Question / Help OBS for Recording (specific requirements; want black screen!)

[s3773736363]

We found OBS after searching various programs for recording and really love its ease and customizability.

We want to record to file, not stream, and want to ideally get our filesize down to about 300mb-400mb for a 60 minute video.
Any recommendations for settings to get the best quality video for that file size?

The other thing we would like is to have the monitor go black while recording. We use a Logitech c930e webcam to record the room and set energy settings to turn off the screen, however OBS prevents this from kicking in.

I setup another program, the user can manually click to turn off the monitor, but this adds another step. Any way to avoid this? Any plugins? Are plugins easy to create? I would love to easily add this program into the plugin thing to have it activate when recording starts. (Is there a way to have recording start > activate another program, for instance.)

Thank you for your guidance!

 

[s3773736363]

Is it appropriate to bump?

I tried making my bitrate less and tried making my resolution scale less, but I don't think it made too much difference.

 

[Jeff Darby]

Realistically, your best bet is to use a 3rd party program to render your file down to your target filesize. OBS renders on the fly, which trades off space, for speed. You want the opposite.

As far as your other request, there is a button on the front (sometimes sides) of your monitor that should perform that functionality.

 

[s3773736363]

Realistically, your best bet is to use a 3rd party program to render your file down to your target filesize. OBS renders on the fly, which trades off space, for speed. You want the opposite.

Unfortunately, this is not what we would want, we are looking for an easy solution which is what drew us to OBS.
Looking at https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.16/
It seems this decreases file size, however anyone with experience know how to get it within the 300mb to 400mb range?

As far as your other request, there is a button on the front (sometimes sides) of your monitor that should perform that functionality.

Also not probable, we use All-in-One Touch PCs, so the button you speak of, power button actually turns off the computer.
I would like a solution to create a plugin/script to trigger my "Turn Off Monitor" program once recording starts. Any suggestions for that?

If I can create it or have help with it, I will gladly post.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-turn-off-the-monitor/
http://nircmd.nirsoft.net/monitor.html

Thank you!

 

[Jeff Darby]

Unfortunately, this is not what we would want, we are looking for an easy solution which is what drew us to OBS.
Looking at https://obsproject.com/forum/resources/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.16/
It seems this decreases file size, however anyone with experience know how to get it within the 300mb to 400mb range?

Using a higher encoding preset will decrease your file size, at the cost of huge increases in CPU utilisation. I'm not sure your file size is really possible with OBS sorry. Correct me if i'm wrong those who know more.

Is there a reason you can't render down your files at a later date? I know it takes a bit longer, but you can just put them on before you go to bed/for dinner etc, and when you get back you have a nice small file to upload :)

Also not probable, we use All-in-One Touch PCs, so the button you speak of, power button actually turns off the computer.
I would like a solution to create a plugin/script to trigger my "Turn Off Monitor" program once recording starts. Any suggestions for that?

If I can create it or have help with it, I will gladly post.
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/create-a-shortcut-or-hotkey-to-turn-off-the-monitor/
http://nircmd.nirsoft.net/monitor.html

Thank you!

I can't help you at all with this part sorry.

 

[koala]

To get 400 MB video per hour, you need to encode with this average bitrate: 400MB * 8 bit / 3600 s = 400000 KB * 8 bit / 3600 s = 888 kbit/s. This is not very high. Set the encoding rate to this bitrate and experiment with the resolution and quality settings. Choose a resolution where you achive a quality that is acceptable for you. It's probably somewhere around 640x360.
The mentioned thread ("high quality local recordings") recommends settings that assume you have unlimited disk space and unlimited bitrate, so it cannot be used to predict a certain file size per hour.

 

[s3773736363]

So, I followed that guide, and tweaked my settings, here's what I have:
This gets my filesize down to about 375mb for an hour video.

Encoding:
x264
Max Bitrate=1000
Buffer Size=0
Quality Balance=10
Use custom buffer size is checked

Video:
Custom: Monitor size is 1920 x 1080 (not adjusted)
Resolution Downscale: 1.50 (1280 x 720)
Filter: bilinear
FPS: 30

Audio:
Mic/Aux Boost=2

Advanced:
x264 CPU Preset: veryfast
Encoding Profile: high
Use CFR = checked
Custom x264: crf=20


I am using Logitech c930e for this project to all in one Lenovo ThinkCentre 90z.
This project is to get the settings perfect, as users will not be techy at all, and will be recording will a shortcut button, etc.
That's why another program is not feasible. If this solution works, it is perfect for our needs!

Thanks for all your help!