Question / Help Playback is worse on one game compared to others. Help please

[jrios127]

Hi everyone,

A few days ago I was finally able to setup my OBS to capture seemingly full quality gameplay at 60 fps on a Surface Pro. That was a huge relief for me. Though, I just recorded a session on another game and during playback I noticed it was choppy. It would smooth out in certain areas but for the most part the playback was significantly worse than the other games, almost unwatchable. The game in question is "Vigor" at only 8gb in size where Apex Legends and Forza both record flawlessly being "seemingly" more graphics intensive but I suppose I could be wrong. I attached the log for reference.

Any insight would be a huge help. Thanks!

https://obsproject.com/logs/YJqrJtEbLYC8NVAY

 

[carlmmii]

This is being used just as a capture platform, correct? All gaming is done via xbox, captured with the elgato?

You're encountering encoding lag, which is honestly not surprising considering the hardware. You will need to lower your resolution or your framerate to have smooth recording.

That said, you're recording at 60fps, but only capturing at 30fps... I would drop your output framerate to 30fps to start, and see if you can at least get smooth recordings at that target.

 

[BluePeer]

you record in Fix quality mode
if you see blocks in that mode is a result of to much work for the encoder you see that on the high dropped frames counter
and its like my preposter already write
you record with 60 fps to the file and your capture card brings only 29.97 frames in
so you encode x2 more frames then required

 

[jrios127]

Is it possible that the game itself is only outputting a max of 30 fps? It's odd that with my current settings at 60fps, which the elgato hd60s is capable of, I am getting great, smooth footage from Forza and Apex.

And yes, the Surface is strictly the recording/capturing device plugged into an xbox.

 

[carlmmii]

Forza - I'm assuming FH4? If you're on non-x, then that's 30fps capped. If on X, then it's 60fps for 1080p, 30fps for 4k.
Apex - 60fps, but it can drop below based on the situation

The xbox itself is always going to be outputting a 60fps signal, so the hd60s should be set to 60fps to match. If it's set to 30fps, then it will only be capturing a 30fps feed, regardless of what's actually happening on the xbox.

But again... if can't output a smooth 60fps from OBS based on the hardware limitations and need to drop the framerate, then I would leave the capture at 30fps and set your output framerate to 30fps.

 

[BluePeer]

Is it possible that the game itself is only outputting a max of 30 fps? It's odd that with my current settings at 60fps, which the elgato hd60s is capable of, I am getting great, smooth footage from Forza and Apex.

And yes, the Surface is strictly the recording/capturing device plugged into an xbox.

There is one thing you need to realize
1. You try to drive a Nascar / Formel 1 Race with a 30 years old underpowered car
Its not really True to encode 1080P60 footage with that cpu
Second you do it?
You not really do it. means encoding required power is changing with the details
-tons of sharp dot/lines with different colors (many small details) increase massive the render power need
-"image changes" like see a house and the same in rain or a street race with and without rain
Means huge areas without many small details are easier to encode
and that's the point where your cpu break down the quality the moment where the required power is higher then the available power
he drops frames and reduce load to prevent frame dropping result in "bad" quality

idk the "content" you record but if you look into the games and the scenes you will see the difference
with luck you will get most times good results in 1080P30