Bug Report OBS Window capture w/VLC is basically useless w/latest version

[thghgv]

Before this new version came out I was able to capture VLC player window and have it remain intact thru out an entire cast even if switching to a different scene and back. NOW - it loses capture (and sub-region settings) every time there is a content change even in the same scene!!!
Was using latest OBS version but tried rolling back to v 0.653 but suspect some remnants of the newer version are still present because the same issue w/window cap persists even after rolling back. what gives with this newer version and window capture??? This issue makes anything other than a SINGLE STATIC SCENE IN A CAST VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE when working with live video. The "video source" plugin is too limited and offers little to no control over playlist and video quality hence the need for a real video player which is not a problem as long as the window capture works correctly. IS THIS BEING ADDRESSED?
Is there a way to direct the high quality a/v stream from VLC into OBS without using window capture? i.e. a direct stream connection. Some where it was suggested to use VLC in OpenGL output mode and use game capture. This is not a solution since the signal quality is degraded and there is no easy method of sizing the captured window content to full screen.

 

[thghgv]

In attempting to get anything to work smoothly with regard to this I have noticed in all cases when making a window capture even after saving the entire session and revisiting window capture sub-region settings to check them - these settings are simply vanishing into thin air. THIS IS DEFINITELY a bug and needs to be fixed ASAP.

 

[Sapiens]

How can it be a bug introduced with the new version if you rolled back to the last version and the same thing happened? I don't think there's anything to the theory of "program remnants" causing a problem.

I also can't reproduce what you describe with window capture losing its sub-region settings. Could you provide specific steps to get it to happen? Here's what I tried:

1. Start OBS1, make a new scene collection
2. Add a window capture source (I used mIRC as my target)
3. Preview and make sure everything is captured
4. Open the window capture source properties and set a sub-region
5. Preview still active, sub-region still works, sub-region settings still present in the source properties

The sub-region was retained both when I stopped and started a preview as well as closing OBS completely and re-opening it.

 

[thghgv]

1. use vlc with real motion video NOT static image
2. Make a OBS scene with more than just that window capture as its contents (other full screen images captures etc. to swtich to)
3. make SPECIFIC, inside window cap of VLC active video area ONLY (use sub-reg and crop as nec)
4. SAVE THE SESSION and record the sub-region position/size numbers for later
5. play video make sure it works. stop video playback
6. tick OFF the box for the vlc window cap and switch to other content in the scene
7. come back to the vlc window, start video playback and notice that OBS view screen is now blank/black (no content) -
8. check properties of the VLC win-cap - notice the sub-region box now ticked OFF and numbers are NOT set correctly

- SUB REGION property gets toggled OFF and the window capture settings go with it
- as you view a blank OBS view screen where video should be playing, notice in lower left OBS message tray "window minimized" message displaying when attempting to display the captured video window in OBS - the source VLC window IS NOT MINIMIZED!!

 

[thghgv]

Just to be clear - window capture in OBS has always been a dicey operation even with older versions. this latest version it has become virtually useless for someone who wants to switch content in a scene or switch to a different scene and come back to the original with settings intact.

 

[Sapiens]

Have you tried adding window capture as a global source so that unticking it doesn't actually terminate the capture?

 

[Sapiens]

Ah I think I see at least part of what's happening. When you load different files into VLC it's probably changing the window title or some other element that window capture is using for identification. It doesn't actually lose the subregion setting despite the appearance. It's just associated with (I believe) the window title you were capturing when it was set, and will come back when the window title matches again.

So for example if I set everything up with a window capture and subregion for the VLC player before I open a file with it, everything sticks. When I play a movie the subregion is visually still present in the preview but missing in the source properties. If I restart VLC so no file is loaded the subregion settings come back.

I wasn't able to get OBS to completely black out and lose the VLC capture however.

 

[Osiris]

And also this doesn't sound like a severe enough bug (?) to be fixed in OBS. OBS-mp is where the development is at.

 

[thghgv]

Two captures of different portions of the same VLC window will inevitably screw up one of them if switching to a different scene and switching back to the original.

This IS a BUG. Xsplit Free has been able to keep track of this kind of thing since version 1.x. You're telling me now that OBS is, even at this point, unable to do this??? AND, it will not be fixed?

If "MP" is the one to look to now, tell me this - Is "MP" capable of CORRECTLY doing what I described above? If not then what are we talking about here...

 

[Sapiens]

OBS-MP's window capture functionality is certainly more robust than OBS1's, but you aren't going to find out if it works as you want until you test it for yourself. The problem you're having in OBS1 may not actually be a bug but rather a limitation of the window capture implementation. Or maybe it is a bug! OBS1 isn't actively developed any more though so if it's a bug may not get fixed unless it's a pretty straightforward change.

 

[thghgv]

Ok you were right. MP is working with regard to this. It actually seems to work better than xsplit. Wish there was a way to get a HD audio and video stream from VLC directly into OBS without the need for window capture but haven't found a reliable method for doing that yet. But yes MP has solved this for now. Thanks