Question / Help Stock / Equities trader here with questions about OBS.....

[Blackink]

Hello Gamers. I am not a gamer but I do trade stocks using a 4 monitor set-up.

Here are my specs: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hKjnvK

i5-4690K
Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA 1150 motherboard
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO cooler
G.Skills Ares 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory sticks
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Black Series 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal H.D.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Windforce video card
EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Power Supply
Windows 7 Professional
4 - Dell P2314H 60Hz 23" Monitors
Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/ optical mouse

So here's my question: Can I record what is happening on one, or any of the monitors of my choosing, while my trading software is loaded and running AND add audio to the recorded session at the same time while using OBS?

I'd like to be able to record 15-30 minutes, maybe longer, of my trades and also add audio as to what exactly is going on and why I'm making a trade.

I've read through dozens of posts here in these forums but haven't come across anything that is specific to my needs/question. Everything I read pertains to gaming and streaming, neither of which I'll be doing.

If this OBS software isn't going to do what I'm hoping it will, record one of the 4 monitors and all of the open charts along with other small windows that are also open in my trading software, what would someone suggest I use for my purposes?
I'm not really liking the idea of paying $200-$300 for video recording software if I can help it as I'm just starting out in my stock trading adventures

I haven't downloaded OBS yet but I sure have looked through a ton of info and it seems, just from what I've been reading, that it might record what I'm wanting it to.
I have skimmed through the link "How to make high quality recordings" but it's hard to tell from reading through that without the OBS software installed, if it'll do what I want it to.

Any help or suggestions regarding my concerns/question would sure be appreciated.
Steve in Central Vermont

 

[dping]

Hello Gamers. I am not a gamer but I do trade stocks using a 4 monitor set-up.

Here are my specs: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hKjnvK

i5-4690K
Asus Z97-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA 1150 motherboard
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO cooler
G.Skills Ares 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory sticks
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" SSD
Western Digital Black Series 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal H.D.
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Windforce video card
EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Power Supply
Windows 7 Professional
4 - Dell P2314H 60Hz 23" Monitors
Logitech MK120 Wired Slim Keyboard w/ optical mouse

So here's my question: Can I record what is happening on one, or any of the monitors of my choosing, while my trading software is loaded and running AND add audio to the recorded session at the same time while using OBS?

I'd like to be able to record 15-30 minutes, maybe longer, of my trades and also add audio as to what exactly is going on and why I'm making a trade.

I've read through dozens of posts here in these forums but haven't come across anything that is specific to my needs/question. Everything I read pertains to gaming and streaming, neither of which I'll be doing.

If this OBS software isn't going to do what I'm hoping it will, record one of the 4 monitors and all of the open charts along with other small windows that are also open in my trading software, what would someone suggest I use for my purposes?
I'm not really liking the idea of paying $200-$300 for video recording software if I can help it as I'm just starting out in my stock trading adventures

I haven't downloaded OBS yet but I sure have looked through a ton of info and it seems, just from what I've been reading, that it might record what I'm wanting it to.
I have skimmed through the link "How to make high quality recordings" but it's hard to tell from reading through that without the OBS software installed, if it'll do what I want it to.

Any help or suggestions regarding my concerns/question would sure be appreciated.
Steve in Central Vermont

you can do multiple monitor captures in different scenes and can also have a scene with all four if you like. I will stress that monitor capture will capture anything within view reguardless, so even having OBS open, it will record itself.

 

[FerretBomb]

Yes, OBS can record multiple monitors. Adding audio on the fly via a microphone or other input channel works, though if you're planning to do a tutorial style video, it may benefit you to record the video first, and then do voiceover work later and merge it in (or supplant the existing audio) using a NLE video editing suite.

May also want to consider OBS-MP rather than Classic; it allows you to record your microphone track separately from the system audio in case there are audible cues you want to keep from the software, while recording a live scratch track as reference for a later, more polished VO.

Here's a link back to the local recording guide. If nothing else, OBS is free. Download it and give it a whirl; only thing risked is a bit of time.
https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/how-to-make-high-quality-local-recordings.12600/


As an added caution, Monitor Capture works VERY poorly under Windows 7 due to how Microsoft coded some aspects of Aero. If possible, it's strongly advised to use Windows 8 or higher if you need monitor capture.
A single-monitor workaround exists for Win7 (a Game Capture of the DWM process) but it only captures the primary monitor and is not selectible/changeable. You can turn off Aero to improve monitor cap under Win7, but it's only an improvement, not a resolution of the issue; it degrades the performance of OBS significantly.

 

[Blackink]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not too excited about using Windows 7 and that it captures poorly. I won't upgrade to 8 though.

I certainly don't think I'll need to capture all 4 monitors. One will work just fine if I can figure it out and it's legible (able to view ok!).

So I have a couple more questions: FerretBomb-what do you mean "A single-monitor workaround exists for Win7 (a Game Capture of the DWM process) but it only captures the primary monitor and is not selectible/changeable"? Are you saying that OBS will work OK if I capture the primary monitor, the one with the shortcuts and taskbar, etc? I also don't know what DWM process is/means.

As you probably can tell, I'm new here. I have email as a selection for when someone responds to my thread but I didn't get any emails notifying me about dping's reply, or FerretBomb's reply. Any thoughts as to why or is it being a newbie here?
I know my email address is listed correctly.

Thanks again for the help.

 

[FerretBomb]

No worries! Everyone was new at some point. :) Welcome.

Game Capture is a capture method, one of the three main ones (Game, Window, Monitor). DWM (desktop window manager) is a process which can be captured via a Game Capture source. Just point it at the process listed 'DWM' in the dropdown when setting up the source. It'll capture the entire desktop without the performance issues of Win7, without needing to go to a later version of Windows.

Yes, generally the monitor with your taskbar is your primary monitor.
Sometimes DWM will grab a different one; the easiest way to fix it is to set a different monitor as primary (in your Display settings under Windows) Apply, then set the original one as primary and Apply again. Not sure why it happens, but it's a workaround.

Everything should be entirely legible so long as you follow the High Quality Local Recordings guide. Use your native monitor resolution with no downscale, with the settings from the guide.

Email notifications aren't sent out on replies as far as I'm aware; it would generate a large volume of mail and is normally unnecessary. If you visit the forums, there is an alert at the top-right when you are replied-to or tagged (mentioned) in a posting.

 

[Blackink]

Update....

I ended up installing the Windows version of OBS, not the multi-platform version. I initially installed the multi-platform version but was at a complete loss and what I did try didn't seem to work! Of course following the overview guide didn't exactly match the windows I was seeing in the multi-platform version, so I uninstalled that and installed the Windows version.

After an hour or so of trying this and trying that, researching these forums, and Google searches, I was able to record one of my monitors and all seemed fine.

I still have some questions/concerns but I'll save those for later after I've used and played with this software and read through the forums more.

Thanks for all the help. Much appreciated!

 

[Blackink]

Hi. I'm not sure if I should start a new thread or add to this one so I'll add to this one. I'm not experiencing any problems, I just thought I'd pass along my success in using OBS for my needs.

After playing with this software with some trial and error, I am able to record any one of my 4 monitors using Monitor Capture as my source.
I set up 4 different Scenes for each monitor and labeled them accordingly: Monitor 1, Monitor 2, etc....
I set up a hotkey for each Scene so once the software is recording, I just hit the appropriate hotkey for the monitor I want to capture/record and the software switches monitors on the fly! The software can be minimized or not minimized and the hotkeys still work in regards to switching monitors.
I use eSignal as my charting software and MB Trading as my Direct Access Broker and it doesn't interfere with either one of this programs when using the hotkeys to switch monitors.

Now whether this is the correct way to set this up or not, I'm not sure, but it's working the way I want it to and I couldn't be happier.

The only thing I had to turn way up was the Audio: Mic/Aux Boost (multiple): I set it to 15 in order to hear it completely.
I have an older 3.5 microphone that might be the problem. Hopefully I'll get a new USB microphone this month and I'll see if that makes and difference.

What a great piece of software this has turned out to be!

You've made me a Comeback Customer......

Thank you,
One Happy Trader :)

 

[FerretBomb]

Glad to hear it!

Do be aware that if you're using Windows 7 and have to use Monitor Capture (the Game Cap - DWM method won't work for some reason) selecting 'disable Aero' in the settings is advised, as it will make Monitor Cap work slightly better.

That said, disabling Aero will make OBS in general perform worse (and can actually harm system performance while a monitor capture is in use). But needs to be done to use Monitor Capture under 7.

Regarding the microphone:
Right-click the speaker icon in your system tray (bottom right) and select 'Recording Devices'.
Find your microphone or sound card mic-in on the list. Click it, then click 'Properties' at bottom-right.
Look through the tabs for a 'mic boost' option, usually a checkbox. Make sure it's checked.
Also, go to the 'Levels' tab and make sure your mic is set fairly high (it can be adjusted here later if it's then too loud)
Click OK, then OK until all windows are closed.

Some mics ARE just quiet, but more often than not either the levels are set low or the boost isn't turned on by default. USB mics can suffer from the same thing.

Cheers!

 

[dping]

Hi. I'm not sure if I should start a new thread or add to this one so I'll add to this one. I'm not experiencing any problems, I just thought I'd pass along my success in using OBS for my needs.

After playing with this software with some trial and error, I am able to record any one of my 4 monitors using Monitor Capture as my source.
I set up 4 different Scenes for each monitor and labeled them accordingly: Monitor 1, Monitor 2, etc....
I set up a hotkey for each Scene so once the software is recording, I just hit the appropriate hotkey for the monitor I want to capture/record and the software switches monitors on the fly! The software can be minimized or not minimized and the hotkeys still work in regards to switching monitors.
I use eSignal as my charting software and MB Trading as my Direct Access Broker and it doesn't interfere with either one of this programs when using the hotkeys to switch monitors.

Now whether this is the correct way to set this up or not, I'm not sure, but it's working the way I want it to and I couldn't be happier.

The only thing I had to turn way up was the Audio: Mic/Aux Boost (multiple): I set it to 15 in order to hear it completely.
I have an older 3.5 microphone that might be the problem. Hopefully I'll get a new USB microphone this month and I'll see if that makes and difference.

What a great piece of software this has turned out to be!

You've made me a Comeback Customer......

Thank you,
One Happy Trader :)

I'm glad you got it working. Also note that since OBS captures in an overlay fashion, you "can" overlap multiple windows like a picture in picture view, but as ferretbomb said and to add to, monitor capture works best with win8.1 or win10 or win7 with aero disabled. That being said, it shouldn't matter to much as you probably doing have a whole lot of movement on screen (like a first-person shooter might).

Best of luck

 

[Blackink]

Glad to hear it!

Do be aware that if you're using Windows 7 and have to use Monitor Capture (the Game Cap - DWM method won't work for some reason) selecting 'disable Aero' in the settings is advised, as it will make Monitor Cap work slightly better.

That said, disabling Aero will make OBS in general perform worse (and can actually harm system performance while a monitor capture is in use). But needs to be done to use Monitor Capture under 7.

Regarding the microphone:
Right-click the speaker icon in your system tray (bottom right) and select 'Recording Devices'.
Find your microphone or sound card mic-in on the list. Click it, then click 'Properties' at bottom-right.
Look through the tabs for a 'mic boost' option, usually a checkbox. Make sure it's checked.
Also, go to the 'Levels' tab and make sure your mic is set fairly high (it can be adjusted here later if it's then too loud)
Click OK, then OK until all windows are closed.

Some mics ARE just quiet, but more often than not either the levels are set low or the boost isn't turned on by default. USB mics can suffer from the same thing.

Cheers!

Thanks for the mic tip(s). I didn't realize that was there. Windows XP didn't have that, or I never came across it before. What I did find on the Levels tab under Microphone Properties, both a microphone adjustment, which is set at 1/4 volume, and the microphone Boost which is set at zero!! Probably a little of both adjustments are the cause of my problem. I'll play with those tomorrow but I have a feeling that will solve the weak mic problem.

As for disabling Aero, it seems to be working fine with that disabled. When I'm recording with OBS and I have my charting software and my broker software loaded and running on all 4 monitors, my processor is running / using 25%.

I'm quite surprised at how well it records and plays back, everything is nice and clear. I've upload a couple to YouTube and they play and look fine there also.

One thing you can clarify for me if you know the answer, when I was first setting up OBS and there would be times when the Aero wasn't needed and times when I would turn it back on in OBS, every time it turned off or came back on, my monitors went black for a couple of seconds. is that normal??

Right now, it's always disabled when I run the OBS software. I don't need it on for what I do.

Thanks again for the help FerretBomb.

Happy Holidays,
Steve

 

[Blackink]

I'm glad you got it working. Also note that since OBS captures in an overlay fashion, you "can" overlap multiple windows like a picture in picture view, but as ferretbomb said and to add to, monitor capture works best with win8.1 or win10 or win7 with aero disabled. That being said, it shouldn't matter to much as you probably doing have a whole lot of movement on screen (like a first-person shooter might).

Best of luck

Hi dping. You're correct about not much activity happening on my monitors. They all have some type of data coming into/onto the charts or watch lists that I have open but it's mostly numbers getting updated and flashing. Nothing like a game that most of the people on this forum play. That's probably why it runs so good with Windows 7.

Probably the most activity happens when I click on a ticker symbol and it loads up in 4 different charts, other than that, it's pretty tame compared to game playing!!!

Best regards,
Steve

 

[FerretBomb]

Yes, switching between Aero/non-Aero requires a GPU method handoff, so the black blink is normal.