Bug Report frames dropping out

[obsuser101]

during normal playback, the video lags a little. A close look reveals a lack of smoothness.
If you flip through each frame - it is revealed that some frames are simply missing.
Please, check the compare of OBS and other software: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Uny3wNYPSmsOxySMQKhPSiWCXXs9Yqem
(video ~1 min)

 

[FerretBomb]

Post a logfile from an affected recording session, or perform a test recording and reproduce the issue. We can take a look at what's happening on the back end.

Most commonly this occurs due to GPU over-loading, where the content you're recording (most commonly games) uses all the GPU time, leaving OBS none for its required back-end tasks like color conversion, scaling, compositing, etc. causing rendering delay and skipped frames as a result.

OBS Studio 24.0.3 did include a workaround for this, where if you run OBS as Administrator (and Windows 10 is up-to-date) it can claim GPU priority so its internal tasks come first, before the game is allowed to use the remaining GPU time.

 

[obsuser101]

Thank you

sorry for not attaching a log at first
Same issue when OBS was run as Administrator.

This game take little GPU load. The main load extends to CPU.
The video-example captures an in-game FPS counter (screenshot). Value about 60 fps. Minimal graphics settings in game. Same issue in other game.

 

[BluePeer]

1. VBR is not the top of the choice for record use CQP constant quality (18-22) lower value better quality
2. disable psycho and 2pass reduce the load to the encoder massive and is mostly not required in CQP mode the benefit is less
3. in the log the encoder is not really a problem you have the issue in this record too?

if 3 is possible it looks more then the ingame fps dropped in that moments check if record with active Vsync have the same issues
up and down bumps in fps can make a similar result (fps 59.5 70 59.9 or 59.5 58 59.5 57 59.5)
the encoder record the single frames to hard coded times with a really low +/- delay if the image is a half ms to late it record like not existing
you see that not in the game by you see the frame but its not recorded by to high delay
from the log itself it looks more like unstable game fps

 

[rebellion]

So what you are saying is that you are experiencing graphical "lag". It might be a good idea to upload a log of your stream to the obs log analyzer here: https://obsproject.com/analyzer/

To have a log analyzed in OBS click help then logs (NOT crash logs) and either upload current or previous log file. OBS will display a link on screen where your log has been copied copy the link and enter it on the log analyzer page from here it will return any issues its finds from your stream and advise you on what to do.

From experience the lag that you are describing is because the entirety of your graphcs card memory is being used up by your game. OBS needs some of this memory (not just CPU) to process and render frames in OBS. To resolve this issue limit your frame rate in game by either turning on vsync or use any in-game frame rate limiter. I find that by limiting your frames to less than 70 or 75 should help to clear this issue.

 

[obsuser101]

please note that bandicam don't demonstrate this issue.
To check - please rewind to 30th second in video (first message in topic).
And bandicam uses VBR too. It is fundamentally. To prevent unnecessary waste of disk space.

disable psycho and 2pass reduce the load to the encoder massive and is mostly not required in CQP mode the benefit is less

Should I disable this chebox, is it? How to find a second option? (2pass reduce)

Analysis showed nothing special

The game has a limit of 60 fps. You can see it in video. (the game does not allow you to set a personal frame rate limitation. Have only in-game option "Smooth frame rate". If unbox - no FPS limitation)

I just want to understand - why another program does not have this issue, recording the same game. I don't change any settings in game, don't restart it. I just record the game with one program, then switch to OBS and do same.
Thank you

 

[Narcogen]

I just want to understand - why another program does not have this issue, recording the same game. I don't change any settings in game, don't restart it. I just record the game with one program, then switch to OBS and do same.

OBS is not purely a screen recorder. It is a compositor and video switcher as well as encoder. These functions use GPU resources, and this resource consumption starts when OBS is opened (not only when streaming or recording starts). Pure screen recorders, that do nothing except write frame buffers to disk (ShadowPlay, etc) generally consume less resources and allow for games you are recording to run closer to your computer's performance limits while recording.

Unless your computer is overpowered for what you are recording, you may expect to have to adjust your game's settings in order to accommodate simultaneous use of OBS on the same machine.

 

[Sukiyucky]

This game take little GPU load. The main load extends to CPU.

If GPU utilization is nowhere near 100%, then i would suggest monitoring CPU utilization and determine if you are getting thermal throttled.

 

[obsuser101]

OBS is not purely a screen recorder. It is a compositor and video switcher as well as encoder.

even preview disabled in my tests. Screenshot

So what I should to do? I can't use OBS as an alternative to bandicam, is it?

Unless your computer is overpowered

can I somehow confirm that the computer is overloaded? Or to confirm that is not overloaded?
can I somehow confirm that the issue is not in my PC/system?

In this case, is it worth relying that in the future the program will be optimized balanced for use as an alternative to bandicam?

 

[Narcogen]

You can use it as you use Bandicam, but its performance requirements are different because it does things Bandicam cannot, and if you don't need to do those things, OBS may not be best for you.

During a streaming or recording session if OBS overloads the computer it will say so in its status bar and write this information to its logfiles.

 

[obsuser101]

Bandicam is not free: it has 10 mins limit on record and has watermark on picutre.

recording session if OBS overloads the computer

OBS don't overloading my system. But fps drop happen even just recording Windows 10.

 

[Narcogen]

If FPS drops, something is being overloaded.

18:09:52.894: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 3/1963 (0.2%)

That's not much overload, but it is some overload.

You have an older machine. If you wish to record without stutter, consider lowering framerate. I would not be attempting 60fps on a 660.

 

[SpectreKid]

Bandicam is not free: it has 10 mins limit on record and has watermark on picutre.

OBS don't overloading my system. But fps drop happen even just recording Windows 10.

Your encoder is somewhat overloading. You have pretty aged system, and I'm not sure if you have the NVENC encoder, use that. That will remove the strain from the CPU, and put it on a dedicated part of your graphics card. Since you're running as an administrator, the 24.0.3 GPU Allocation fix should already be applied for you. If you are not on 24.0.3, update, and run as administrator. This will apply an allocation fix and lower encoder overload. Your Phenom processor is aging, and those cores are going to slow down. NVENC is going to be a good fix for you. Many others also suggest using CQP values, and while I recommend that for high quality recording, you can try to use CBR to limit bitrate, as the higher the bitrate, the more strain on your storage device. This isn't really something to be worried about, just a suggestion.

Last tip: Process priority High.

Hope this helps!

 

[deFrisselle]

Your stuck streaming at 30 FPS on that 660 My Radeon R9 270X gets overloaded if I encode output on it more than 720p30 on my Phenom II x4 B60

 

[SpectreKid]

Your stuck streaming at 30 FPS on that 660 My Radeon R9 270X gets overloaded if I encode output on it more than 720p30 on my Phenom II x4 B60

Yep, 30 FPS. Increasing that to 60 FPS will cause stutters. Is your game fluctuating in FPS? That could make your video stuttery if not ran as administrator on the latest version of OBS Studio.

If FPS drops, something is being overloaded.

18:09:52.894: Video stopped, number of skipped frames due to encoding lag: 3/1963 (0.2%)

That's not much overload, but it is some overload.

You have an older machine. If you wish to record without stutter, consider lowering framerate. I would not be attempting 60fps on a 660.

Process priority High, 709 Color Space, and Run as admin on latest version. Output as 720p30 with bicubic or lanczos, depending on what you like. Try these, they may help.