Question / Help Newbie Streamer questions

[FrenziedMuffin]

Hello All,

1. I'm newer to the streaming and I have some questions. I run native 2560x1440 resolution on my PC and I havn't had any issues getting OBS to function however I obviously need to downscale my stream for viewers. I assume streaming at 720p would be optimal quality wise because it is exactly half of my resolution?

2. Can I stream @ 60fps / 720p if I have bitrate clocked to 3300kb? (My max is 4100kb up) I run W7 64bit, i7 (Sandy), 580GTX.

3. I'm commonly in Ventrilo and I've figured out how to get myself muted so people cannot hear me on my stream (or when I talk in Vent), but when friends talk they are heard. How do I stop this while still keeping the games sound going? I run a simple setup with just a Sennheiser HD-598 (with mod mic) and Asus Xonar DG (needed a AMP for headset) so I lack dedicated speakers. I tried adding a dedicated Ventrilo Scene but I was lost.

4. Whats easiest way to test my own stream when I go live? Outside of having a friend watch...

5. Does twitch throttle my bitrate? How does the stream figure out your broadcasted resolutions? I seem tohave more luck with hashd.tv, but I'd like to get working on multiple sites.

Thanks!

 

[hilalpro]

1-downscaling to 720p would be great because of your cpu and also the bitrate depending on what you're streaming, the half ratio doesn't really matter. it will look less sharp than downscaling from or to 1920x1080 for example.

2- 60 fps is not a great idea if you're playing the game at 2560x1440 depending on what game. just stick to 30fps

3-close obs and ventrilo install a program called dfx audio enhancer. run ventrilo and make sure that it output to the physical playback device (not "default" not dfx) run obs and make sure that it uses the "default" device.

4-watch the vods, or if you must, run the stream from another computer

5-they only accept up to a certain amount (4 to 6k lately) but that doesn't matter since your upload is limited in the "green zone". services such as hyperstreamlive can help you stream to multiple sites.

6-you're welcome

 

[FrenziedMuffin]

Stream settings seem to work well. I tested them last night. I noticed Twitch recommends using CBR instead of VBR and there are arguments on both sides. I ran CBR last night and previously I ran VBR... I didn't really see a difference. Is there a recommendation here?

I tried DFX also and it did work, but I really do not like that program. I downloaded Virtual Audio Cables which is more what I'm looking for. I attempted to get that working, but I must be doing something wrong. I'm trying to get it so I do not have to use the repeaters of VAC. I did searching on this forum without much information regarding the issue. It's more of a VAC issue after all, but for anyone trying to do the same as myself here is a quick guide:

"All that really needed is to just install VAC, add one virtual recording line (VAC does this automatically) then from the properties of each recording device (usb mic and stereo mix) select from the listen tab to listen to this device with virtual line 1.

After it's setup Looks something like this...

setting this will direct the audio from the listened device to VAC 1. I may or may not have this setup perfect at the moment because I recently updated my audio drivers. The idea of course is to pipe stereo mix and your usb mic into VAC

"

Credits: http://multiboxing.com/forums/f2/really ... -4700.html

For OBS you would setup the Audio Settings to run through VAC1 and not your physical hardware. In your VoIP client you will need to tell it to use your physical hardware NOT your VAC1. This should make it so OBS does not stream the VoIP chatter because it is going through a different "line" on your PC.

I haven't tested this yet myself, but I want to post since many people have the same issue here.

 

[Krazy]

CBR is recommended because you don't have to deal with bitrate spikes, and the quality difference is minimal in almost all cases. This is why Twitch recommends it, and I have been convinced of its merit as well, especially if you are going above 2500 bitrate.

I don't really see that you would have any problems trying to do a 60fps stream. Can't hurt to test it out, right?

 

[FrenziedMuffin]

Updating the VAC issue:

My setup I has an Asus Xonar DG sound card and a 3.5mm jacked headset. In order for me to stream without ventrilo making noise I had to do the following:

1. Install VAC
2. Go to Start > VAC > Control Panel and set cables to 2

3. Go to Start > Control Panel > Sound
4. Under the Playback tab right click Line 1 and set it to Default Device. Leave your headset/speakers as the Default Communication Device. Should look similar to this:

5. Under the Recording tab go to Line 1 > Right Click > Properties > Listen tab > Check Listen to this device and select your speakers/headset from dropdown:

6. Repeat step 5 for Line 2.
7. Go to Vent/Skype/Mumble/TS and set Output device to Line 2:

8. Go to OBS > Settings > Audio > Set Desktop Audio Device to Line 1. Since this is the default audio device it will pickup all audio except your VoIP program.

9. Congrats you did it!

I hope this helps someone out there. The cool thing with this setup is if you WANT viewers to hear your chatter set your VoIP to Line 1 and people can then hear your chatter. In addition this setup does not need repeaters to work so the delay is almost nonexistent.

 

[FrenziedMuffin]

CBR is recommended because you don't have to deal with bitrate spikes, and the quality difference is minimal in almost all cases. This is why Twitch recommends it, and I have been convinced of its merit as well, especially if you are going above 2500 bitrate.

I don't really see that you would have any problems trying to do a 60fps stream. Can't hurt to test it out, right?

I'll try 60fps tonight and see. Thanks!