How to upload Twitch streams to YouTube?
Twitch and YouTube are the two giants of video-sharing platforms. Different in the ways they operate, but one can use both of them in order to maximize their earnings, which is through editing their Twitch live stream and uploading the highlights on YouTube as a video.
But because these two are considered competitors, there are a few questions people have when they think about uploading Twitch stream highlights on YouTube:
Can I post my Twitch streams on YouTube?
Absolutely, there is no restriction as to what and how long of a video you can upload on YouTube, as long as it meets the YouTube community guidelines. So you can definitely upload your Twitch live streams on YouTube.
and second,
Is it legal to make highlights of a Twitch stream and upload it on YouTube?
YES, it is 100% legal to make highlights of a Twitch stream and upload it on YouTube.
There are no legal restrictions on either platform that prevent exchanging content between them.
And, it is highly encouraged that one does so in order to maximize their earnings as a content creator. So, make highlights to your heart’s content.
Now that those doubts are out of the way, let us come back to what we were talking about, which is “How exactly DO you download twitch streams and create highlights to upload on YouTube?”
Firstly, you need to make sure that your live streams are archived. Twitch stores streams which are called VODs (Video on Demand) for up to 40 days. If you don’t have it enabled, follow these steps:
- Open Twitch and log in
- Go to your “Creator Dashboard”
- Click on the arrow in the upper left corner of your screen
- Select “Settings” from the drop-down menu
- Navigate to “Channels and Videos”, then to “Channel Settings”
- Tick the checkbox that says “Automatically archive my broadcasts”
- Now that you have saved your streams as VODs, you can download VODs by
- Click on the same arrow in the upper left corner of your screen
- Select “Content” and then “Video producer” from the dropdown menu
- Click “All videos” to open a dropdown menu and select “Past Broadcasts.”
- Find the video you want to save, click the three dots in front of it to open a dropdown menu, and click Download.
Your VOD should start downloading.
There’s another way if you don’t wish to edit your videos yourself or if you have an editor, you can appoint someone as an editor on your Twitch channel. As the editor, they too can access your Twitch channel’s dashboard and follow the above steps to download VODs.
To appoint someone as your editor,
The same arrow in the upper left corner of your screen makes an entrance again!
- Select “Community” and then “Roles manager” from the dropdown menu
- Click on “Add New”, type the username of the person you want to appoint as the editor
- Click on “Add Role” and select “Editor” to appoint them as your editor
- Click Save
Note that all these options can be accessed through a PC and are not available through the Twitch mobile app.
And if all this is too tough for you, or you want to download someone else’s VOD and you’re not appointed as their editor, you can use an app called “Twitch Leecher”.
Twitch Leecher is a free open source program that can be downloaded here. One can simply copy the link to any VOD on twitch, and paste it in Twitch Leecher which will start downloading it.
One more thing to note here is that even though downloading and uploading your streams to YouTube is 100% legal and encouraged, downloading others’ VODs is immoral and can lead to legal consequences.
So now you have successfully downloaded, edited and uploaded your twitch streams to your YouTube channel and now you can start earning, right? Right?
Wrong! You can’t just straight-up start earning on YouTube. YouTube has monetization criteria that need to be met in order to start earning money off of YouTube.
The criteria is 1000 subscribers, and 4000 hours of watch time in the past 365 days.
Now, we know that the criteria seem daunting, especially to small streamers, but don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Skip the wait and buy a Monetized YouTube channel and start earning immediately or if you already have a channel, buy 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch time hours.
That’s all for today folks. Stay tuned for more power-packed content.