Question / Help Help for Encoding settings (Streaming AND Recording)

[Marin Taverniers]

I tried different settings in OBS Studio, but I can't reach a good quality for recording when I'm streaming, without a too high CPU load (especially when I use a video capture source from a local file)...
Sometimes I have a poor output quality, sometimes I get framerate drops...

All my recordings are edited, and uploaded to YouTube, so I want to have the best possible quality !


Here is my config :

-i7 4770k (@3.5Ghz)
-NVIDIA GTX 980
-16GB RAM
-OBS version : 0.16.2 (64bit)

OBS Video settings :

-Base resolution : 1920x1080
-Output resolution : 1280x720
-Scaling filter : Lanczos
-FPS : 60

OBS Advanced settings :

-Color format : NV12
-YUV space : 709
-YUV range : Full

OBS Streaming settings (which work pretty well) :

-Encoder : x264
-Rescale : No (already set in video settings)
-Rate control : CBR
-Bitrate : 2500
-No custom buffer size
-Keyframe Interval : 2
-CPU Usage Preset : veryfast
-Profile : high
-Tune : none

Actual OBS Recording settings :

-Encoder : x264
-Recording format : mp4
-Rescale : No (already set in video settings)
-Rate control : CBR
(Should I set it to "CRF", as I edit the recording ?)

-Bitrate : 7500
(recommended bitrate by YouTube for 720p60)

-No custom buffer size
(Can it be set to 0 ?)

-Keyframe Interval : 0
(Must be set to 2 ?)

-CPU Usage Preset : veryfast
-Profile : high
-Tune : none


Thanks ! :)

 

[RytoEX]

If you're looking for recommendations on high quality recordings, I highly recommend this guide.

 

[Marin Taverniers]

Thanks ! I already saw this guide, but when I apply the recommended settings, I still have problems :

With x264 :
High CPU load, but good quality

With NVENC :
Low CPU load, but lags with video capture sources and OBS transitions...

 

[RytoEX]

If you're experiencing actual issues, please post a log of a session with a streaming/recording attempt where the issues occurred so that it can be examined.

 

[Marin Taverniers]

Okay, here is the log !

 

[RytoEX]

Try using a preset that isn't one of the low latency ones. For local recordings, the High Quality preset should be fine.

You can also enable "Use Two-Pass Encoding" and see if that helps, though it's a bit of a mystery what it actually does.

 

[Marin Taverniers]

I tried with High Quality preset and Two Pass Encoding, but now each time the video lags, the audio lags too...

 

[RytoEX]

Please post a new log when you change settings so that we can see the differences and advise appropriately. Does it lag the same way if you try this in a fresh Scene Collection? How about in a fresh Profile?

 

[Marin Taverniers]

(I edited my last post to join the log)

With a fresh Scene Collection, or a fresh Profile, I always have video and audio lags...

But I finally found a parameter which changed the recording quality :
-For video capture sources : I checked the "advanced option" (without changing anything)

Now (with High Quality and Two Pass Encoding checked), no audio lags, and less video lags !
If I find something better I'll let you know !

 

[Marin Taverniers]

Okay, so now I have a new problem (by using the settings in my last post) :

When I stream and record at the same time (and ONLY in this case), using x264 for streaming and NVenc for recording, the main audio track (for me the "1", which is used both for the stream and the recording) is 1 second ahead compared to the video (and the 3 other tracks on the recording, which are synchronized correctly)...

If I use the "QuickSync" encoder method, the main track is synchronized, but the 3 others are 1 second late...

The only case where it doesn't happen is when I use the same encoder for both streaming and recording...

 

[Marin Taverniers]

The problem I had with the synchronization between audio tracks in my recordings (by using NVenc) was finally resolved with an update of the NVIDIA drivers (current version : 375.70) !