Question / Help OBS Recording Having Stuttering Issues Where it Didn't Before

R

Raffle Baffle

New Member
Hello, first time posting here, hope I don't mess this up :X

Oh lord this doesn't look right but I couldn't find the "code" button at the top of the post editor as it was described...so I copy/pasted it in here...

But first: my problem. I have been using OBS to record gameplay of such games as Subnautica, War thunder, FSX, and it was working beautifully--until today. I ran Subnautica and started recording, and first of all I started getting frame drops down to 20-25 whereas I normally get around 40 (while recording with OBS under the same circumstances). Then, I went to review the footage I recorded and when I viewed it, it was stuttering real bad. Every 2-3 seconds the video would freeze for about a second. This was not happening in-game, just to be clear. I am not sure at all what caused this change in performance. I went on youtube and tried optimizing my settings for recording using at least 3 different guides (to no avail), then gave up, uninstalled OBS, re-installed, set everything to default, and used this: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.12600/ guide to set up the settings, but still no success. I did everything suggested there, then tried again with my bitrate at 8000 (what I was using before any of this happened), and still no success. FPS is still dropping inexplicably low, and playback remains stuttered upon viewing. Please, somebody help me. I'm sorry for the wall of text, I just wanted to be thorough. I will check this post in the morning for any suggestions, and if possible will fix this log. Thank you!

Well, I tried to paste it here, but it was too long, so I'll link to the pastebin:

http://pastebin.com/tTH4wX9H
 
Your log doesn't have the settings from the high quality recording guide.

If you're having trouble with cpu use doing so, adjust your x264 preset to ultrafast.
 
I tried using the setting from that guide. It didn't solve my problems at all unfortunately. In fact it seems to create additional problems because 1000kb/s is too low a bitrate for the gameplay I record.
 
If you read the guide you would realize that if you used all the settings it says to that it IGNORES the bitrate setting in the encoding section of the settings.
 
Where does it say that?

We are speaking about the same guide, yes?

Here is the entire post:

Encoding
Use CBR: Disabled
Quality Balance: 10
Bitrate: 1000
Use custom buffer size: Enabled
Buffer size: 0

Advanced Options
Use custom x264 parameters: Enabled
Custom x264 parameters: crf=X
Where X is anywhere from 1-20, lower being higher quality / higher CPU usage. A good place to start is the 15 - 20 range. A CRF of 0 enables lossless recording which will have very high file size and CPU requirements and introduces compatibility issues, so be careful!

Explanation:
Setting the buffer size to zero disables the VBV system, allowing x264 to hit any bitrate necessary to achieve the quality (CRF) specified. If you wish to increase quality further, you need to use advanced options - quality 10 is equal to a CRF of 22, which is fine for live streams but not so good for local recording.

For compatibility with various editing software, it's also recommended to enable CFR (advanced options) and do not use CRF 0. CRF 0 uses "High 444" mode which a lot of editing software (and some video players) cannot handle.



I tried a bitrate of 1000 for a while. I made my first video with that, saw how bad the blur was in high-motion scenes, bumped it up to 8000, and had no problems with it. Until yesterday, when an unknown cause made all my recordings stutter.
 
Set a CRF value of 15-20 in your advanced options custom x264
Leave buffer at 0 and CBR disabled.

With the settings set this way, the bitrate you specify is IGNORED.
COMPLETELY.

1080p60 videos will use typically between 30 and 50mbit for the video stream (regardless of what the properties of the file says)

It's mentioned in the discussion on the guide.

Use ultrafast preset.
 
My god, out of the million things I've tried in the past 24 hours, nothing worked except changing the preset to ultrafast. My recordings now look like they did before and I'm getting ~40fps like I used to.

What's strange is that before this whole stuttering thing started happening, I was recording on veryfast without any problems. But now, using that preset makes my videos stutter. Could there be anything else affecting this?

Also, last question, what exactly am I losing by switching the preset from veryfast to ultrafast? I am still recording in 1920*1080 @ 60fps, so should it basically look the same as before?
 
With the recording settings, you're losing disk space to offset the reduced cpu use of encoding by changing the preset.

CRF based bitrate selection uses quality based metrics to decide the bitrate. 1080p60 typically records at about 40mbit with ultrafast, and down as low as 13mbit using fast.

The CPU usage change could be any number of factors including internet security software.
 
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