Hello Aether,

If you ask “What do I need to have to make a livestream show”, I will answer determination. Just a few weeks into this I am definitely learning that when it comes to getting things to work, there is not one solution and honestly, that’s the most exciting part. I didn’t want to buy any extra gear until I had to. That means kit bashing and improvising.

If you look at the photo, you’ll see that I have converted a ring light designed for cell phones to hold the HD webcam. The ring light is also serving as a makeshift prompter board, something I desperately needed for the intro/outro and variables I use for the framework of my show. The prompt board was cut from a Chewy box thanks to a delivery of litter that day. Clear packing tape is holding it on and in place.

The tripod was borrowed from my photography kit and is doing great since the ring light stand was a little short. A previous iteration meant just putting that stand up on a stack of board games. The tripod has made a nice change.

The microphone pictured is a Blue Yeti which thankfully has a drilled hole for a standard microphone stand like the one I happened to have thanks to Starlight Radio Dreams’ production gear being stored mostly in my home office. If you look carefully, you’ll see that I have also used the desk stand on the Yeti to hold an old logitech webcam. This dangled over the tabletop and served as the camera B for dice rolls. There is also a small pen light tied there should I need to illuminate the dice.

There are so many ways that this could have been achieved and if you can here looking for advice on how to get started. Maybe you are reading this months from now when I’ve really got myself settled in. I hope that then as now, my biggest takeaway from this stage of the production is to start with what you have. I’ve been using these tools for teleconferences, slack meetings and online RPG gaming sessions regularly, this gave me a head start knowing how they would work for me and what their limitations would be. If you’ve got the money on hand to buy a DSLR camera, Capture Card, Microphone and USB interface, more power to you. Those are the right tools for the job to be sure. It can be done with less. You, like me, can upgrade as you go.

In Other News:

It’s been a busy week here with all manner of releases. If you’re ready to get into the Halloween mood, Gateways’ current series of stories about vampires has been a delight and two more dropped this morning. These stories in particular were a lot of fun to assign to actors for reading and I’m really happy with the work they sent in. ”What We Do in the Cosmos” - by Alex B Reynolds read by Ryan Bond

“The Left Hand of Death” - by Terry Galvan read by Courtney Lynn

Starlight Radio Dreams also released a bunch of content this week. Three different shorts between Thursday and Sunday. There are all from the July Live Stream show ahead of the second act which will come out on Thursday of this week.

“The Batchelor” - by Kat Evans and Sam Locke

“Locked Down” - by Ansel Burch

“Fash It and Forget It” - by Jared McDaris

In recognition of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Lauren and Brian at Transatlantic History Ramblings produced a special episode and my wife and I were offered the honour of reading some quotes from her long and storied career to contribute to the episode. They have a fun show which I would recommend checking out anyway but this episode is especially worth a listen as we reflect on a long career on the bench.

On Saturday I released a new video to the YouTube Channel in which I introduce a new liqueur which will be added to the variables for the show. This one was a gift from my friend Josh Ballard from a bottle he brought back from Mexico. I’ve got another prepared and I think a few more additions will be coming soon. I am looking forward to seeing what gets added to the rail next.