Test Record and Verification. Record a 5-10 minute test stream BEFORE going live. Verify all systems work.

Test record checklist:

• Audio levels (mic peaks at -6dB to -3dB, game audio at -12dB to -8dB)
• Video quality (no compression artifacts, smooth motion at 60fps)
• Webcam framing (your face is centered, lighting flatters)
• Scene transitions (fade between scenes works smoothly)
• Alerts firing (test follow alert, test sub alert)
• Chat overlay updating (test by typing in your own chat)
• Recording saves successfully (check the output folder)

How to do the test record:

• OBS: Settings → Output → Recording (set up recording path and quality)
• Click "Start Recording" (NOT Start Streaming)
• Run 5-10 minutes of typical stream activity
• Click Stop Recording
• Open the recording, watch playback critically
• Note any issues for fixing before going live

What to listen/watch for:

• Audio crackling or static (driver issue or interference)
• Video stutters or dropped frames (encoding can't keep up)
• Scene flickers or refresh issues
• Alert audio overlapping with stream audio (mix isn't right)
• Recording resolution matches your stream resolution

The discipline: never go live without a recent test record. Do this monthly minimum, after every OBS update, after any hardware change.

Test records prevent embarrassing live failures. The 10 minutes saves hours of viewer-disappointing stream attempts.