What Is A Stream Deck : Ultimate Tool for Streamers

If you are looking to upgrade the production quality of your stream then you should seriously consider a stream deck. Stream decks have a variety of uses for streamers. Whether it’s toggling mics, switching scenes in your streaming software or even triggering sounds, this piece of hardware can help you immensely.

How Does A Stream Deck Work

A stream deck is a piece of hardware that allows you to assign certain functionality to different physical buttons. An example would be setting up a button to change from your live screen to intermission screen. If you have a twitch overlay package with lots of different scenes you can see how a stream deck would be highly beneficial to you.

In order to customize your stream deck you will need to install the software on your computer. This is how you will map actions to the corresponding buttons. One of the really cool features of a stream deck is the ability to map multiple actions to one button. This allows you to trigger multiple actions with the press of one key.

Another great feature is the ability to set multiple profiles for the stream deck. Profiles are a way of separating different collections of key-to-action bindings. This comes in useful if your streams vary from one day to the next. For example, if you occasionally have guests on stream where you are managing lots of different scenes, you would use a different profile with the correct functionality set up.

Do You Need A Stream Deck

If you have just started out you are probably trying to find essential elements needed to start streaming. A stream deck in most cases is not essential. If you cannot afford a stream deck right now then don’t stress yourself out. If you can afford a stream deck it’s definitely something you should research into. One of the major benefits of using this software is how it simplifies processes during your stream. Rather than fumbling around in OBS to change scenes you can quickly and easily change scenes at the press of a button. Therefore allowing you to put all your focus into entertaining your viewers.

With that being said there may be situations where you do need a stream deck. If you are running a podcast or a stream with a lot of guests then you can see how having a stream deck would be pretty important. Running complex streams like this without a stream deck could become quite a nightmare to manage and probably wouldn’t work at all.

Stream Deck Customization

One of the great things about stream decks is the ability to customize them using icons. By using LCD keys you can easily set the icons for every key on the deck. There are plenty of icon sets that already exist that you can just download and plug in.

The major benefit of this is using icons that make sense to you. In addition to this you may have some uncommon actions where a generic set of icons would not make sense.

Conclusion

Stream decks are one of the best ways to level up your stream, allowing you to create smoother and more professional streams. For most streamers this piece of hardware is not essential, and should only be invested in if you have the means to. However depending on how complex your stream is, a stream deck may be required to help keep the stream running smoothly and professionally.