The big camgirl guide part 1 – The webcam and your workplace

Apr 16, 2024
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Also available in: Deutsch (German)

This is the first part of a series of articles on CASZIN that will help you to work successfully as a camgirl. Today it’s all about your right workplace, including all the technical aspects.

The feel good factor

Set up a workplace where you feel comfortable. After all, you will be spending some time here and should be in a good mood. This requires comfort for you. Other important points are: plenty of freedom of movement for you, good image and sound quality for the user, a nice ambience, good options for using your toys and much more. But first things first.

First of all, you need a comfortable and versatile chair. For example, large office chairs with a tilting mechanism or, even better, gaming chairs are well suited. Make sure that the chair is big enough and that it doesn’t start to tip over when you start to gymnastics on it. Because that is exactly what you will do if, for example, a user wants to admire your backside. Also make sure that in a “normal sitting position”, for example, you can open your legs wide, hang over the armrests and safely tilt backwards and handle toys. You should definitely try this out before you buy, and it may also lead to a nice consultation with an employee at the furniture store …

If the chair seems too narrow or too dangerous to tip over, think about a small couch. There are nice two-seater couches that give you a lot of freedom of movement. However, the couch is not normally flexible, so it does not usually have an adjustable backrest. You may be able to help yourself here with cushions to support your back. Speaking of your back: Always bear in mind that you may be spending several hours a day at your new workstation. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for women (and men) of all ages to develop back problems as a result. For this reason, the couch should ideally not be too soft. If you “sink into it” too much, it will also be difficult to show off relevant parts of your body well in front of the camera. Some camgirls choose to broadcast from a pull-out couch or a conventional bed. This gives you maximum freedom of movement and allows you to pose perfectly. However, you are further away from your monitor, on which you have to follow the chat(s). You may therefore need a larger monitor and, in any case, a (wireless) keyboard, mouse and pad that you can take with you to the bed.

At the end of the day, you have to decide for yourself which option is best for you. Which also plays a big role: What do you want your show in front of the cam to look like? Do you prefer a lot of action with one toy or another? Or do you concentrate more on communicating with the users and only use toys occasionally or not at all? In the first case you will need a lot of space, in the second case a chair or two in front of the cam may be the better solution. Of course, the size of the room in which you set yourself up in this way also has a decisive influence. The number of hours you will spend there is also an important factor. If you are only doing this on the side and perhaps only spend one or two hours at a time at this workplace, the requirements are completely different from those if you want to become a “full-time camgirl” and creator. In the latter case, you will generally have to spend a little more money on equipment. Or you can first try out whether the whole thing works for you and then gradually expand it. In any case, you should keep the old truism in mind: “Buy cheap, buy twice.”

Which PC, monitor and table do you need?

Your PC needs to be powerful, even if not necessarily high-end. Until a few years ago, this meant that you had a so-called tower under your desk, i.e. a relatively large box that was humming and provided the corresponding performance. This is no longer the case today. There are now powerful mini PCs that deliver enough power to be present on several streaming platforms at the same time. Such a mini PC usually has the footprint of about two postcards or less and is perhaps 5 cm thick. This has a decisive advantage. You can screw these cases behind the monitor using a so-called VESA mount. This means you don’t lose any desk space and also reduces cable clutter. You can get suitable mini PCs for around €500 these days. Make sure that you can connect at least two monitors. You will need this, especially if you want to broadcast on several platforms at the same time.

You can also use a notebook. However, you will have to dig a little deeper into your pocket here. You already have a monitor, albeit a small one, but you can usually always connect a second, larger one. But don’t get the idea of using the notebook’s integrated camera for sending. Even with comparatively expensive notebooks, it doesn’t offer the quality of the ones presented later. In addition, you are not flexible. You need to be able to position the camera in different places, for example for close-ups, perhaps between your legs, etc. You can do all this with a notebook camera. You can’t do all this with a notebook camera.

Which table you use depends a little on whether you have opted for a chair, a small couch or the bed for sending. In any case, it must not be too small and must offer enough space for the two monitors, and in most cases also for the keyboard and mouse. A tip: recently, electrically height-adjustable desks have become comparatively inexpensive. They actually look like normal desks, but have an electric motor that can continuously raise or lower the height of the worktop, usually even using a remote control. This offers many advantages. For one thing, you can also use it to position your monitors optimally depending on your working position so that you have an ideal view of your control screen. If you are working from bed, for example, you can use the remote control to move the camera up and down to capture the optimum image section. This opens up many possibilities. You will also want to do normal office work at the desk and can choose the ideal height for this, which will often not be the same as the ideal height for your cam work.

Background and ambience

A word about the background, which users will inevitably also see. It should be tidy, but always with a personal touch. Remember: for most users, you are broadcasting “from home”. So feel free to leave a few personal items lying around, but of course avoid chaos in the background as this would be too distracting. You should definitely avoid a sterile studio atmosphere. Many people are put off by an overly professional impression. It is true that there are camgirls who work successfully from studios, which is deliberately recognizable to users. However, this is the exception. In most cases, the illusion of being able to watch the “girl next door” in the bedroom works better.

Years ago, by the way, it was fashionable for some studios to put kitschy photo wallpaper in the background. Even back then, this was a source of amusement for some users, while many were – unsurprisingly – put off by it. Even if some retro trends are selling well nowadays, you shouldn’t get this idea …

The webcam as a success factor

Only a high-quality webcam offers you the opportunity to provide viewers with a clear and appealing image quality. Important aspects of such a webcam are resolution, frame rate, light sensitivity, color quality, autofocus and additional features such as a built-in microphone and viewing angle. Here are some models that are commonly used:

1. Logitech BRIO – This webcam offers partial Ultra HD 4K resolution, making it one of the most powerful models on the market. It also supports HD resolutions at a high frame rate, which guarantees smooth movements.

2. Logitech C922 Pro Stream – This camera is widely used in the cam business today and delivers full HD 1080p at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps. It also has good low-light properties and automatic white balance.

3. Razer Kiyo – This webcam has built-in ring lighting, which is especially helpful for casting an even, flattering light on the face and other parts of the body, and it offers 1080p resolution at 30 fps or 720p at 60 fps.

4. Mevo Start – Although it is actually a live event camera, it can also be used perfectly by camgirls. It supports 1080p streaming and has excellent video quality. It is also compact and offers wireless streaming.

5. PTZOptics webcams – If you are looking for a camera with pan, tilt and zoom capabilities to create dynamic recordings, webcams from PTZOptics could be interesting. However, they are generally more expensive.

Your internet connection

A prerequisite for a good image from the webcam is a stable and fast Internet connection. When you order an internet connection today, providers always offer a high downstream rate. This is also important for Internet users who primarily consume, i.e. who need the stream to receive data, for example on a 4K TV or more. For you, however, the so-called upstream is crucial. In other words, the speed at which you can upload your data. Because that’s exactly what you do when you switch on the cam and send it to one or more platforms. The upstream speed is usually significantly lower than the advertising-effective downstream speed. So take a close look at the offers. 20 Mbps is the minimum if you want to broadcast on two or three platforms. More is always better. The connection between your PC and your router can also be a bottleneck. Until some time ago, it was better to connect via network cable than via WLAN. Older WLAN standards tend to drop out or falter from time to time, even over short distances. This can be fatal for the cam picture. Meanwhile, modern routers also work so reliably via WLAN that you can rely on the connection. However, this does not apply if you are still using an older model. In this case, you should consider a network cable connection or a new router.

Cheat sheet: Not only for foreign language users

There are camgirls who still chat exclusively in their native language. Or they speak a foreign language so perfectly that they don’t need any further assistance. For the majority, however, neither is the case any more. Business is becoming increasingly international. There are increasingly intelligent translation tools that make your work much easier. However, this point will be dealt with in detail in a future part of this article series.

Here are a few tips for a more old-fashioned method: Use cheat sheets! Write down the most important phrases and print them out clearly in a large font on A4 sheets of paper. Let’s be honest: you often have to answer or ask the same questions over and over again. Depending on the size of your workstation, you can easily attach two to four sheets next to the monitors. There are special holders that you can find under search terms such as “document holder for monitors” or similar in the best-known online stores. Incidentally, this assistance does not have to be limited to foreign languages. Especially when you start cam work, it can make your work processes easier and avoid embarrassing pauses in speaking if you always have an idea for a conversation in mind. Because you don’t always have to deliver a hardcore show, some users are also happy to pay for a “chat”.

In the following parts of this article series you will learn all about:

  • Software: Use of Splitcam
  • The right lighting
  • The regulations of the platform operators – what is allowed, what is not?
  • How do you find the best platform(s) for you?
  • Freemium or Premium, what’s behind it?
  • Your position in front of the camera
  • Your styling – makeup tips and more
  • Which clothes and lingerie appeal to users
  • You should definitely use these toys
  • How to keep users on board: Long retention times and regular customers as a success factor
  • How to design your profile correctly
  • Do you need fixed working hours?
  • The right way to deal with intrusive users
  • When the question about the “user meeting” comes up
  • Chatting correctly in foreign languages

By the way: CASZIN has already published a FAQ for camgirls and creators in which you can find some general help.

Have you already seen that you can apply to be CASZIN Creator of the Month? We will introduce you here completely free of charge and link to your profiles. Apply here !

You’ll get more tips that you can put into practice straight away in the next part of this article, sign up for the newsletter so you don’t miss it: