Question / Help Framerate Issue/Dropped Stream: Network Related or Something Else?

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falconiformed

New Member
I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but I figure that it's better to provide too much detail than too little.

Over the past few weeks, I've been struggling with livestreaming, which is especially frustrating because I participated in Extra Life. There are times when my stream would be stable, only to have it drop frames abruptly and crash. Here's what I've done to fix it:
  1. Dealt with my ISP, Charter. At first, the entire internet connection would crash after "heavy" usage (Skype video calls, twitch, etc.). I contacted my ISP, and they sent out a guy to replace my modem. He found an "HBO filter" on my connection, which was weird considering that I don't have cable (just internet). He removed said filter and thought that was the solution. This did not fix my livestreaming issues, though it did prevent my internet connection from crashing as it had in the past. I get 51.1 mbps download and 3.8 mbps upload speed (according to testmy.net).
  2. I updated my router firmware because, naturally, Charter assumed that my issues are arising out of something on my end. I updated my network adapter drivers, too, and my graphics card drivers.
  3. I tried out everything on this page, except trying another streaming service.
  4. At this point, I realized that part of my issue was the webcam that I was using. In my frustration with my connection, I forgot to lower the cam's resolution. Oops. *facepalm* I fixed that, but my logs were still showing 1.4% or more dropped frames.
  5. I started to play around with some settings. At first, I tried streaming at 720p, 30 fps with a bitrate of 1800. The problems persisted, and analyzing those logs suggested that there were 1.4% dropped frames. I got desperate and dropped the settings to a lower quality than I should. I dropped my bitrate to 1500, then 1200, and then 1000. This made no difference to the stability of my stream or the dropped frames. Log File: https://gist.github.com/2931d86c11c4d5e4a9c2
  6. I realized that my bitrate was too low for 720p and dropped the resolution to (a hideous) 1024x576, 25 fps and 800 bitrate. When I analyzed the log at those final settings, it indicated that there were no issues. Despite this, I could only get 1:30 minutes or so of stable time out of my livestream towards its end. The longest, uninterrupted stream I had was about 25 minutes before it started to frequently hiccup. Link to this log: https://gist.github.com/467cc1dacc8d58bd7e44
  7. I got in the habit of using the TwitchTest to identify my best ingest server, and I also ran R1CH's Twitch Analyzer. Both all came up "green," so to speak, and identified no issues.
At this point, I sadly threw in the towel. I was left without the time or resources to further tinker with my settings or harass Charter, and so I had to settle for an embarrassingly low quality stream for Extra Life. I'm still upset beyond words about this; looking through my video manager right now depresses me.

Some computer specs, too: I have an Intel Core i5-4670 3.4 GHz processor (7,634 passmark), 16 GB of RAM (Corsair), and a Geforce GTX 650Ti as my graphics card. I'm running a 64-bit Windows 10.

If possible, I'd like to be able to stream at 720p (which I understand is the expected minimum), so I hope that you'll be able to help me figure out if this is due to me overlooking something silly in my settings or due to my ISP. Ironically, these issues--and all of the preliminary test streams that I did--really cemented my desire to continue livestreaming.

Thank you, in advance, for your help. It means a lot.
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
You haven't included a log file from where you're actually having problems. Both log files you have included have very close to zero duplicated frames. I don't see a high number of dropped frames either, despite what you've said. Can you quote your log file and show the timestamp where it says you have 1.4% dropped frames? Or post the log file where you're actually having problems?
 
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falconiformed

New Member
I see the 1.4% dropped frames when I run OBS's analyzer on this one from my original post (from #5): https://gist.github.com/38584eae1b9e0a3becda . This is what the site tells me after running the analyzer. Glancing through the log itself, I saw that 1.4% actually shows up at the 21:10:33 timestamp (Stream End: 2015-11-05, 21:10:33; Number of b-frames dropped: 18 (0.68%), Number of p-frames dropped: 20 (0.75%), Total 38 (1.4%)). That timestamp in particular marks where the stream dropped and OBS automatically restarted it.

The last one that I linked to in my original post (#6) is particularly vexing, as I've had a stream that drops frequently while the logs (seemingly) report nothing. I'm not good at interpreting their data myself, so I may be too reliant on OBS's analysis. Here's a log from that "same" stream as #6 showing 1.2% at the 22:24:46 timestamp (22:24:46: Number of b-frames dropped: 13 (0.49%), Number of p-frames dropped: 18 (0.68%), Total 31 (1.2%)): https://gist.github.com/6042cfb5ed7c59c8109f

It's entirely possible that I'm misinterpreting what OBS's analysis is looking for, but the percentages it offers after the analysis consistently align with timestamps where my stream dropped unexpectedly.

I hope this helps clarify what I meant. I tried using the code brackets earlier to post my logs, but they're too long, sadly.
 
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Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
The main problem is that your streams you're quoting are statistically irrelevant. I.e. they're too damn short to draw conclusions from. Its not unusual to drop frames when setting up or tearing down a connection to Twitch, so you need to stream long enough to make that part not dominate the statistics, if that's where the drops are coming from.

Do tests of at least 5 minutes... for testing dropped frames I'd go even longer. Then post your OBS log file from that.

And yes, wireless sucks for uploading streams. You should string a cable to your firewall/router. That said, usually people with wireless problems have far worse results than what's in your OBS logs. That makes me suspect that your wireless connection might be fine, but is being flagged because your tests are too short.

Example: Your stream at this time: "21:36:45: =====Stream End: 2015-11-05, 21:36:45" you streamed for 25 minutes, sending over 39,000 packets, and of those you dropped 38 of them. Less than 0.1%. That is much more statistically relevant and is an excellent result. I'd believe that result any day of the year before I believe the percentage drop result from your 1 minute stream. So don't freak out about your statistically irrelevant streams.
 
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falconiformed

New Member
I did forget to mention explicitly that these streams are occurring while directly plugged into my modem; my 24-hour marathon (which has way too many logs for anyone to sift through) was wired to my router and had the same issues. I know full well that streaming over wireless is a fool's errand.

The problem is that I'm not intentionally hosting short streams, or "freaking out" because of tiny dropped frame rates that shouldn't affect my stream. That 25 minute stream was the longest stable time that I had in a stream that was actually closer to 2 hours playtime. My livestream would consistently drop and reboot, resulting in several short streams and (if I was lucky) maybe an uninterrupted stream of 25 minutes or longer. I'll see my bitrate drop sharply on the OBS window, get a notification sound, and then the stream is gone.

I selected the logs based on what was actually being flagged with a problem, however small. Most logs report zero issues with the stream when there is clearly something else going on. Even my viewers have commented about the stability of my stream. It's not just on their connection; their complaints are timed with stream drops on my end. So, here's an example from one stream test I did which resulted in multiple logs. Please realize two things, here: the stream start and end times in the middle of these logs are not my doing. I also realize that the quality settings are abysmal; I was curious to see if any setting would increase my stream's stability.

https://gist.github.com/36ba8f8c33422cd1f23d (no issues flagged)
https://gist.github.com/0f45b7de1e39edeadfa8 (22:24:46: Number of b-frames dropped: 13 (0.49%), Number of p-frames dropped: 18 (0.68%), Total 31 (1.2%))
https://gist.github.com/7c3fc47425242bedc7a7 (no issues flagged)
https://gist.github.com/a2bc427375dee85ade3d (no issues flagged)

If my logs report zero issues, and you're not seeing anything off, am I to assume that this is on my ISP's end? The internet speeds tested prior to my stream, here, are consistent with the ones detailed in my original post (51.1 mbps download and 3.8 mbps upload speed). I would have no means of tracking short but sharp drops in my upload speed, which I think may be the issue.
 
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falconiformed

New Member
Hm. Now that's weird. Where are you seeing it saving to my hard drive? That's not supposed to be happening. I have the "automatically save stream to file" box unchecked under Broadcast settings. My only guess is that it's saving stream previews to hard drive for some reason, or it switches to recording when the stream drops. And, yes, I've been clicking "Start Streaming" in each of these instances; I never once intentionally recorded during that time.
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
Well there's nothing in those logs about it sending to Twitch or any place else. So that means its in save to hard drive mode.
 
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falconiformed

New Member
And what actions do you suggest? I'm not getting a clear sense of why this is happening, particularly since I made a point of not having OBS save my streams.
 
Boildown

Boildown

Active Member
falconiformed said:
And what actions do you suggest?
Click to expand...

Make sure you click "Start Streaming" instead of "Start Recording"? The logs look fine, that's all I can go on. But if you say that you were attempting to stream instead of record in those logs, then all I can say is that the logs don't show that.
 
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falconiformed

New Member
falconiformed said:
And, yes, I've been clicking "Start Streaming" in each of these instances; I never once intentionally recorded during that time.
Click to expand...
Hah.

Justin and Jeremy: At least we have some solidarity in this? Thank you for linking your thread. Switching to Xsplit won't help with this, as that's why I made the transition over to OBS to begin with (and decided I liked it more). I may try your trick of installing an older version.

At the very least, if both of you have the same ISP, the same issues, and much of the same troubleshooting process, then the logical assumption is that the issue is with our ISP. I primarily wanted to confirm that it wasn't something that I was missing on my own end, which certainly seems to be the case.
 
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