Live Set Up and Overview

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What is Live?

Live is another way creators can offer shared experiences to their members, right on Patreon. It lets you connect with your true fans in real-time, and is integrated with everything you do on Patreon.

Going Live from Patreon will immediately notify your members, whether it’s time to hang out and chat, give your biggest fans a behind-the-scenes experience, teach your members something new, or discuss upcoming releases. You can even leverage Community Chats and Live together to connect with your fans and connect them with one another, no more switching between apps.

Accessing Live

Make sure you follow this guide while in your creator profile. You can switch to your creator profile by clicking your profile picture in the bottom left corner and clicking on your creator profile.

You can go Live from the Create button on your page or from within your Community Chats.

    1. Start a Live from the Create button on your page. From here, select Live, and you’re on your way to going Live

      CreateLive_mobile.gif

    2. Give your Live a title, and select your audience. Who can access your Live is up to you. You can choose to go Live to All Members, Free Members, or any Paid Tiers you offer as part of your Membership. Your audience will see the title you created when they’re notified about the event
    3. Go live right away, or plan ahead and schedule one for a specific day. Scheduling a Live allows your members to plan around your Live. You’ll be able to get set up in your scheduled Live 5 minutes prior to your Live. When you schedule a Live, we send emails and push notifications to tell members about your Live. Learn more about notifications we send to your members about Live here

      Tip: We recommend going Live to All Members as you get started with Live. This helps get your Members in a habit of joining your Lives, after which you can decide if you’d like to offer streams as a benefit only for your Paid subscribers

    4. Take a look at your Live preview before you go Live. Make sure you’ve allowed access to your camera and microphone and test your video and audio. Alternatively, select Streaming Software in the Streaming Method section if you’d like to stream from a custom streaming service like OBS or Streamyard. Learn more about how to set up streaming software here

      CreateLive_desktop.gif

    5. Ready to go? Once you’re all set up, click the Schedule Live button at the bottom of the preview screen if you’re scheduling a Live, or just hit Start Live if you’re not. Members will see that you’re Live in their home feeds and creator page when you start a Live from the Create button. Learn more about what your fans see when you’re Live here

      LiveEngagement.gif

      Tip: Be sure to keep an eye on your chats. You can use chats to guide the conversation or engage directly with your fans. Don’t want to see your chats? Click Chats BubbleChat.svg at the top right of the screen to hide Chats

    6. To end your live, click End Close.png in the top right corner. Ending a live will save a recording to your drafts, from when you can publish it as a post or download for further editing. Once your Live has concluded, you’ll be brought back to your page, and messages sent by your community will not be saved
    1. Start a Live from any of your Community Chats. You can do so by clicking Live Livestream.png near your chat bar on desktop, or clicking the Plus.jpg button near your chat bar on mobile and then clicking Live Livestream.png. If you don’t yet have a community chat, learn how to create one here
    2. Give your Live a title, and select your audience. Who can access your Live is up to you. You can choose to go Live to All Members, Free Members, or any Paid Tiers you offer as part of your Membership. Your audience will see the title you created when they’re notified about the event
    3. Go live right away, or plan ahead and schedule one for a specific day. Scheduling a Live allows your members to plan around your Live. You’ll be able to get set up in your scheduled Live 5 minutes prior to your Live. When you schedule a Live, we send emails and push notifications to tell members about your Live. Learn more about notifications we send to your members about Live here

      Tip: We recommend going Live to All Members as you get started with Live. This helps get your Members in a habit of joining your Lives, after which you can decide if you’d like to offer streams as a benefit only for your Paid subscribers

    4. Take a look at your Live preview before you go Live. When you go Live using a web browser on your computer, you can test your setup. Make sure you’ve allowed access to your camera and microphone and test your video and audio. Alternatively, select Streaming Software in the Streaming Method section if you’d like to stream from a custom streaming service like OBS or Streamyard. Learn more about how to set up streaming software here

      CreateLive_desktop.gif

    5. Ready to go? Once you’re all set up, click the Livestream.png Schedule Live button at the bottom of the preview screen if you’re scheduling a Live, or just hit Start Live if you’re not. Members will see that you’re Live within the chat you are going Live from. Learn more about what your fans see when you’re Live in a Chat here

      LiveEngagement.gif

      Tip: Be sure to keep an eye on your chats. You can use chats to guide the conversation or engage directly with your fans. Don’t want to see your chats? Click Chats BubbleChat.svg in the top right of the screen to hide Chats

    6. To end your live, click End Close.png in the top right corner. Ending a live will save a recording to your drafts, from when you can publish it as a post or download for further editing. Once your Live has concluded, you’ll be brought back to your chat, and messages sent by your community will stay in the chat

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