

Here are some examples of imports on StreamElements.

Import from StreamLabs

Importing items (alerts and donations) from StreamLabs requires a chrome extension. For it :

1. Click on “Install” to land on the page containing the extension link.
2. Click on “Add to Chrome”.
3. Then click on “Add an extension”. Instructions will appear.
4. Then, log in with your StreamLabs account.
5. Once on the StreamLabs account, click on the StreamElements logo at the top right of the dashboard.
6. Check the box of the StreamLabs items you wish to import.
7. And ultimately, click on the “Start to import To Stream Elements” button.

The elements will be integrated according to their categories in the menu on the left side menu of its StreamElements dashboard, that is to say, the alerts will be stored in the system of overlays and the donations will be placed in the system of income.

The manipulations are almost identical to import TipeeeStream and Moobot.

Deepbot import

1. Log in with your Deepbot account (ensure that it remains open and functional during the process).
2. Click on “Master Settings”.
3. A little further down on his screen, we can then see his API secret. Copy it! 
4. Then, return to StreamElements and click on “Import”.
5. Paste your API secret on the field that will appear and voila!

From there, one can now see their user points in the dashboard.

3. Overlays and alerts hosted on the StreamElements account

You should know that the StreamElements platform is cloud-based. This means that you can consult your account and add changes to it from anywhere and especially from any device. 

The particularity of StreamElements overlays is that there is no longer any need to add several layers to the broadcasting software such as OBS/Xsplit. All overlays are loaded from a single browser source.

The Superthemes

If you don’t have a specific stream design yet, don’t worry, you’ll find a gallery of several proposed designs in the left side menu, under “Theme gallery > Super themes”. 

Made by designers, the superthemes (more than 30 themes available) are composed of five overlays for each part of a stream: intro, talk show, gameplay, pause, and outro.

An animated or static design, a specific design for a game, a design according to the season…, Stream Elements leaves the choice in terms of styles and uses. We find in particular designs on ultra popular games like PUBG, Fortnite, CS:GO, Overwatch, and DOTA 2.

If you choose a SuperTheme, just follow the following steps to validate it:

1. Click on “Create”, 
2. Give a name to your overlay
3. Click on “Create an overlay “See the theme in my overlays”.

Your theme will then be integrated into the “My overlays” menu.

Another option: Create Blank Overlay

For the more creative, it is also possible to create and add your own designs. For it : 

1. Go to “My Overlays”
2. Click on “Create blank overlay”
3. Then this window will appear.
   • From there, fill in the required fields. We recommend using high resolution (1080p) for its overlay so as not to be forced to redo it each time. Then, add the name and click on “Send”.
4. Navigate in the overlay editor. This function is in the small brush image that is placed at the bottom left of the overlay that we have just created.
5. The “Widgets” tab gives access to all the elements that can be set up on its overlay.

StreamElements has many widgets that are interesting to equip to complete its overlay. To know :

• Media Request (which we will find a little later)
• Alerts (follower alert, sub alert, donation alert, etc.)
• Stream goals
• Sub histories (last sub, last new sub, sub counter, etc.)
• Etc.

4. Donations and secure means of payment

One of the significant bonuses of StreamElements is that it integrates two means of payment to facilitate the donation process with its donors.

• PayPal  : you must indicate your PayPal email in order to receive donations.
• SE.Pay (specific to the StreamElements platform): this payment system uses the same security device as that of Uber, Stream or Netflix… But also, an anti-litigation system, which makes it super secure. Please note: you must have at least 100 followers on your channel in order to use it. Donors will be able to make a donation via their bank card or their Paysafecard directly.

On the side of the donations page, several parameters are available to configure it, ranging from the design of the page to the configurations of the means of payment. For example, it is possible to define a personalized message for donors, the minimum quantity, the maximum quantity…

Please note, an important point , be sure to check the button “subscribe to global chargeback protection” so as to discriminate against people who have already had a dispute with other streamers.

5. OBS Live Studio, to group everything on a single window

What is rather interesting in Stream Elements is the improved version of OBS: OBS Live Studio. This small extension has the advantage of grouping all the activities of StreamElements in OBS, such as: stream feedback, bots, notifications, the chat of its channel, it’s Media Request player… And this, in a single window. To have a quick and global view of your stream.

Don’t panic, you won’t lose much, but you should know that some elements that you have on basic OBS can be removed by the OBS Live Studio plugin. For example: the statistics and events of his Twitch channel.

To import an overlay on OBS Studio, you must:

1. Go to the overlays manager and create a new overlay.
2. Click on “Save > Launch” the overlay.
3. Copy URL. 
4. On OBS Studio, add browser source
5. Paste URL
6. Insert Width (1920) Height (1080) (specify clearly).
7. Check “Shutdown source when not visible”. 
8. Click on “Ok”, and you’re done!

6. Media request, To allow viewers to request music

To put a little atmosphere in the stream, the music is ideal. And to encourage sharing, discovery and discussion with viewers: the “Media Request” feature is even better! Indeed, it simply allows you to display music suggestions coming directly from its viewers. 

To integrate the “Media Request” and authorize viewer requests, you must check “Viewer request”. And if you prefer to manually approve each piece of music, you can also activate the “Moderation of the queue” parameter.

This way the waiting list will scroll down the page. And if necessary, (a music is not in the right mood for example) we can modify the waiting list at any time by deleting or adding elements. 

7. Chat statistics

The chat stats give all the numbers about the chat in their channel such as:

• The total number of messages sent on his Twitch or Youtube channel
• The number of messages per second on the chat (if you are a big streamer and the chat scrolls very quickly)
• The viewer who talks the most on the chat
• Most used emotes
• The most coveted commands

8. Profile page and Discord

On StreamElements, you can create a page dedicated to your profile. In fact, it presents itself as an alternative to the page of its Twitch channel in which you can add a title and an image. 

We thus find the player of his stream in the middle of the page, the chat of the stream on the right side menu, then many other elements on the left side menu such as: the subscribe button, the elements of the loyalty system and the links to their social networks.

Read Also: How to go live on Twitch in 2022 – Full Guide

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For those who have Discord, it is also possible to create a link to their Discord server, or even to any existing web page from their profile page. In particular, there are a lot of fully customizable widgets on the subject.

9. Loyalty system

The loyalty system is a point system that can be awarded to viewers for each action they perform (sub, cheers, etc.). 

• Ranking: it is a table that lists the points of its viewers. A classification which is done in ascending order of points. That is to say, those who have the most points are at the top of the ranking.
• Stream store: Depending on the points of its viewers, we can provide them with a physical or virtual item in order to reward them.
• Polls: it is also possible to carry out polls in the form of a bet. Viewers should respond with “!bet + one of our poll options”. To be quick, there is also a way to define for how many minutes they can answer the survey, and what are the minimum and maximum bets.
• Competition: another very significant point is the creation of competitions to animate its audience while pleasing its community.

10. Chatbot

Like any streaming platform, we find on StreamElement a chatbot with different features such as:

• Modules: A function that offers multiple features and chat games to its viewers, allowing to encourage and incite interaction. To activate it, all you have to do is tick “activate” for the heart of the “Bot Modules”.
• Chat commands: Yes, it is possible to create your own commands. For example, to link a message with information on your Discord server, you can put the command “!discord” or to make your streaming schedules available with the command “!schedule”. It is also possible to modify order templates via “Order templates”
• Anti-spam filters: An essential in all streams, anti-spam filters! Against the excessive use of capital letters, emojis, or unwanted words, the anti-spam filter allows you to create a list of words to blacklist as well as a white list of authorized links.
• Timer: A feature that is used to program automated messages in your chatbot. You can thus automatically post a chat topic every 20 minutes and discuss it with your viewers, for example. Or, leave the controls to the robot to ask viewers about their opinion. In fact, the possibilities are endless. 😉

Setup Tutorial for StreamElements | 2022 Beginner’s Guide

For more help on using stream Elements, and especially on creating custom Overlays: Valentin Braem offers a super well-edited video on the subject that we recommend 100%. 

And finally, here are 5 OBS tips to improve the streaming flow of the stream

1- Using the graphics card for encoding

When your CPU is used intensely, your PC can become slow. However, there is a setting in OBS called Hardware  (NVENC), Hardware (VCE) or Hardware (QSV)  in ”  Settings > Output > Streaming”. When the latter is activated, the CPU is no longer used to perform the coding but rather the graphics card, which relieves the CPU of part of its workload and therefore makes it less stressed.

2- Adjust video bitrate

For a quality stream, you need to adjust your bitrate in “Settings > Output > Streaming”. This speed depends on your download but does not go below 2000 Kilobits to avoid pixelation of your stream.

3- Reduce the resolution

Go to ”  Settings > Video” and reduce your resolution to reduce the pixels (from 1080p to 720p for example). This will allow your CPU to encode fewer pixels.

4- Launch the overlay from a single browser source

Using StreamElements is a good way to achieve this. 

5- Select a downscaling filter

The feature called ”  Downscaling Filter ”  will decide how you choose to downscale your resolution if you choose to do so.

The Bilinear option is fine for streaming on a less powerful PC. Since it’s the fastest, it doesn’t spend as many resources on downscaling.