Not quite sure how to cut down on dropped frames further; need help

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PrinceWatercress

New Member
I've recently purchased a used Elgato Game Capture HD to capture PlayStation 2 footage via component cable. It's been pretty good and pretty fun for the most part, and I've been able to make my videos look a little bit better, but I still keep dropping anywhere between 1 to 30 frames at random times, leaving me with a 0.1% or 0.2% when it comes to frames dropped during recording every single time, and I wish I could cut that percentage down to zero. I've provided two logs that I've uploaded after finding out about the Analyzer:

First Log

Second Log

At this point, I'm at my wits' end, and I'm not quite sure what to do anymore concerning how to cut down on dropped frames and eventually bring it down to zero. Should I increase the bitrate? Should I decrease the bitrate? I've been forced to experiment little by little on my own, since Internet searches haven't really helped out in the long run. I've figured a little bit of stuff out, but at the end of the day, the frame droppage is driving me crazy.

This is the desktop I'm using to record, for those interested.
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
Start with the basics:
1. Update OBS to the newest version.
2. Run OBS as Admin.
3. In Windows 10 versions 1809 and newer, we recommend that "Game Mode" be enabled for maximum gaming performance. Game Mode can be enabled via the Windows 10 "Settings" app, under Gaming > Game Mode.
NOTE #2 and #3 may not apply but just get it out the way.
4. Try setting your Output Resolution to 1280x720.
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
qhobbes said:
Start with the basics:
1. Update OBS to the newest version.
2. Run OBS as Admin.
3. In Windows 10 versions 1809 and newer, we recommend that "Game Mode" be enabled for maximum gaming performance. Game Mode can be enabled via the Windows 10 "Settings" app, under Gaming > Game Mode.
NOTE #2 and #3 may not apply but just get it out the way.
4. Try setting your Output Resolution to 1280x720.
Click to expand...

Did all this.

Recorded for about 16 minutes. The results are dramatically better. I hate to be the guy who's like "That's all it took?!?," but...that's all it took?!?

Thanks for the help; now to get this down to zero frames lost if possible.

Log file
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
Did a second test run.

Ended up losing 200 frames, and ended up with a 0.2% frame droppage as a result. Unlike the first test run, I added live commentary to this one, even though I'm not sure if that makes a bit of difference.

Log File
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
It looks like you're rescaling the output to 852x480. Uncheck this box in the Output Stream/Recording tabs.
This may or may not help, but try turning Windows Game Bar and DVR off.
If still having issues try lowering Common Framerate to 30.

If you plan on uploading/streaming these, having the YUV Color range set to "Full" will cause playback issues in certain browsers and on various video platforms. Shadows, highlights and color will look off. In OBS, go to "Settings -> Advanced" and set "YUV Color Range" back to "Partial".
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
qhobbes said:
It looks like you're rescaling the output to 852x480. Uncheck this box in the Output Stream/Recording tabs.
This may or may not help, but try turning Windows Game Bar and DVR off.
If still having issues try lowering Common Framerate to 30.

If you plan on uploading/streaming these, having the YUV Color range set to "Full" will cause playback issues in certain browsers and on various video platforms. Shadows, highlights and color will look off. In OBS, go to "Settings -> Advanced" and set "YUV Color Range" back to "Partial".
Click to expand...
I'll try all this and mention what happens later tonight.

Also, the audio buffering was different between the two log files from last night. Should I be concerned about that, or should I disregard it?
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
Try removing Game Capture from your sources and setting the FPS on your El Gato to 30.
Update your GeForce drivers if available.
Use the "Process priority" setting in Settings > Advanced to increase the processor priority of the program. It's common to give OBS "Above normal" process priority to ensure that OBS is prioritized by the system and running smoothly.
We recommend that "Game Mode" be enabled for maximum gaming performance. Game Mode can be enabled via the Windows 10 "Settings" app, under Gaming > Game Mode. This may not apply but just get it out the way.
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
Try lowering your Keyframe Interval to 2.

AFAIK, most PS2 games are 480 (few support 1080) and some support 60fps. Try setting your resolutions (base, output and el gato) to 854x480 or 848x480 and you may be able to achieve 60fps. You can use a vertical PS2 for your borders in non-widescreen games.
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
qhobbes said:
Try lowering your Keyframe Interval to 2.

AFAIK, most PS2 games are 480 (few support 1080) and some support 60fps. Try setting your resolutions (base, output and el gato) to 854x480 or 848x480 and you may be able to achieve 60fps. You can use a vertical PS2 for your borders in non-widescreen games.
Click to expand...

I can easily set the output and Elgato resolutions to 480, but I'm not exactly sure how to set the base to 480. Lowest setting I can get for base is 1280x720, and I'm not sure exactly how to go about doing it.
 
P

PrinceWatercress

New Member
qhobbes said:
Just click in the boxes and manually type it in.
Click to expand...

Ah. Had no idea that you could do that. I was under the impression that you couldn't click on the box and change it that way.

Also, I started having a massive amount of frames, and I ended up losing more frames in the first few seconds than in the entirety of the second log file session from last night. I have the feeling the two-second keyframe interval might have something to do with it.
 
P

PrinceWatercress

New Member
PrinceWatercress said:
Ah. Had no idea that you could do that. I was under the impression that you couldn't click on the box and change it that way.

Also, I started having a massive amount of frames, and I ended up losing more frames in the first few seconds than in the entirety of the second log file session from last night. I have the feeling the two-second keyframe interval might have something to do with it.
Click to expand...
*started losing a massive amount of frames.

Wish you could edit posts long after the fact.
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
Alright, let's try this again...

qhobbes said:
Try lowering your Keyframe Interval to 2.

AFAIK, most PS2 games are 480 (few support 1080) and some support 60fps. Try setting your resolutions (base, output and el gato) to 854x480 or 848x480 and you may be able to achieve 60fps. You can use a vertical PS2 for your borders in non-widescreen games.
Click to expand...

Log file

When I set the Keyframe Interval to 2, I ended up losing a lot of frames during the first minute or recording, as opposed to throughout a whole 19-minute session...so I had to set it back to zero.

1596339467429.png


Also, having "Convert Standard Definition Input to 640x480" checked off will also lead to a lot of lost frames in a short amount of time, so I stayed away from doing that as well.

Nice to see that I'm having a good sort of consistency, but still hoping to see what else I can do to make videos better.
 
qhobbes

qhobbes

Active Member
I don't have an El Gato and I'm really confused by this. Your OP states component but this shows composite and I'm not sure what Profile here means but if it's about resolution, there are no 720 PS2 games, so use 480 or 1080 if you're playing one of those games. "Convert Standard Definition Input to 640x480" makes about as much since as "Convert High Definition Input to 1920x1080". Hopefully a ninja de el gato can help you out.
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
qhobbes said:
I don't have an El Gato and I'm really confused by this. Your OP states component but this shows composite and I'm not sure what Profile here means but if it's about resolution, there are no 720 PS2 games, so use 480 or 1080 if you're playing one of those games. "Convert Standard Definition Input to 640x480" makes about as much since as "Convert High Definition Input to 1920x1080". Hopefully a ninja de el gato can help you out.
Click to expand...

Why did I type "component?" I meant to say "composite" the whole time. Still getting those two confused for some reason.

Again, thanks for the help so far. Thankfully, I'm not losing as many frames as I once did. Still wanting to improve my videos, but this is a good start.
 
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PrinceWatercress

New Member
1596382666074.png

I just now realized that this thing right here cost me a bunch of frames when I had it open. Heck, my CPU wasn't working as hard, either. I am not a clever man.

tl;dr: I re-recorded a BBC Micro video because I'm using this for more than just PlayStation 2, and I didn't go to View > Toolbars > Stats like I usually do because I was sick and tired of looking up at it every few seconds. When I stopped the video and opened it up, this was what I got.

Now to apply this knowledge to PlayStation 2 recording.

Log File
 
P

PrinceWatercress

New Member
Log File

Tried this with PlayStation 2 recording. Still got 30 frames dropped in a 18 1/2 minute recording at 30 fps. No change, but at least I know I can do something consistent now.

At this rate, I'm not quite sure what to do next, or if there even is something I can do. Unless I can think of something, this will probably be my last post in this thread.

Thanks again for all the help!
 
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