TikTok Live Studio: What Is It and How to Use It to Go Live on TikTok?
With so many streaming platforms out there, going live has become easier than ever. TikTok has quickly become one of the hottest spots for creators and viewers alike. But if you want to stand out and create high-quality content, how do you do it? That’s where TikTok Live Studio comes in—a fantastic tool designed to enhance your live streaming experience.
Think of TikTok Live Studio as your personal control room for live streaming. It gives you the ability to manage your streams and engage with your audience in ways that are tough to achieve directly in the app. With features that let you monitor your performance and connect with viewers, this tool helps you elevate your content effortlessly.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about TikTok Live Studio. Whether you’re just starting out or have been creating for a while, TikTok Live Studio can help you take your content to new heights!
The TikTok Studio app, which you download separately from the main TikTok app, is a dedicated platform for creators. It’s designed for those who want to grow their presence and monetize TikTok accounts.
This app is different from TikTok LIVE Studio, the desktop streaming platform. There are three ways you can access TikTok Studio:
Download the TikTok Studio app from the Apple or Android app stores.
Open the TikTok app, tap Profile in the bottom right, and select TikTok Studio under your bio.
Now, you might wonder, if TikTok Studio is available in the main app, why download it separately? Good question! TikTok explains that the standalone app offers some additional features.
It provides creators with enhanced web analytics, bulk upload capabilities, and advanced management tools. These extras give you more control and flexibility to meet specific needs.
Another benefit of using the standalone app is staying focused. When you’re in content creation mode, the TikTok app can be distracting with its For You Page. By using TikTok Studio, you can manage everything in one place without the need to switch between apps. This way, you can focus entirely on creating and managing your content.
How Does TikTok Live Studio work?
As a comprehensive live streaming software, TikTok LIVE Studio is available to creators with at least 1,000 followers. This requirement unlocks access to the powerful features that can enhance live streams, particularly for gaming creators. With LIVE Studio, gaming creators can elevate their TikTok Live experience, monetize their content, and build stronger connections with their audience.
For those interested in gaming content, there’s an additional condition. You need to have posted gaming-related short videos or gone live while playing a game to qualify. However, the requirements differ for non-gaming creators. If you’re not focused on gaming, you’ll need at least 10,000 followers to access LIVE Studio.
How to Use TikTok Studio to Live?
1. Download TikTok LIVE Studio
To get started with TikTok LIVE Studio, you’ll first need to download the software. However, keep in mind that TikTok LIVE Studio has a certain follower count and system requirements. If your setup doesn’t meet these criteria, you may want to use alternative software like OBS software instead.
Here’s how you can download TikTok LIVE Studio:
Visit the download page by heading to TikTok.com/Studio/Download.
Click the big red button in the middle of the page that says Free download for Windows.
Once the download is complete, you’ll receive a notification. You may also need to allow certain security permissions for TikTok LIVE Studio to access various parts of your computer. Follow any prompts that appear to finish the installation.
2. Set Up for Streaming
Before you start streaming, it’s important to configure your scene settings in TikTok LIVE Studio. This step involves setting up your camera, microphones and adjusting the video quality to ensure a smooth broadcast.
You can choose between using your webcam, smartphone camera or even sharing your computer screen for your stream. TikTok LIVE Studio also lets you customize your layout, add graphics, fine-tune your audio and video settings for the best possible live streaming experience.
3. Navigate the TikTok LIVE Studio Dashboard
The TikTok LIVE Studio dashboard is designed to help creators easily manage and control their live streams. It offers an intuitive interface, making it simple to focus on connecting with your audience in real-time.
Scenes and Sources: Manage your visuals, including your webcam, computer screen, or other elements you want to feature.
Live Info: Customize your stream by editing the title, adding tags, selecting a cover photo, and controlling audio channels.
Live Controls: Pause or end your stream, adjust video and audio quality, and fine-tune other live settings.
Performance Monitoring: Keep an eye on your stream’s stability and system performance during the broadcast.
Viewer Interaction: Engage with your audience by managing comments, gifts, and adjusting chat visibility in real-time.
4. Go Live with TikTok LIVE Studio
When you’re ready to start streaming, click the Broadcast LIVE button in TikTok LIVE Studio. This will launch your live stream and open a window where you can finalize details like your title, tags, and cover photo.
Before going live, you can preview and manage your footage and scenes to ensure everything is set up perfectly. This gives you the chance to make adjustments before your audience tunes in.
Once live, TikTok LIVE Studio offers tools to engage with your viewers in real-time. You can respond to comments, receive notifications for gifts or new followers, and adjust audio and video settings on the spot.
The live data section provides useful insights, tracking metrics such as total views, new followers, and overall stream performance.
What are the requirements to use TikTok LIVE Studio?
TikTok LIVE Studio has a few key requirements to use the platform effectively, including both technical and follower count criteria.
Here’s what you’ll need to get started with TikTok LIVE Studio:
Follower Count: For gaming creators, a minimum of 3,000 followers is required to access TikTok LIVE Studio. If you’re a non-gaming creator, the requirement is higher, at 10,000 followers.
Hardware: The software performs best on mid-range PCs or gaming laptops. Since TikTok LIVE Studio needs to handle both streaming and gaming, solid hardware is essential for smooth performance.
Mac Users: While TikTok LIVE Studio isn’t available for macOS directly, you can use Parallels to run it on a Mac. This software allows you to run Windows applications on your Mac device.
Camera: You’ll need either a webcam or a smartphone camera to stream your video. TikTok LIVE Studio supports both options.
Login: To access TikTok LIVE Studio, log in using your TikTok account. You can either scan a QR code or use one of the available log in methods to get started.
How to use TikTok Studio in other ways?
Edit tools
At the top of the Overview tab, you’ll see three key editing options: Photo Editor, AutoCut and Camera—similar to the ones available in the TikTok app itself.
You can also access these tools, along with your drafts, by tapping the Create button at the bottom of the app.
All content created with these tools can be posted directly to TikTok, without the need to download and re-upload within the TikTok app. An added perk is that any drafts made in TikTok Studio won’t clutter up your profile feed like they do in the TikTok app.
Photo Editor
The Photo Editor allows you to create TikTok carousels or covers for your videos. It features a simple interface where you can crop, resize, add text, or apply filters to photos.
AutoCut
AutoCut is a basic video editor that lets users upload clips, and TikTok Studio will automatically stitch them together using templates. These templates apply transitions and effects based on TikTok’s trending audio, making it easy to create polished videos.
Camera
The Camera tool replicates TikTok’s Create window. Here, you can do everything you would in TikTok—record videos, apply filters, use trending sounds, edit, post Stories, and more, all within TikTok Studio.
Explore Content Inspiration
In the Overview (or Home) tab, scroll down to find inspiration for your next TikTok post. This section includes Trending Posts, which you can filter by topic and location, and Recommended. The recommended section is especially useful for creators focused on niche topics who want insights into content that resonates with their target audience.
Here, you’ll be able to explore a selection of high-performing posts that TikTok identifies as similar to your content. You can also see posts viewed by your followers and get an overview of creators with similar styles or audiences.
Measure Your Content Performance
In my opinion, this is where TikTok Studio truly excels. It offers all the analytics you’d find in the main TikTok app, plus additional features, all organized in a single, easy-to-navigate dashboard.
In the Analytics tab, you’ll find:
Overview
This section gives you a bird’s-eye view of your content performance over a set period—7 days, 28 days, 60 days, or a custom range.
Content
Here, you can view your top nine trending posts from the past week, which TikTok labels as those with the “fastest growth.” You can tap on each of these to dive into specific metrics, just like in the main app.
While this section doesn’t offer any new metrics compared to what’s available in the TikTok app (through the More insights option), it conveniently pulls together key data, viewer details, and engagement metrics in one place for each post.
Followers
The Followers tab is particularly useful. It gives you valuable insights into your audience, tracking follower growth and offering a breakdown by gender, age, country, and city. It also shows when your followers are most active on the app, helping you determine the best times to post for maximum engagement. This is crucial for tailoring your content and posting schedule.
Track Your TikTok Monetization
In the Monetization tab, you’ll get an overview of your recent earnings and access to various programs that can help you make money from your TikTok content.
For a complete guide to monetizing on TikTok, head here. Below is a quick rundown of the programs available through TikTok Studio:
Work with Artists
This program rewards creators for using specific audio tracks in their TikToks. The better your content performs, the more you can earn. To qualify, you need at least 1,000 followers, be 18 or older, and pass an anti-cheating verification.
Video Gifts
Video Gifts lets TikTok users support their favorite creators by sending virtual gifts. To enable this feature, creators must meet eligibility requirements, including having an account active for 30 days and at least 1,000 followers.
Creator Rewards Program
The Creator Rewards Program allows creators to earn money for videos over one minute in length. This program has stricter requirements: creators must have at least 10,000 followers and a video with more than 100,000 views in the past 30 days.
Subscriptions
TikTok creators can also earn through subscriptions, building a community that pays for exclusive content. To qualify, you’ll need to complete the LIVE Creator Growth Program, go live for at least 30 minutes in the past 30 days, and have 1,000 or more followers.
Creator Marketplace
The TikTok Creator Marketplace connects brands with creators. To join, you must have at least 10,000 followers, have posted three videos in the last 30 days, and meet additional criteria.
These monetization options provide creators with diverse ways to earn from their content while growing their TikTok presence.
Control Comments and Engagement
In the Manage tab, you’ll find a convenient tool that allows you to track and ensure you’ve replied to all the comments on your posts.
This feature offers a much more organized and efficient way to manage your interactions compared to the main TikTok app.
You can also sort comments based on what’s most important to you, whether it’s comments with the most replies, those from your followers, or even comments from users with higher or lower follower counts. This helps prioritize your responses and stay engaged with your audience.
Other Livestream Features
LIVE Subscription
Build a closer connection with your audience through LIVE Subscriptions. Subscribers pay a monthly fee and, in return, get access to special perks like badges, emotes, subscriber-only chats, and other exclusive content. Your followers can easily subscribe by tapping the star icon during your stream.
Go LIVE Together
Expand your reach by teaming up with a friend or another TikTok creator for a joint stream using Go LIVE Together. Co-hosting or inviting guests not only adds variety to your content but also introduces your fan bases to each other, helping both of you grow.
LIVE Events
Create buzz around your upcoming streams with LIVE Events. You can schedule and promote your live sessions in advance, giving your viewers a chance to discover, register, and set reminders. This way, you’ll have a more engaged audience when you go live.
LIVE Center
Boost your live streaming experience with the TikTok LIVE Center. Not only can you go live, but you can also dive into LIVE Analytics to track your performance and get insights into your viewers. Stay updated with LIVE Activity to learn about new features, events, and campaigns. Plus, check out the library of videos for tips and creative ideas.
LIVE Q&A
Make your streams more interactive by hosting LIVE Q&A sessions. You can select and showcase questions from viewers, giving you the chance to respond in real-time. You can even use polls to engage your audience further and get instant feedback during the stream.
To Sum up
To sum it up, TikTok Live Studio is a fantastic tool that can really boost your live streaming experience. Its easy-to-use features make it simple to connect with your audience and create engaging content.
Don’t hesitate to dive in and explore all that TikTok Live Studio has to offer. Remember, the more you practice, the better you’ll get!
So go ahead, start streaming, and let your creativity shine! Happy streaming!
You can choose between using your webcam, smartphone camera or even sharing your computer screen for your stream. TikTok LIVE Studio also lets you customize your layout, add graphics, fine-tune your audio and video settings for the best possible live streaming experience.
