Question / Help Finding the right container format

koala

koala

Active Member
What is the proper container format to use with OBS Multiplatform? I know there isn't "the best" format, but because of that I'm asking.

I want:
- multiple audio tracks
- nvenc x264 encoding (in fact I want Quicksync, but it is not supported on my Ivy Bridge CPU)
- reasonably fast seeking without recoding
- possible to open with my video editing software without recoding (recoding takes much time)
- robust against crash

Under these constraints, I have to use the normal (non-ffmpeg) output module. Additionally,

- *.flv format is ruled out, because of only 1 audio track and no fast seeking
- *.mp4 format is ruled out, because it is not robust against crash of OBS during recording
- *.mkv format is ruled out, because it is not supported by my video editor

This leaves me with *.mov and *.ts. Both seem viable as recording format for my raw footage. What should I choose? Are they both robust against a crash during recording? Given they are both robust, I see no apparent difference. Are there are hidden features within the format that makes one better for import in a video editor than the other?
I never intend to directly use OBS recordings for watching - I will always cut/edit my recordings with a video editing software and recode in this process to a final format (mp4 at the moment).
 
Harold

Harold

Active Member
It's very doable to record to mkv without losing video editor support because you can use ffmpeg to separate out all the tracks (video and however many audio you have) without actually doing re-encoding. So recording to mkv isn't actually ruled out.

ffmpeg is capable of copying out individual streams to separate files. You can record in one container and then later use ffmpeg to separate it out to the video stream in one file (using any supported container of your editing software) and your audio tracks (ffmpeg isn't limited in how many it can handle, obs is limited to 4) to separate files.

You could even use the process to remux the mkv file to mp4 without losing any quality. Steps are similar to those used in the remux guide for remuxing flv to mp4 with obs classic.
 
koala

koala

Active Member
I know how to convert the files, and I'm doing this currently with the old OBS recordings and convert *.flv to *.mp4. But it's all about lazyness. (Losslessly) converting the container format and splitting audio tracks from the raw file are steps I want to skip, if possible. I just want to view the freshly recorded video into my video player (Media player classic), or I want to import the freshly recorded video right into the video editor and work with that right away.
Often, only small parts of the recorded video are worth working with. I don't want to waste 10 minutes with converting a 3 hour recording, from which I only need 5 minutes footage. And if I load long *.flv into MPC, it takes ages to seek in it.

My current workflow starts with a *.flv file of game footage recorded by the old OBS. I convert this losslessly into *.mp4 after the recording, which takes about 10 or 15 minutes.
Then I look into the footage with Media Player Classic to see if there is something interesting worth working with. If there is something worth keeping, I load the file into Avidemux and export the interesting parts. This part is lossless as well, Avidemux can copy without re-encoding.
After that, I load the file into Adobe Premiere Elements to make a video out of it.
The first step (looking into the recording with MPC) is possible only after recoding - MPC is very slow with seeking/fast forwarding in *.flv format.

I just realized I could record in *.mkv with OBS multiplatform as well, because I cut the footage with Avidemux anyway, and in the process I can save it as *.mp4. For preprocessing, MPC is able to seek fast in *.mkv files, so the number of eligible formats for the initial recording also includes *.mkv.

This leads to the original question: what format should I use with OBS Multiplatform? mkv, mov, ts? Is there a superior format, and if yes, why is it superior?
 
Harold

Harold

Active Member
http://www.matroska.org/technical/whatis/index.html
I would definitely prefer MKV over MP4 given the design goals. I have the tools and knowhow to handle mkv with what I do for recording. I also do my audio postprocessing in other applications like audacity rather than built into my video editing software.

If you're after one with a wide open standard, mkv would be the better one. I don't have enough experience with mov or ts to give information on those.
 
L

layarion

Member
Is there a guide or resource that will help me pick a container? i do youtube video, with multiple audio tracks. So far I've just been using MP4 just because someone said to.
 
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