Hello!
I am having an issue getting smooth video from a USB composite capture card - but cannot justifiably say that it's the capture card's fault, because it's possible with software other than OBS. The card is following the UVC standard for compatibility, so can be accessed and used from most softwares I've tried.
I'm testing this with a bare-bones OBS, where most settings are either not in use or have been left as default - I queried the device using ffmpeg so can say for certain that one of the output options supported by the device is:
pixel_format=yuyv422 min s=480x320 fps=30 max s=480x320 fps 30
note: research suggests that "yuyv422" and "yuy2" refer to the same thing
I am attaching annoted screenshots of things, to ensure that I am as helpful as possible.
The first batch of screenshots is here: (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y9Tm9-AbbzAcx-P8xjn5k5RBkoe-_78A?usp=share_link)
The legend for these screenshots is written below
Legend:
1) this is the screenshot of ffmpeg in cmd after running "list_devices" (I only have one "AV TO USB2.0" device connected)
2) this is a screenshot of what my OBS looks like (version 27.2.4, 64 bit)
3) this is a screenshot of the settings for my video source (labelled "composite")
Video format options are "any", "YUY2" and "MJPEG"
Color space options are "default", 709, 601
Also in the screenshot you can see that there are no options to "configure video"
4) This is what my recording settings look like in OBS
5) This is what my advanced settings look like in OBS
6) Just in case, this is what my video setting looks like in OBS
7) This is what ffmpeg spits out when recording a few seconds (image 1 of 2)
8) This is what ffmpeg spits out when recording a few seconds (image 2 of 2)
9) screenshot showing my ffmpeg version info (not OBS's ffmpeg, if that makes sense...)
Oh and of course, here is the command I am using in ffmpeg (resulting in smooth video output)
ffmpeg -f dshow -rtbufsize 200M -video_size 480x320 -framerate 30 -pixel_format yuyv422 -i video="AV TO USB2.0" -vcodec libx264 -b 2500k ffm_rectest.mkv
To demonstrate the difference in image quality (smoothness), I recorded several different things:
1: two game trailers (I will include the original files for those trailers in the files)
2: scrolling through options in the xmb menu of the ps3
3: moving and looking around in a game, locally, without bots
Here are all the video files (they are named and put into folders appropriately):
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W_RnORpL4ZhBrjMDRCUi3Li_eSct85SA?usp=share_link)
it goes without saying that I recommend not streaming the videos from the internet, but playing them back locally, to help evaluate the footage better.
Here is the metadata information for both of the "moving and looking around in a game" videos, as provided by VLC, avidemux, and MediaInfo, these screenshots are in two different folders:
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18dRIvsnNUOOnkFErmZJapFnIIFurfLw5?usp=share_link)
If it's easier, here's a google drive link to all 3 folders:
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AZlI-GDav7d1AAbs7El9bGPQoLGIYPoZ?usp=share_link)
Extra:
"Why are the recorded videos in 3:2 format?" This is just a limitation of the composite converter I am using (not the USB converter! The info the USB converter receives is already in 3:2 format), I am able to resize the videos in post and it hardly makes them look any worse than they already do.
"Are you breaking copyright by uploading the videos?" These videos are freely available on the Playstation Store, and were downloaded and stored onto local storage legally without any 3rd party programs, the download option is offered by Sony in the PS Store - they are publically available and no DRM had to be overcome.
"Where are the recordings through VLC media player?" When I tested VLC media player, the recording was just about as smooth as ffmpeg, but it was "raw" and of massive file size, so i didn't feel it was a fair comparison to include those results.
Conclusion: I would be willing to try just about anything to get this sorted out, I am in the process of buying some other USB converters that may or may not work better with OBS, but I really have no reason to believe my current issue is with the hardware, it looks to be with OBS - which is a shame, because it does so many things amazingly, I'm sure it can be fixed, likely my lack of knowledge is stopping me from figuring it out.
If anyone would be willing to invest a little bit of time into helping me sort this, I would much appreciate it!
I am having an issue getting smooth video from a USB composite capture card - but cannot justifiably say that it's the capture card's fault, because it's possible with software other than OBS. The card is following the UVC standard for compatibility, so can be accessed and used from most softwares I've tried.
I'm testing this with a bare-bones OBS, where most settings are either not in use or have been left as default - I queried the device using ffmpeg so can say for certain that one of the output options supported by the device is:
pixel_format=yuyv422 min s=480x320 fps=30 max s=480x320 fps 30
note: research suggests that "yuyv422" and "yuy2" refer to the same thing
I am attaching annoted screenshots of things, to ensure that I am as helpful as possible.
The first batch of screenshots is here: (https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y9Tm9-AbbzAcx-P8xjn5k5RBkoe-_78A?usp=share_link)
The legend for these screenshots is written below
Legend:
1) this is the screenshot of ffmpeg in cmd after running "list_devices" (I only have one "AV TO USB2.0" device connected)
2) this is a screenshot of what my OBS looks like (version 27.2.4, 64 bit)
3) this is a screenshot of the settings for my video source (labelled "composite")
Video format options are "any", "YUY2" and "MJPEG"
Color space options are "default", 709, 601
Also in the screenshot you can see that there are no options to "configure video"
4) This is what my recording settings look like in OBS
5) This is what my advanced settings look like in OBS
6) Just in case, this is what my video setting looks like in OBS
7) This is what ffmpeg spits out when recording a few seconds (image 1 of 2)
8) This is what ffmpeg spits out when recording a few seconds (image 2 of 2)
9) screenshot showing my ffmpeg version info (not OBS's ffmpeg, if that makes sense...)
Oh and of course, here is the command I am using in ffmpeg (resulting in smooth video output)
ffmpeg -f dshow -rtbufsize 200M -video_size 480x320 -framerate 30 -pixel_format yuyv422 -i video="AV TO USB2.0" -vcodec libx264 -b 2500k ffm_rectest.mkv
To demonstrate the difference in image quality (smoothness), I recorded several different things:
1: two game trailers (I will include the original files for those trailers in the files)
2: scrolling through options in the xmb menu of the ps3
3: moving and looking around in a game, locally, without bots
Here are all the video files (they are named and put into folders appropriately):
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1W_RnORpL4ZhBrjMDRCUi3Li_eSct85SA?usp=share_link)
it goes without saying that I recommend not streaming the videos from the internet, but playing them back locally, to help evaluate the footage better.
Here is the metadata information for both of the "moving and looking around in a game" videos, as provided by VLC, avidemux, and MediaInfo, these screenshots are in two different folders:
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/18dRIvsnNUOOnkFErmZJapFnIIFurfLw5?usp=share_link)
If it's easier, here's a google drive link to all 3 folders:
(https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1AZlI-GDav7d1AAbs7El9bGPQoLGIYPoZ?usp=share_link)
Extra:
"Why are the recorded videos in 3:2 format?" This is just a limitation of the composite converter I am using (not the USB converter! The info the USB converter receives is already in 3:2 format), I am able to resize the videos in post and it hardly makes them look any worse than they already do.
"Are you breaking copyright by uploading the videos?" These videos are freely available on the Playstation Store, and were downloaded and stored onto local storage legally without any 3rd party programs, the download option is offered by Sony in the PS Store - they are publically available and no DRM had to be overcome.
"Where are the recordings through VLC media player?" When I tested VLC media player, the recording was just about as smooth as ffmpeg, but it was "raw" and of massive file size, so i didn't feel it was a fair comparison to include those results.
Conclusion: I would be willing to try just about anything to get this sorted out, I am in the process of buying some other USB converters that may or may not work better with OBS, but I really have no reason to believe my current issue is with the hardware, it looks to be with OBS - which is a shame, because it does so many things amazingly, I'm sure it can be fixed, likely my lack of knowledge is stopping me from figuring it out.
If anyone would be willing to invest a little bit of time into helping me sort this, I would much appreciate it!