How To Stream Switch On Discord (Read Best Guide)
How To Stream Switch On Discord – There has been lots of confusion over the process of streaming Nintendo Switch to Discord. Many Nintendo Switch freaks would have loved to directly stream their game to Discord without having to pass through a rigorous process.
Truth is, the Nintendo Switch doesn’t have a direct feature or app for Discord, this makes it impossible to directly stream Switch on Discord.
Despite this setback, there is another way you can successfully stream Switch on Discord, this article will clearly simplify the process for you and you’ll be able to know how to stream Switch on Discord. We’ve also written ‘How To Stream Amazon Prime On Discord’.
The question How To Stream Switch On Discord? requires a very technical guide and we urge you to pay strict attention to every detail on this article.
On this article, you’ll learn how to stream Switch on Discord with a capture card, and how to stream Switch on Discord without capture card, happy reading.
Can I Stream Nintendo Switch On Discord?
Yes, you can stream Nintendo Switch on Discord and enjoy amazing gaming experience with your friends. Note that Nintendo Switch doesn’t have a feature for Discord, this means you’ll go through a long process to be able to stream Switch on Discord.
Although, Nintendo Switch isn’t one of the trending game consoles, it is still widely owned by lots of gamers worldwide. Are you one of the gamers still using Nintendo Switch and you want to know how to stream Switch on Discord? This article is for you.
What Do I Need To Stream Switch On Discord?
To be able to stream Switch on Discord, there are essential items that must be readily available and functional. These items are mostly external and you’ll need to assemble them together since there is no app for Discord on Nintendo Switch. Below are the items you’ll need to stream Switch on Discord.
- A PC or Mac
- A Nintendo Switch console.
- A working video capture card.
- A Switch docking station.
- A reliable video player sofware (e.g. VLC media player).
- Connectors and cables.
- An active account on Discord.
- Internet Access
Full Guide On How Stream Switch on Discord
Once you’ve gotten all the required items together and functional, follow the full guide below to know how to stream Switch on Discord.
- Connect Your Nintendo Switch To The Dock
This is the first and most important step, your Nintendo Switch must be firmly connected to the docking station. To get a fast and reliable connection speed, ensure you use a functional USB cord.
- Connect The Docking Station To The Video Capture Card
Plug one end of a reliable HDMI cable to the docking station and the other end to the video capture card. This will ensure accurate transfer of information from the Nintendo Switch to your PC or Mac. You can an purchase original HDMI cable online at Amazon.
- Connect The Video Capture Card To Your PC/Mac
This is the last step as far as hardware connection is concerned, simply plug the USB cable from your video capture card to the USB port on your PC or Mac.
Once you’ve linked the capture card with your computer, your video card software will open on your PC or Mac.
- Turn On Your Nintendo Switch
At this point, you need to switch on your Nintendo Switch console. Ensure everything is plugged as explained above, look at the top-left corner of your Nintendo Switch console, and press the power button.
Now, we are done with hardware installations, next step is the software installations, continue reading.
- Download and Install Required Drivers and Softwares
Once the capture card has been connected to your computer, the software will appear on the screen and you may be prompted to download and install the software, go ahead and do it.
- Set Up A Video Window On Your PC/Mac
You need to set up a video window shortcut on your computer. If you’ve decided to using VLC media player (recommended), then you need to create a VLC shortcut on your PC or Mac, this will open your video capture card automatically.
If you are using a capture card that has a software that automatically displays audio/video source in a window, then you can bypass this step. Other than that, you should use VLC or any other video player software that allows you to display audio/video source.
To set up a video window, launch either TextEdit, Notepad, or any word processing software installed on your computer, copy the code below and paste it there.
C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe” dshow:// :dshow-vdev=”Game Capture HD60 S (Video) (#01)” :dshow-adev=”Game Capture HD60 S (Audio) (#01)” :dshow-aspect-ratio=”16:9″ :dshow-audio-samplerate=48000 :dshow-audio-channels=2 :live-caching=0 :dshow-fps=60
For more info regarding this step, visit the guide on VLC Streaming Features.
With the code above, the new display window will be able to recognise the Switch display screen. You may change the ‘Game Capture HD60 S’ on the code above to match the type of video capture card you are using, otherwise, leave it that way. Save the code you pasted and close the word processing software.
- Set VLC Open Capture Device Options To Default
This is another important thing you must do to avoid errors in your streaming. You must sell all VLC open capture device options to ‘default’. To do this, double click on the VLC Media Player icon on your PC or Mac, press ‘Media, and click ‘Open Capture Device’.
You can also open this page with the shortcut Ctrl+C. Set every option displayed to ‘Default’, close the VLC media player when you are done.
- Set Capture Mode To DirectShow
Ensure that the Capture Mode is set to DirectShow, else you’ll not be able to stream. To do this, simply open the VLC Media Player,click on ‘Media’ at the top-left, click on ‘Open Capture Device’, and check to see if the Capture Mode is set to ‘DirectShow’, change to it if it wasn’t.
Right after the ‘Capture Mode’ settings, click on the option beside ‘Video device name’ and change it to the name of your video capture card, do the same for the ‘Audio device name’.
- Make Changes To Video and Audio Edit Section
This is a very important step and you should pay attention to this, you need to edit the code present at the video edit section and audio edit section. Remember the code you saved on your notepad or word processing software? You are going back there now.
First, open the VLC Media Player,click on ‘Media’ at the top-left, click on ‘Open Capture Device’, under the ‘Capture Device’ tick the ‘Show more options’ box, copy the video card name available in the ‘Edit options’ field, it is written right after ‘:dshow-vdev=’, head to the code you saved on notepad or the word processing software you used, replace “Game Capture HD60 S (Video) (#01)” with the video card name you’ve just copied, ensure it is placed between the quotation marks.
You have to repeat the same process for the audio card name, please do this carefully to avoid errors. It’s simple, just replace the “Game Capture HD60 S (Video) (#01)” with the video card name you’ve copied. Check to make sure you copied the correct video card name written after ‘:dshow-vdev=’ in the edit options field.
- Set VLC Media Player To Target Your Video Capture Card
Now, you’ll need to set your VLC media player to target the video capture card you are using. To do this, copy the code you have on the Notepad, or any word processing software you used. Right-click on the VLC icon on your desktop and click on ‘Properties’.
Paste the code you copied into the ‘Target’ field and click ‘Ok’ to save the changes.
Once you are done, double-click on ‘VLC media player’ to open your capture card in a new display window, this will enable Discord to show on live stream.
- Launch Discord and Join A Server
Open the Discord app and join a server if you haven’t joined already. You can simply join a server by clicking any of the servers located at the left column. After joining the server, you’ll see a list of its channels displayed.
- Join A Voice Channel On Discord
You need to join a voice channel on the Discord app. To do this, click on a channel having a speaker icon, they are typically displayed under ‘Voice Channels’.
- Link VLC To Discord And Start Streaming
This is the last step, you need to link the VLC media player to your Discord. On your Discord screen, click ‘Screen’, you’ll see a list of your applications and screens. Under the ‘applications’ tab, click ‘VLC media player’ and click ‘Go Live’. This is the complete step on How To Stream Switch On Discord with capture card. If you want to learn How To Stream Switch On Discord without capture card, continue reading.
Stream Switch To Discord Without Capture Card
For players looking for how to stream Switch on Discord without capture card, you need to use a laptop or computer that has an inbuilt HDMI ‘In’ port. An HDMI connected is required to be able to stream Switch on Discord.
This means that your computer device must have a capture card inbuilt, otherwise, you’ll have to use an external video capture card.
If your Mac or PC has HDMI ‘In’ port, simply connect one end of the HDMI cable to your laptop and the other end to the docking station after connecting the Nintendo Switch to the dock.
Follow the same process as explained above to stream your Nintendo Switch on Discord. Please not that in this case, you’ll be using the VLC media player without the capture card, read the next paragraph.
How To Use VLC Without The Capture Card
You’ll only need to use the VLC media player without video capture card if your computer has HDMI ‘In’ port. Like we’ve said below, you can’t use VLC without capture card if you are using an external capture card, it won’t work.
So, if your Mac or PC has HDMI ‘In’ port, follow the set up steps above, but when you get to ‘Set VLC Media Player To Target Your Video Capture Card’, you don’t right-click on the VLC media player icon, you simply open it from another shortcut (that is either in your Applications folder or Start menu).
We hope that you’ll be able to follow the guide on How To Stream Switch On Discord as provided above and successfully stream Switch on Discord.
