Confession: I’m Was Jotting Down Timecodes Like a Caveperson — What’s the EASIEST Way to Make Twitch Highlights?

Hey r/Twitch!
Everybody knows how important are the highlights for small streamers, but i think not so many people know the easiest way to make them.
I was that streamer who manually wrote down timestamps in Notepad during streams. Yep, ALT+TAB every 5 minutes, keyboard clacking that my mic picked up… Then I realized: “This can’t go on!” 😭

If you’re also wasting time searching for “that one moment” in an 8-hour VOD — here’s how I went from the Stone Age to full automation.

Stage 1: My Pain — Manual Mode

  • Notepad + Keyboard: Every time something epic or fail-worthy happened, I’d open Notepad and jot down the time (e.g., 01:23:45 — “screamed at the boss like a maniac”). The problem? Viewers could hear my keyboard clacking 😅 .
  • Lost Moments: After the stream, I’d have to rewatch the VOD to find those timestamps. Sometimes I’d forget what “02:15:00 — ???” even meant 🤦

Stage 2: Discovered Twitch’s Built-In Features

Salvation came from the platform itself:

  1. The /marker Command: Type /marker [description] in chat, and Twitch marks the timestamp in your VOD. Mods can do this too! No more ALT+TAB .
  2. Hotkeys: Set up a keybind in OBS to create markers silently. Now I can mark moments without distracting keyboard sounds .
  3. Twitch Video Producer: Lets you cut highlights up to 60 seconds directly from your VOD. But for longer clips, I had to look for alternatives .

Stage 3: Bots and AI to the Rescue

This is where the magic began:

  • Nightbot and Moobot: Set up commands so the bot automatically marks key moments based on triggers (e.g., when chat explodes with “POG”). Now viewers create markers themselves via chat .
  • Clipbot.tv: An AI bot that scans your stream for highlights (200+ per stream!) and auto-posts them to socials. Laziness is the mother of invention .
  • GitHub Bots: For the tech-savvy — scripts like Twitch Highlights Bot that analyze chat and VODs to auto-generate clips. Though it took some tinkering with the code .

Stage 4: Engaging the Community

  • “CLIP THAT!”: Now I shout this after every epic moment. Viewers make the clips, and I pick the best ones to turn into highlights. I even started a weekly contest with prizes for the top 3 clips .
  • Channel Points: Reward viewers with points for clipping. They can spend them on VIP roles or custom commands .

The Result: What Changed?

  • Time: It used to take 2 hours to review VODs. Now it’s a no time.
  • Content: Highlights are more frequent and higher quality. Gained 30% more followers in a month!
  • Sanity: No more fear of missing a great moment because I got distracted.

My Top 3 Tools for the Lazy:

  1. /marker + Clipbot.tv — for minimalists.
  2. Nightbot + OBS hotkeys — for control freaks.
  3. GitHub bots — for coders.

Question for you: How do you create highlights? Share your hacks — maybe I missed something! 🔥

P.S. If you’re still writing timestamps in Notepad… bro, I feel you. But at least try /marker — it’s a game-changer. 😉