This tutorial assumes that you already have a ustream.tv account (or an own3d.tv or justin.tv account) and an xsplit account. All of these are free, so just go to the sites and create your account. Additionally, you should have created at least one stream on your ustream or own3d account.
Xsplit
When you start up xsplit it should ask you to input your ustream or own3d information so that it can send the stream to your account. If you don't get asked for your information, then click on the menu for tools->settings and choose accounts to enter a new account.
On the main screen in xsplit you have a set of scenes from which to choose for broadcasting in the bottom right of the window. The selected scene is highlighted and can be named by clicking in the text box above the screen list. On the bottom left, there is a list of the objects that are included in the current scene. When you first start xsplit, all of the scenes are empty. There are many things you can add to a stream, including titles and video files. The most important thing for broadcasting games is to add a screen region to the scene. When I did this, the screen region would only fill up 1/4 of the scene. To fix that problem, just click a corner of the screen region in the preview and drag until it fills up the preview space (or to whatever size you want it).
Settings
The settings I chose in xsplit are a 950 bitrate with 1280x800 (or 720) video resolution. I had to go into the settings to add the 1280x800 resolution to the list, but the 720p is in the list by default. That means that your internet needs around 1 Mb/s minimum upload speed to stream without it being choppy. If you want to use less bandwidth, you can try choosing a smaller resolution with a lower bitrate. I do recommend you try to match the aspect ratio of the screen that you are broadcasting (find your screen resolution in the list and choose a smaller one with the same aspect ratio). The audio setting I chose is 44.1kHz stereo, but a lower bitrate would probably work just as well with my low quality microphone.
Recording
The way I record what I broadcast is by using the ustream broadcaster tool on the ustream website before starting to stream my screen from xsplit. This allows me to click the ustream begin record button. Ustream also allows reviewing the video you just recorded before you save it. After the video is saved to ustream, you can click upload to youtube to upload the video to the youtube account that you have linked to your stream.
I recently set up the same stuff on my justin.tv account that I'm not using, and there is only a subtle difference for uploading to youtube. First, whenever you stream, justin.tv automatically records the stream for 7 days. In those 7 days, you can create highlights from the recording, which can be an individual match, or whatever you want really. These highlights can then be uploaded to youtube, or the entire saved stream can be uploaded. Justin.tv will even automatically split the recordings into segments that are short enough for youtube for you.
Stream Chat
I keep the stream comments open on another computer (my laptop) so I can read them while playing games. This can also work by using a second monitor if you have one.
I hope you found this tutorial useful. If you want to read more about my experience, check out my blog post about it.
