Question / Help Help Required (Feel free to laugh at me too)

R

radikal

New Member
Hey guys,

To get this out of the way first I'm a complete noob with OBS. I've watched and read a good few guides to try and get it set up but I'm getting terrible performance from it.
I am trying to use it for something that it wasn't totally intended for... To record videos of DJ mixes I make at home. I have 3 webcams connected to OBS and have set up the auto switcher to flick between them every 30 seconds.

The CPU runs between 2.5-5% usage but the frame rate is terrible, the webcams I'm using are only C270s running at 720p 30fps. The frame rate in the bottom right of OBS dips down into the teens. I'm not at home at the moment so I'm unable to post support files... is it just the most recent log file that I need to post / upload? Or am I missing something really stupid?

Thanks
 
Please post a link to a clean log file. To make a clean log file, follow these steps:

  1. Restart OBS
  2. Start your stream/recording for ~30 seconds and stop it again. Make sure you replicate any issues as best you can, which means having any games/apps open and captured, etc.
  3. Select Help > Log Files > Upload Current Log File. Copy the URL and paste it here.

(Note: If you do not see a URL, you will need to update OBS Studio to version 21.1+)
 
https://hastebin.com/roconuhozu

I bring logs

Thanks H4ndy, Hopefully this contains where I'm going wrong... I'm getting seriously frustrated with this, my PC is an old spec but should easily be up to the task here, CPU usage seems low so I'm fairly sure it is a config problem that's giving me such poor performance.
 
Last edited:
Comparing my log file with others, it looks like there's a fair bit of information missing in my log. I let OBS record for a couple of minutes but I can't see any reference to it recording in the file. The time stamps appear to show that the log file is only 1 minutes worth.
 
On every program start, OBS begins a new log file. The name of the log file is the timestamp of the program start. On program ending, OBS writes a footer to it, containing some more debug info.

So what you should do to create a perfect log of your problem is to terminate any running OBS, then start it to begin a fresh log. Then immediately begin recording/streaming for 5 minutes and stop recording/streaming. Then terminate OBS to close the log to make it append the footer. Then restart OBS and upload the last log file. Not the current log file.
If you restarted OBS multiple times and your logfile was created somewhat earlier, open the log folder ("Show log files") and identify the correct log with your recording with the help of the file name. You can as well open every log file into notepad and search for "Streaming Stop" or "Recording Stop" to see if it contains any completed streaming or recording attempt (look for "Stop", which means completed - unfinished sessions are not suitable for analysis).
 
koala said:
On every program start, OBS begins a new log file. The name of the log file is the timestamp of the program start. On program ending, OBS writes a footer to it, containing some more debug info.

So what you should do to create a perfect log of your problem is to terminate any running OBS, then start it to begin a fresh log. Then immediately begin recording/streaming for 5 minutes and stop recording/streaming. Then terminate OBS to close the log to make it append the footer. Then restart OBS and upload the last log file. Not the current log file.
If you restarted OBS multiple times and your logfile was created somewhat earlier, open the log folder ("Show log files") and identify the correct log with your recording with the help of the file name. You can as well open every log file into notepad and search for "Streaming Stop" or "Recording Stop" to see if it contains any completed streaming or recording attempt (look for "Stop", which means completed - unfinished sessions are not suitable for analysis).
Click to expand...

Got it, thanks Koala... I'll do that when I get home tonight. I'll post the full log file up in a few hours.
 
Your GPU is overloaded, so frames are lagged and/or lost on the GPU. Since you only have camera sources and no capture of any app window, it is the compositing process of OBS. You set an unusual color format that eats up resources and provides no benefit in your case. Reset it to the defaults.
Color format: NV12
YUV color Space 601
YUV Color Range Partial
 
koala said:
Your GPU is overloaded, so frames are lagged and/or lost on the GPU. Since you only have camera sources and no capture of any app window, it is the compositing process of OBS. You set an unusual color format that eats up resources and provides no benefit in your case. Reset it to the defaults.
Color format: NV12
YUV color Space 601
YUV Color Range Partial
Click to expand...

Hey man, I tried changing the color settings but the end result doesn't seem to have improved. New log https://hastebin.com/japoqulini

On the GPU subject, I know this is a crappy one, I pulled it from my HTPC. Does a good GPU make a difference in my situation using only webcams?
 
Get a new graphics card. The AMD Radeon HD 5450 seems so low level it isn't even capable enough to do the compositing done by OBS.

You may have already a second and more powerful GPU. Your Intel i5-3340 has an integrated Intel HD graphics that is more powerful than this AMD card. You can use it if the motherboard has support for it. If the motherboard has support, you have a an additional connector on the backplane of your PC that's not coming from an expansion card but is part of the motherboard backplane. You may have to activate the "igpu" in the BIOS of your PC as well. If you cannot find neither the BIOS setting nor the backplane outlet, you have no support, though.

Comparison of the AMD versus the integrated GPUs of your CPU generation:
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Radeon-HD-5450-vs-Intel-HD-3000-vs-Intel-HD-4000/7vs26vs2
 
koala said:
Get a new graphics card. The AMD Radeon HD 5450 seems so low level it isn't even capable enough to do the compositing done by OBS.

You may have already a second and more powerful GPU. Your Intel i5-3340 has an integrated Intel HD graphics that is more powerful than this AMD card. You can use it if the motherboard has support for it. If the motherboard has support, you have a an additional connector on the backplane of your PC that's not coming from an expansion card but is part of the motherboard backplane. You may have to activate the "igpu" in the BIOS of your PC as well. If you cannot find neither the BIOS setting nor the backplane outlet, you have no support, though.

Comparison of the AMD versus the integrated GPUs of your CPU generation:
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Radeon-HD-5450-vs-Intel-HD-3000-vs-Intel-HD-4000/7vs26vs2
Click to expand...

Thanks Koala, I'll try with the onboard graphics but I'm guessing if i were to buy a 1050ti and use NVENC performance should improve drastically. Yes my onboard GPU is disabled in the BIOS so I will re-enable it. Believe it or not I used to work a system builder in my first job out of school and have worked in IT ever since (my work is now networking and security so this side is pretty alien to me). The last nice graphics card I bought was a Geforce 4 Ti 4600 which shows both how old I am and how out of date my knowledge is.

EDIT:

Ok I've just ordered a 1050ti, I found a deal on ebuyer.com that came with a free 120gb kingston SSD (which I was planning to get as a scratch disk to record to, instead of using my boot SSD). They will be delivered on Friday so I will report back once it's installed.
 
Last edited:
I try to explain a bit instead of just writing "click here", because the technical background of many people these days is not very high. If I tell them "enable igpu in bios", many would ask "what's a bios?". And it happened not only once that people bought a high-end PC with a $500 GPU but plugged their monitor into the internal graphics on the mainboard because of the cable connector and played their games on low settings for 2 years, without complaint or questioning the mediocre graphics performance.
 
koala said:
I try to explain a bit instead of just writing "click here", because the technical background of many people these days is not very high. If I tell them "enable igpu in bios", many would ask "what's a bios?". And it happened not only once that people bought a high-end PC with a $500 GPU but plugged their monitor into the internal graphics on the mainboard because of the cable connector and played their games on low settings for 2 years, without complaint or questioning the mediocre graphics performance.
Click to expand...

I totally understand, when I'm trying to explain something technical to someone I don't know I always start lower and then get more technical if they seem to understand me.

I've not played PC games for years, hence my lack of current gaming technology knowledge. I've been using a mac for DJing for a long time now until a few months ago when I decided to video record or perhaps live stream my mixes... that's when I started looking at OBS. I dismantled my HTPC and stuck the bits into a new case that fits into my deck stand... I guess some of the kit is older than I realised, the only thing that old 5450 used to do was watch videos on kodi.

It was probably time the system and my knowledge got an upgrade.

Thanks for your help so far
 
The new graphics card has been delivered, quicker than I expected too. I'll report back on performance once I've got it installed.
 
koala said:
Get a new graphics card. The AMD Radeon HD 5450 seems so low level it isn't even capable enough to do the compositing done by OBS.

You may have already a second and more powerful GPU. Your Intel i5-3340 has an integrated Intel HD graphics that is more powerful than this AMD card. You can use it if the motherboard has support for it. If the motherboard has support, you have a an additional connector on the backplane of your PC that's not coming from an expansion card but is part of the motherboard backplane. You may have to activate the "igpu" in the BIOS of your PC as well. If you cannot find neither the BIOS setting nor the backplane outlet, you have no support, though.

Comparison of the AMD versus the integrated GPUs of your CPU generation:
https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/compare/Radeon-HD-5450-vs-Intel-HD-3000-vs-Intel-HD-4000/7vs26vs2
Click to expand...

The new card totally resolved my problem. Immediately I got a decent quality recording. Thanks for your help koala
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top