Question / Help New to The Video Recording World.

[Probacon1337]

Hello, world.

I'm completely new at live streaming and video recording. I downloaded OBS mostly because of the fact that I can just record video and then upload it. I've done a few tests with a few Minecraft recordings and I've noticed that the video looks like shit. It looks pixelated. Is there something I'm doing wrong?

I'd list specs but, because I'm new, I have no idea what to give.

 

[Kharay]

Well, a very easy way to provide us with exactly the information we'd need to help you out is to provide us with a recent OBS log. Also, if you could show us the recording that goes with that OBS log, that would be ideal.

And on a more personal note, I have quite a bit of experience in capturing Minecraft in OBS and I can say this much; it is not the easiest title to capture at crystal clarity. Something about Minecraft's graphics make it quite hard to get looking crystal clear. Which is not to say it can't be done but it's more involved than other titles are.

 

[Probacon1337]

After fooling around with a few things and adjusting some settings I managed to make it look slightly better than before.
Here's the log:

Spoiler

10:51:36: Open Broadcaster Software v0.552b - 32bit (´・ω・｀)
10:51:36: -------------------------------
10:51:36: CPU Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3450 CPU @ 3.10GHz
10:51:36: CPU Speed: 3093MHz
10:51:36: Physical Memory: 4095MB Total, 4095MB Free
10:51:36: stepping id: 9, model 10, family 6, type 0, extmodel 1, extfamily 0, HTT 1, logical cores 4, total cores 4
10:51:36: monitor 1: pos={0, 0}, size={1920, 1080}
10:51:36: Windows Version: 6.1 Build 7601 S
10:51:36: Aero is Disabled
10:51:36: -------------------------------
10:51:36: OBS Modules:
10:51:36: Base Address Module
10:51:36: 00380000 OBS.exe
10:51:36: 72130000 OBSApi.dll
10:51:36: 72100000 DShowPlugin.dll
10:51:36: 73110000 GraphicsCapture.dll
10:51:36: 720E0000 NoiseGate.dll
10:51:36: 720C0000 PSVPlugin.dll
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: Adapter 1
10:51:36: Video Adapter: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
10:51:36: Video Adapter Dedicated Video Memory: 1025966080
10:51:36: Video Adapter Shared System Memory: 3221106688
10:51:36: =====Stream Start: 2013-08-26, 10:51:36===============================================
10:51:36: Multithreaded optimizations: On
10:51:36: Base resolution: 1920x1080
10:51:36: Output resolution: 1920x1080
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: Loading up D3D10 on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 Ti...
10:51:36: Playback device {0.0.0.00000000}.{4006717e-5c28-40f9-86ab-d9ff5a184b2e}
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: Using desktop audio input: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
10:51:36: Using 7.1 surround speaker setup
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: Audio Encoding: AAC
10:51:36: bitrate: 256
10:51:36: Using graphics capture
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: Video Encoding: x264
10:51:36: fps: 60
10:51:36: width: 1920, height: 1080
10:51:36: preset: veryfast
10:51:36: CBR: no
10:51:36: CFR: no
10:51:36: max bitrate: 5000
10:51:36: buffer size: 5000
10:51:36: quality: 9
10:51:36: ------------------------------------------
10:51:36: MMDeviceAudioSource: Frequency for device 'Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)' is 1536000, samples per sec is 48000
10:51:36: SharedTexCapture hooked
10:52:21: Total frames rendered: 2384, number of late frames: 328 (13.76%) (it's okay for some frames to be late)
10:52:21:
10:52:21: Profiler results:
10:52:21:
10:52:21: ==============================================================
10:52:21: frame - [100%] [avg time: 7.534 ms (cpu time: avg 2.872 ms, total 6848.45 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 99.9%] [unaccounted: 0.133%]
10:52:21: | frame preprocessing and rendering - [6.45%] [avg time: 0.486 ms (cpu time: avg 0.359 ms, total 858.005 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 0.0265%] [unaccounted: 6.42%]
10:52:21: | | scene->Preprocess - [0.0265%] [avg time: 0.002 ms (cpu time: avg 0 ms, total 0 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1]
10:52:21: | video encoding and uploading - [93.4%] [avg time: 7.038 ms (cpu time: avg 2.512 ms, total 5990.44 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1] [children: 89.5%] [unaccounted: 3.88%]
10:52:21: | | flush - [2.02%] [avg time: 0.152 ms (cpu time: avg 0.071 ms, total 171.601 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1]
10:52:21: | | CopyResource - [2%] [avg time: 0.151 ms (cpu time: avg 0.006 ms, total 15.6 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 0]
10:52:21: | | conversion to 4:2:0 - [2.15%] [avg time: 0.162 ms (cpu time: avg 0.013 ms, total 31.2 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 0]
10:52:21: | | call to encoder - [83.2%] [avg time: 6.268 ms (cpu time: avg 2.355 ms, total 5616.04 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 0]
10:52:21: | | sending stuff out - [0.173%] [avg time: 0.013 ms (cpu time: avg 0.032 ms, total 78 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 0]
10:52:21: | Convert444Threads - [485%] [avg time: 36.522 ms (cpu time: avg 2.198 ms, total 5241.63 ms)] [avg calls per frame: 1]
10:52:21: ==============================================================
10:52:21:
10:52:21: =====Stream End: 2013-08-26, 10:52:21=================================================


Last game capture log:
2013-08-26, 10:51:36: we're booting up:
10:51:36: NV Capture available
10:51:36: FBO available
10:51:36: GL Present
10:51:36: (half life scientist) everything.. seems to be in order
10:51:36: SwapBuffers(889260326) Called
10:51:36: setting up gl data
10:51:36: share device: 257414280
10:51:36: share texture: 257417648
10:51:36: share device handle: 3740474686
10:51:36: share texture handle: 3700006162
10:51:36: DoGLGPUHook: success
10:51:36: wglSwapBuffers(889260326) Called
10:52:21: stop requested, terminating gl capture
10:52:21: ---------------------- Cleared OpenGL Capture ----------------------
10:52:21: wglSwapBuffers(889260326) Called
10:52:21: setting up gl data
10:52:21: SwapBuffers(889260326) Called
10:52:22: new GL DC found, terminating gl capture
10:52:22: ---------------------- Cleared OpenGL Capture ----------------------
10:52:22: wglSwapBuffers(570494534) Called
10:52:22: setting up gl data
10:52:22: SwapBuffers(570494534) Called

 

[Kharay]

So, can we see the recording that goes with that log?

Anyhow, a couple of things of note... 1080p@60 FPS is a bit hard on your machine, it would appear. Try using Resolution Downscaling (in OBS) by at least 25% (1.25). You're experiencing quite a number of late frames as it is and downscaling the resolution will help. Alternatively, drop the framerate. If you go with the resolution downscale, just use the Lanczos filter.

Regarding bitrate... if it's purely for a local recording, try the following:

VBR, Max Bitrate: 1000 Kbps, Custom Buffer Size: 0 (yes, zero), Quality 10. Having a custom buffer size 0 will force the encoder into using just as much bitrate as it needs to meet the quality demand.