Question / Help Help with replay buffer feature.

[LGx]

Hey.

I haven't tried it in a few months but I remember having issues with it so I gave up. I believe the problem was the memory usage, but I'm gonna try it out again and see what happens. I have a couple questions though in the mean time. I'd really to set it at 5 minutes but the estimated memory usage is way over the amount of RAM I have.

I'm guessing this has to do with my encoding settings? They probably are a little overkill but I hate messing with them and I really like the settings I found, the results from them anyway.

The game I want to use this feature for isn't CPU or GPU intensive at all. I was wondering how this replay buffer works, does it only use RAM or could it use my CPU power or even the GPU?

I've been trying to figure out how to set up a replay buffer for this game for the past year but I can never get it how I want it. My CPU is a 4690k and the GPU is a 7850 2GB. I believe the GPU supports AMD VCE (1.0?) but I really don't know much about VCE. I know about this thread, https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/obs-branch-with-amd-vce-support.13996/ but I get confused reading that almost immediately. I think it's saying that it only works now for people using old drivers. But I'm also not sure if it even applies to the replay buffer feature or not.

I was really excited about Raptr to do the replays but my game is so unpopular that it wasn't listed in their library, and then they moved to Plays.tv and I can't even remember now but I was having issues with that as well. I tried the Windows 10 replay thing but that didn't work well either. I also tried, I think RadeonPro or maybe it was MSI Afterburner but I remember the replays from that being extremely dark for some reason. I wish I had the money, I'd just buy an nVidia card that supports Shadowplay.

If anyone has any ideas or solutions, please let me know. Thanks

 

[FerretBomb]

Post a logfile, as it requests when you open a thread in Q&H. We really do need it, to be able to help.

This is a function of your set (or estimated) bitrate. No, there is no way to use the CPU/GPU instead of RAM. No idea what you mean by that, but no.

 

[LGx]

https://gist.github.com/anonymous/4f743ac7ca2f96d46a0b447d0da3db35 (Current)

https://gist.github.com/9f93909725f3167c36ed71c1b735df76 (Two days ago)

I have two profiles, one for streaming and the other for local recordings. I grabbed the recent logs since I haven't had the streaming profile on in a while. The current log file might show the quick 5 min test I did on the buffer replay, which resulted in I guess all my memory be used because the game became non-responsive.

I'm sure you'll see my crazy encoding settings and question how I came to using them, all I can say is I have no idea :D Probably a mixture of reading a bunch of different places. The video file sizes do end up big but Handbrake knocks them down quite a bit without any noticeable quality loss. The settings work really good and I have no other problems outside this buffer replay feature.

I'll gladly change them though if you think I can keep the same quality with different settings.

 

[FerretBomb]

Step 1: Remove all custom x264 settings. There are a LOT of 'best settings' guides out there, and the most common mark of one that's just parroted information that the author heard from somewhere else is custom settings. Most of them are complete crap, do nothing, or just set default settings anyway. Some are even harmful.

For local recording, follow ALL steps of this guide:
https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.16/
You'll get better quality and lower impact, as well as not waste gobs of bitrate when it isn't needed (as the current settings do). Seriously, it's no wonder that it wants that much RAM for the replay buffer. The current ones are... very bad.

For streaming to Twitch, assuming you're non-partnered, use the 'golden point' settings:
720p, 30fps, 2000kbps, x264 Veryfast. No custom buffer or x264 settings.
Both of your logs were only local recording, but if the streaming settings are in the same state, they need to be purged.
Use the above instead; they're the best tradeoff between resolution, smoothness and image quality, while still working within a realistically watchable nonpartner bitrate limit.


You DEFINITELY don't need 320kbps AAC audio. It's a much better codec than MP3 was, and 128kbps (or even 96!) will be audibly indistinguishable, while saving significant amounts of bitrate.

 

[LGx]

It was that simple huh. Thanks so much. Now I can use the replay buffer for a ridiculous amount of time if I wanted.

I actually used that guide in the past and found a good quality setting that I liked, I just can't remember why I changed it though. If it was because of something important then I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I do believe I did my streaming profile correctly though. I don't think I even touched the advanced settings for streaming. I found my bitrate by using the Twitch Bandwidth tool, I found the average upload speed of all the servers it listed and came out to 2715. I might have actually subtracted a certain amount if the guide suggested me to but I can't remember now. My UL speed around the USA is 4 mbps so I think 2715 is good. I don't have any buffering, lag, or freezing issues with it.

I don't really stream though, I just wanted to test it out and see if I even could. I'd take it more seriously if ever got internet with better upload speed. I do have another question that you might know the answer to. I tried Twitch and Youtube's streaming program and I used the same OBS settings for both. For some reason when I look at the past broadcasts of each, Youtube's looks way more pixelated than Twitch. I feel like it's not using the full 2715 kb/s. Here's a picture of what you need to select before you can stream with Youtube.

So I would choose the 720p setting, it just seemed like it was defaulting to like say the 1500 kbps instead of using 2715 kb/s. I'm not sure though, that might not even be possible.

If you're not sure then it's fine. Thanks a ton though for helping me with recordings settings.