Participant setup — Temerarii Media Back Office

You use your own computer and your own phone — we do not ship equipment, and you do not need to buy a studio. This page gets you to the point where you look and sound professional on a live broadcast. Find the card that matches what you own and do only that one.

Budget for one thing only: headphones. Everything else on this page is free or something you already have. Headphones are the single purchase that matters, and the reason is in the next section.

You need your own channels — before day one

Every participant holds their own accounts on all five platforms, live and able to receive a stream:

Platform	What it has to be able to do
YouTube	Live streaming enabled. This one takes up to 24 hours to activate after you request it — do it today, not the night before.
Twitch	Account created, stream key available
Kick	Account created, stream key available
Instagram	Able to go live
TikTok	Able to go live — this has a follower minimum, so check yours early and tell your producer if you do not meet it

Why yours and not just ours. Episodes are joint streams — the same broadcast goes out through your channels as well as the brand's. That is deliberate: you build your own audience while you work, and whatever you grow over thirteen weeks stays yours afterwards, whether or not you take the seat.

Start the ones with waiting periods now. YouTube live access and TikTok's follower threshold are the two that cannot be fixed on the day. If either will not be ready, say so at intake — it is a scheduling problem weeks out and an unsolvable one on a Monday morning.

Four rules about accounts and other people's work

Once your channels are carrying episodes they are part of how the show is distributed, alongside 21 brand accounts. A suspended account cannot be un-suspended by working harder, so these four are not negotiable and they apply to every seat, not only the technical one.

Never put a brand account into an automation tool or a scraper — and that includes yours, once it is carrying the show. Platforms suspend accounts for automated activity, and a hosted tool does not take the risk for you if it is signed in as you.
Research what is working; never take the file. Metrics, hooks, structure, pacing, posting times — all fine. Somebody's video, audio, images or likeness — never.
To share someone else's post, use the platform's own reshare — duet, stitch, repost, remix, quote. The credit is then carried by the platform and the creator keeps their views, which a caption tag does neither of.
Downloading and re-uploading is not fixed by a credit. It is the thing the reused-content policies penalise, and the penalty lands on the whole channel rather than the one post.

If you are asked to do any of the above, say no and tell your producer. It is a policy question rather than a judgment call, and nobody is penalised for raising it.

Windows + webcam

The most common setup. Start here if you are on a PC.

Mac + webcam

Same as Windows, but permissions will block you first.

iPhone or iPad as camera

Your phone as a second, better-looking angle.

Android as camera

As above, with a note on adapters.

Phone only — no computer

You can still take part. This is the path.

Capture card or proper camera

If you already own the gear.

Your connection

Read this one regardless of which card you used.

Headphones — required, and cheap ones are fine

Speakers cause echo. Your microphone picks up everyone else's voice coming out of your speakers and sends it back to them. They hear themselves a half-second late, which makes it almost impossible to speak. It is the single most common reason a broadcast sounds broken, and it has one fix.

Option	Roughly	Notes
Any wired earbuds you already own	£0	Genuinely fine. The ones that came with an old phone solve this completely. Do not buy anything until you have tried these.
Wired earbuds with an inline mic	£10–20	The best value on this page. Mic sits near your mouth and away from the speaker, which fixes echo and thin audio at once.
Wired over-ear headphones	£25–60	More comfortable across a two-hour show. Closed-back, so sound does not leak into your mic.
USB headset	£30–70	One plug, mic and headphones together, nothing to configure. The easiest thing that works if you want to buy once and stop thinking about it.

Prefer wired over wireless. Bluetooth headsets drop to a much lower audio quality the moment the microphone is active — the voice goes muffled and narrow, and it is very obvious on a broadcast. If wireless is all you have, use it for listening and let another microphone handle your voice.

Windows + webcam

Plug your headphones in first. Before anything else, so the computer lists them as an audio device.
Install OBS Studio from obsproject.com — the official site only, and it is free.
Open it and let the auto-configuration wizard run. Choose optimise for streaming, 1920×1080, and 30fps.
Under Sources, add Video Capture Device and pick your webcam. Set Resolution/FPS Type to Custom and choose 1920×1080.
In Settings → Audio, set your microphone as Mic/Auxiliary. Make sure it is your actual mic, not "default", which can silently change.
Speak normally and watch the mixer. Aim for the yellow. If it barely moves, raise the input level; if it hits red, lower it. Do this before adding any filters.
Right-click your microphone → Filters, and add these three in this order: Noise Suppression, then Compressor, then Limiter. Defaults are fine. The order matters more than the settings.
Join the test call your producer sends and check yourself.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Mac + webcam

Permissions are where Macs fail, and the symptom is confusing: OBS opens fine and simply shows a black screen. It is not broken and you have not done anything wrong.

Plug your headphones in first.
Install OBS Studio from obsproject.com.
Do this before anything else. System Settings → Privacy & Security, and grant OBS Camera, Microphone and Screen Recording. Then quit OBS completely and reopen it — the permissions do not apply to a running copy, which is why people grant them and still see black.
Run the auto-configuration wizard: optimise for streaming, 1920×1080, 30fps.
Add Video Capture Device, pick your camera, set it to 1920×1080.
Set your microphone in Settings → Audio, then gain-stage it: speak normally and aim for the yellow.
Add the three filters in order: Noise Suppression → Compressor → Limiter.
Join the test call.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

iPhone or iPad as your camera

Your phone's rear camera is better than almost any webcam. If you want to look markedly better than everyone else, this is the cheapest way to do it and it costs nothing.

Prop the phone up so it is steady and at eye level. A stack of books works. Do not hold it.
Open the link your producer sends in Safari, and allow camera access.
Choose the rear camera, not the selfie camera.
If your microphone is on your computer, select no audio on the phone. Two live microphones in one room causes echo.
In the settings, choose the smooth / low-latency option rather than the highest resolution. On a live show, being in time matters more than being sharp.
Plug the phone in and put it in Do Not Disturb. A camera feed drains a battery fast, and a call will interrupt the feed.

The phone will get hot. That is normal for a short session and not something to panic about, but it is why the phone should be your second angle rather than your only one — and why you should not plan to run it for two hours straight if you can avoid it.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Android as your camera

Identical to the iPhone card — open the link in Chrome rather than Safari.

Prop it up, steady, at eye level.
Open your producer's link in Chrome and allow camera access.
Rear camera. Select no audio if your mic is elsewhere.
Choose the smooth / low-latency quality option.
Plug it in, silence notifications.

If you are using a cable rather than the browser: USB-C-to-HDMI adapters vary a great deal between handsets and many cheap ones do not carry video at all. Test yours well before the show, not on the day. The browser route avoids this entirely and is what we recommend.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Phone only — no computer

You can absolutely take part this way. Say so early so your producer can plan the layout around it — it is a normal setup, not a problem, but they need to know.

Wired earbuds with an inline microphone. On a phone-only setup this is not optional; the handset speaker and mic are inches apart and will echo.
Prop the phone horizontally (landscape) unless your producer has asked for vertical. Steady, eye level.
Open the link in Safari (iPhone) or Chrome (Android) and allow camera and microphone.
Rear camera if someone else can see the screen to help you; front camera if you need to see yourself. Tell your producer which you are using.
Wi-Fi, close to the router. Mobile data works but is far less predictable.
Plug in, Do Not Disturb, and close every other app.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Capture card or a proper camera

If you already own a mirrorless, DSLR or a capture card, use it. If you do not, do not buy one for this — a phone gets you most of the way for nothing.

Camera → HDMI → capture card → USB. Set the camera to clean HDMI output so its menus do not appear on the broadcast.
In OBS add Video Capture Device, select the capture card, and set 1920×1080 Custom.
Turn off every automatic setting the camera has: manual focus, fixed white balance, and shutter at double your frame rate (30fps → 1/60). Auto-focus hunting on a live broadcast is very visible.
Expect to need a sync offset. Capture cards delay video slightly while your microphone is instant, so your voice arrives before your lips move. In Advanced Audio Properties, delay the microphone by about 200 ms, then clap on camera and check the sound lands on the frame where your hands meet.
Mains power, not battery. Cameras often stop recording on a timer — check yours has no auto-off.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Your connection — read this one regardless

This causes more broadcast failures than cameras and microphones put together, and it is the one thing you cannot fix while live.

What	Target
Upload speed (not download — upload is the one that matters, and it is usually much smaller)	10 Mbps or better. Test at the time of day you will actually be on.
Connection type	Cable to the router beats Wi-Fi, every time. If Wi-Fi is your only option, get close to the router.
Everything else on your network	Nothing downloading, no cloud backup, nobody streaming films in the next room.
Your own machine	Close everything you are not using. Browser tabs and chat apps are the usual culprits.
Fallback	Know how to tether to your phone before you need it. Try it once, in advance.

If your connection cannot reach the target, say so now. It is a solvable scheduling problem weeks out and an unsolvable one five minutes before broadcast. Nobody is penalised for flagging it early.

You are ready when all six are true

You joined the test call and could see yourself.
Your camera is set to 1920×1080.
Speaking normally, your microphone meter sits in the yellow — not the red, not barely moving.
Headphones are on. Not speakers.
Your upload test was 10 Mbps or better.
Your name on screen is spelled the way you want it broadcast.

Before every show

Join the test call early. Being on time to the broadcast is not the same as being ready for it.
Headphones on before you join.
Say a full sentence and let your producer confirm your level.
If something is wrong, say so immediately. Producers can fix almost anything with notice and almost nothing without it.

What you will be making

You will be told which brand you hold and you may be moved between them. None of the briefs should be a surprise on a Monday, so here is what each brand needs from whoever holds it.

Brand	What it needs from you
Finessionals	The show you are on. Clips and 15–30 minute episode edits cut from the broadcast itself. First priority, because every episode makes the next one cheaper to market.
Temerarii Media	Appears as the producer of Finessionals rather than advertising itself. Attribution, not promotion.
Lil Shop of Culture	Product content tied to a cultural moment. It must not look AI-generated — a generic-looking output is a failed one however fast it was to make.
Dom Davis Network	The best of the house, syndicated into one hub — plus thought leadership, which is the one thing here nobody automates.

The per-brand detail, who owns which pipeline, and the technique menu are on brand operations. Read your brand's section before your first brief, not during it.

Producers: the reasoning behind all of this is in the master stream guide. The programme itself is on the show page.