Thomas Munayyer
Live Stream Learning
What
I want to start live streaming myself learning something new.
Right now I am a frontend dev. I know Javascript really well. Reasons why I am going to learn Java are:
- Java is the backend language of choice at work
- I get to take a new language with me if I leave my current job
- Writing more Javascript to get promoted seems like a waste of time. There are only so many ways to write a React component.
I also don’t want to spend a bunch of time sifting through various courses. Hyperskill has a free plan for Java. I forgot how I found it, but without digging deeper, its probably good enough to get started.
I mostly want to focus on the process. Worst case scenario I spin my wheels and never write a single line of production code but end up with a habit of learning.
A successful MVP looks like:
- I can see myself on screen
- I can see the lesson I am working on
- I can easily go live
How: Twitch
Twitch is the obvious choice based on name recognition. I have tried before to get this set up, but per usual I bailed on it. Not this time. As I am writing the article, the goal before I close my laptop is to go live and do a single lesson. Ill worry about capacity and volume later.
the channel I had set up before
Getting Online
Twitch has a quick start guide. There is an official client called Twitch Studio that seems to be deprecated and the Twitch website has no other official desktop client listed. Lets go with the open source option, OBS, for now which seems to be the recommended app on Reddit.
OBS
Once downloaded it prompted me for permission from my computer in order to enable the camera and audio capture. After that, all I had to do was login to twitch through OBS and it connected. Super easy and this took around 5 minutes.
Now that the OBS application has started, I edited some streaming notes but am only seeing a black screen. Need to find out why my video is not working.
OBS just crashed on me.
Sources
In OBS there is a little box to define sources.
I created a new Firefox window, made it full screen (and closed my 1Password window!). I think I can go live now but I did want myself to be on the screen while streaming as an extra “no fooling around” measure. Lets figure that out next. I clicked go live. I stream therefore I am.
It turns out you need two sources. The first is your screen and the second is your webcam. After some resizing and more clicking around, I think the MVP is there. I have what I need to start.
Following Through
Hyperskill lesson number 1.
Done! It turns out you need to hit record after hitting stream in OBS. Lesson learned. Here is a screenshot where you can see that the Hyperskill website is telling me congrats on finishing the first lesson. Next time I will have recorded video evidence.
Thats everything I was looking for today. My learning process MVP is now ready to go, all I have to do is show up.
Moving Forward
I will continue with Hyperskill’s Java course as the topic for now. I will need to setup a scheduled cadence.
Lets not overthink it and go with 45 minutes every night around dinner time. I want to do more, but I think 45 minutes is plenty to start. Its about the time it takes my rice cooker to finish so I can do it before I eat or after. Once some consistency is built I’ll progress to higher volume.
Wish List While Writing This Article
- better way to incorporate photos into the article