Question / Help Stuttering in recordings, but not ingame (Only with certain settings).

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Doc P

New Member
I'm running off of a Y510p using the latest version of windows, latest version of geforce graphics drivers, and geforce experience v2.11.4.0 (As shadow play does not work on laptops using a later version). I want to switch to OBS as it allows multiple audio tracks, however I seem to be noticing a few problems when trying to record. My biggest problem (and the one I shall be talking about today) is when I try to record DayZ.

Using either Shadowplay or OBS with the nvenc encoder results in very choppy recordings. (I have OBS Studio running x64, using my GT755m, and in administrator mode). I've found out through testing, that if I run OBS off of the GT755m and record DayZ with the game capture feature, the recording lags, but my ingame fps says the same. If I use the same settings, but run OBS off of my integrated GPU and turn on "Multi-Adapter" settings for the game recording, the recording is fixed (no more lag), but it eats about 25% of my ingame's frames. Using my integrated GPU and recording DayZ using "Display Capture" seems to work okay for the time being, but isn't very practical. I've also noticed if I use a different codec (Such as quicksync), then my recordings don't seem to lag anymore. I'm not overly sure why this is, but I just can't get OBS Studio to record DayZ using the nvenc encoder while running from my GT755m. I have attached a log file from a short recording in the link below. If anyone could help me out with this, I'd greatly appreciate it!

https://gist.github.com/cc12c284bdc7bc7452acf40c544a9036
 
EBrito

EBrito

Active Member
Use only 1 game capture per scene.

Try recording
NVENC CQP 15-20
Preset superfast or ultrafast.
 
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Doc P

New Member
I only have 1 game capture enabled, the rest were set for different games. Also "NVENC CQP" doesn't appear in my list of encoders.

Edit: I'm also noticing memory leaks in the log. Anytime I try to record a game of lol, my frames start to drop more and more, to the point where after about 20 minutes I just stop the recording to be able to play, but then OBS just freezes and never actually saves the video, nor allows me to record unless I force quit it from task manager.
 
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Doc P

New Member
Still doesn't work. https://gist.github.com/56eba58cb66c2ef61c433db1022bfd37

Edit: Above was when using the NVENC encoder. When using x264 is records flawlessly (not one frame skipped) https://gist.github.com/045f678d0df3468396eb95bbf1bedb46

The NVENC encoder seems to always make DayZ recordings lag, weather using obs OR shadow play. I don't understand why NVENC wont work. Also, any word with the supposed "5 memory leaks" there are? I'm unsure how to read those in the log file, but I'd love to take care of them.

Edit Again: Nevermind, I have issues with DayZ & x264 also... Exact same settings as the second log in this post... https://gist.github.com/1c1cb4cb9622bbabb6dd6ba972c3a055 <-- 23.8% framedrops.
 
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BornDownUnder

Member
I can't really assist in more advanced settings of the NVENC encoder itself as I don't have a nVidia GPU however the guide that EBrito linked is a start for great quality recordings, albiet it is not tailored towards being performance conscience.

Are you capping your fps in-game? Doing this alone will assist greatly with smooth recording as it will reduce the load on both your CPU & GPU.

Try reducing your quality settings for the NVENC encoder, that will also lessen the load somewhat for your GPU.
Try reducing the bitrate of your audio, for recording there is very little difference (unless you are an 'audiophile' that has to have highest quality audio) between ~96 and higher bit-rates (Especially above ~150-180) This will slightly reduce the load on your CPU as well.
 
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Doc P

New Member
Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what to try anymore. I've been testing NVENC with CSGO now. I have the game uncapped running about 90fps average. While using VBR at 15k, I noticed a fair amount of skipped frames, however increasing the bitrate to 20k Lowered them to about only 2% skipped frames. Using CQP on 18 removed all skipped frames entirely, but my videos were now between 50-60k bitrate (taking up WAYY to much space). Is there such a thing as loosing performance due to "over-compression"? I'm just utterly confused.

Also, my CPU is normally around 50% and my Physical Memory is around 75% (I used window overlay to record task manager above game play just to see.) Although nothing on my computer seems to be bottle necking, (before you say write speed, I already tried saving my videos directly to an external USB 3.0 HDD), DayZ just wont work.



EDIT: I just played 2 games of League of Legends to test... It appears that my computer just doesn't like the NVENC Encoder, and I can't figure out why...

NVENC (Lost 16.9% of frames): https://gist.github.com//30a98f2acf7e0182600808e7eb3bd6f8

Quick Sync (Lost 0.3% of frames): https://gist.github.com/ade3ce338b1ac43c1ccbd5c5afebc975

Problem with using quick sync is that it has errors when trying to use it's clips in sony vegas... sigh.
 
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BornDownUnder

Member
Try capping your fps to your refresh rate, it will ease some load on your CPU & GPU, which in turn will help OBS & the encoder for recording.

It may be the bitrate isn't high enough for the encoder so it is dropping frames? Not sure as I do not have a nVidia card, I know too little bitrate allowance with my r9 290x used to black screen/video hang with audio continuing/complete crash (In really low bitrate cases, rare occurrence)

Using VBR is best if you want to reduce file size output, try for 25-30k bitrate, see how that goes, perhaps increase the peak bit rate/buffer bitrate allowance (If there is a setting applicable for NVENC)

50-60k bit rate for CQP 18 is entirely normal, you will also likely see peaks towards 90k+ in some games (Battlefield 4 on Ultra settings, no AA for example)
You can use HandBrake to compress your recordings afterwards if file size is an issue for you:
https://handbrake.fr/
Here is a YouTube video of compression/quality settings for HandBrake:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUPh2t8b0gg <--- Simple setup.
& another one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZ1rAofrviM <--- More in-depth.
Do take them with a grain of salt though and do some research as you may find some settings which work better (I currently do not use HandBrake as I am still testing out the new AMD plugin by Xaymar since AMD updated their AMF drivers)

I don't use Sony Vegas so can't assist with the Intel Q Sync errors issue, perhaps a file compatibility problem? Maybe someone else can shed light on that for you.

On a side note:
Not sure if your Shadowplay issue can be resolved by this older fix:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EVmx-TeruA
 
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Doc P

New Member
Thank you very much for the assistance. Unfortunately, there is no way to cap the FPS in DayZ at the moment, as it's still in early alpha... Also, as you noted for handbrake I already use it for my recordings, and as for the shadow play fix, that's exactly what I'm already using as it's launch parameter has been patched and no longer works on laptops with optimus on newer versions.

However, yesterday I rolled back to some older drivers (both for my graphics card and Nvidia Geforce Experience) that allowed me to previously record DayZ without lag in shadow play, but even with those drivers, DayZ recordings continue to lag (Even with shadow play!) The only thing different then as compared to now is the fact that I upgraded to Windows 10... It seems to just have wrecked the NVENC encoder... It almost seems that on windows 8, shadow play (or more so, the NVENC Encoder) was prioritized over the game load on the GPU, but now it's the other way around... Even with OBS set to "High" and my game set to "normal" in task manager, the recordings still lag... It's really frustrating that this encoder used to work flawlessly and now is next to useless, and I can't find anything about the issue anywhere...

Also, I'd assume it's my GPU that's bottle necking (as NVENC - using mainly the GPU - lags, but Quicksync uses mainly the CPU I believe - and records fine). However, my GPU almost NEVER reaches above 80% usage, and CPU always stays around 60% while gaming & recording. It's just so confusing. The only thing I can think of is to be able to prioritize OBS / the NVENC encoder over everything else in terms of it's usage on the GPU, but I'm not sure if that's even possible. I don't get why shadowplay (using NVENC) worked in windows 8 flawlessly, but is broken in windows 10 (even with the EXACT same drivers...) Also, since OBS and Shadow play both have this lag issue, I strongly believe it's just the NVENC Encoder... I'm probably beginning to sound like a broken record... But after all this time I've put into this, I'd just love to figure out what the problem is... Also, should I be worried about the "memory leaks" detected in my obs logs? Sometimes it shows as many as 9 O_O...


Edit: Also, when running OBS off of my integrated Graphics card, using the NVENC encoder, and recording DayZ using the "display capture" feature, the recordings no longer lose any frames, but while recording I lose about 20% of my in game frames...
 
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Doc P

New Member
It records without stutters, but the videos them self seem to have horrible comparability in both VLC and Sony vegas. I can post an upload of what it looks like if you'd like to see. It makes viewing & editing the recordings nearly impossible. NVENC was perfect (while it was working), as it had only a dew fps impact, was very compatible with all programs I use, and the quality was more then good enough then what I needed it for.

Edit: @EBrito ew vsync lag lol. I'll try it out, however I get the feeling it's still not going to work.
 
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Doc P

New Member
Alright, so DayZ doesn't support "Adaptive (half refresh rate)" lol. Also, here's something odd, which gives me hope that there IS a solution. While running OBS off of my integrated GPU, then setting "game capture" to "multi adapter compatibility", DayZ records FLAWLESSLY. Why Nvidia / OBS, whyyyy... lol...


Note, before clicking these links, I must warn you to turn down your volume. This was the first "free video uploading site" I could find, but everytime you play a video, one of those loud and annoying "Click now"ad windows open. Scared the crap outta me xD

Running OBS off GT755M using NVENC: http://sendvid.com/xlwpmjia

Running OBS off my integrated GPU, using multi-adapter compatibility and NVENC: http://sendvid.com/jzuuhmkm
 
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BornDownUnder

Member
Not sure as to why multi-adapter compatibility checked would be any different? I don't have on-board graphics though.

Perhaps try for 720p30fps/60fps scaling, using BiCubic (Minimum) or Lanzcos (Preferred) filter in Video Settings options.

It may just be your gt755M can't handle 1080p30fps/60fps.

You could also use MSI Afterburner to limit your fps in-games, with RTSS (Riva Tuner Statistics Service) you will also have configurable on-screen display of performance stats of your CPU, GPU, etc.

Side note:

ShadowPlay not functioning with newer drivers sounds very similar to AMD not releasing functionality for older cards as well...
 
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Doc P

New Member
The multi-adapter compatibility seems to make a difference when running of my integrated GPU, as it allows for comparability to my GT755m, however is VERY impractical, as when testing with league of legends, when recording I get 40 fps, when not recording I get 120+.

Also, I rolled back my drivers to an even OLDER update (after watching a video about the problem with shadow play), and that seems to have fixed my problem with shadow play lagging in DayZ, but not for OBS. This leads me to believe that OBS potentially has the "NVENC" encoder "built into it", rather then using the EXACT same one shadowplay is using? (If someone could confirm or correct me, I'd greatly appreciate it. I may be able to create a solution for it).

I'm sure limiting my fps in games could do the trick, however shadow play seems to have always worked without needing to do so (as if it was prioritized in the gpu), and I'd just assume OBS to to the same if it's supposedly using the exact same encoder. Also, capping a game like DayZ seems impractical, I run 60-90 fps in forests, but lowers to 30 in big cities. And I'm not prepared to always keep it at weak 30... :(
 
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Doc P

New Member
Bumpppp?? Can anyone tell me if OBS uses the EXACT same NVENC encoder as shadowplay (Like same file path and everything), or does it use one that's build into it's program?

Edit: Essentially, since OBS seems to be treating the NVENC encoder like it does for newer versions of shadowplay, I'm wondering if it's possible to use an older version of the NVENC encoder (Any version of NVENC prior to 2016, I believe v6.0 being the last, which seem to work). to work in OBS.
 
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BornDownUnder

Member
Sorry for the late reply @Doc P.

The NVENC encoder used by the latest version of OBS should be the exact encoder used by the latest version of Shadow Play, though a dev or someone with more insight could confirm.
OBS essentially gives you more options to further customize your settings for recording/streaming, allowing for higher quality than Shadow Play, same in regards to AMD ReLive.

Whilst OBS works wonders, it is a 3rd party program which does create a slight overhead (~3-7% after initial startup on my system, when recording) to your CPU usage as it is effectively telling the encoder what settings to use. This in turn will have a very small impact on your system resources which could lead to a drop in fps, such as what you are seeing (To a much lesser extent though) The ability to customize options, particularly for microphone hotkey options is why I use OBS in preference to AMD ReLive (For ReLive you have to combine a key with Alt or Ctrl key)

To reduce the impact further you could try disabling the preview screen once you see the scene being hooked, this will assist a tad by reducing the need for OBS to render the preview (~3-7% CPU usage on average, dependent on how much action is going on (For me it helps a little with staying at or much closer to 60fps when I am recording Battlefield 4 with my i5 2500 non-k, r9 290x, recording at 1080p60fps - Battlefield 4 seemingly has a bit of an issue where if CPU usage hits <~85% then fps starts dropping a bit, maybe an internal engine parameter to assist in stability of the game to lessen game crashes/stuttering?)

You don't have to cap your fps to 30, cap your in-game fps to 60 and try lowering some of the in-game settings a slight amount to help you with sub 60fps for the areas you encounter that issue. Capping your fps to 60 will assist slightly by reducing the difference between the maximum and minimum fps value you see/feel when playing the game.

Using QSync will tell OBS to use your CPU only to do the recordings, which will affect your in-game fps dramatically if your CPU is hitting maximum usage, which is why you would be seeing ~20% fps reduction in-game.

Using NVENC will tell OBS to use your GPU to do the bulk of the rendering, which whilst will not be of the same quality (Not much less) Dependent upon your video card, can achieve a much more stable frame rate in-game as the workload of the CPU is dramatically reduced when recording.
 
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Doc P

New Member
Lol no problem, I guess I can say the same, I'd assumed my thread had been abandobded in all the rest and didn't check back for awhile. @BornDownUnder

Anyways, after doing literally HOURS of testing on and off, yesterday I finally found some kind of solution. I tried using old shadowplay, graphics drivers, and obs versions; and also replacing OBS's codecs with older downgraded versions. I was getting various different results, but nothing seemed to give me smooth recording (Except for shadowplay version 2.9 / 2.11). Gathering all this information, I just assumed all support for shadowplay / nvenc was no longer available in the newer versions, since I'm on a laptop that the new "GeForce Shareplay" doesn't support (Hence why I have to use older drivers to use the -shadowplay launch parameter).

So basically I eventually just gave up on OBS and decided to look for a new program to record with using NVENC. And of course that's when OBS decided to work nearly flawlessly lol... Not sure if OBS 17.1/17.2 "Updated x264/FFmpeg to latest versions" was the solution, or if installing the latest graphics driver with an outdated version GeForce experience was the trick, maybe even neither (As I swear already tried this a couple times prior!) But now I can record 1080p, 30fps, 25k VBR bitrate, ect without any "frame skips due to rendering lag".

Except for DayZ. Shadowplay screws the colours in the recording and makes it pretty much always look like night, and OBS recordings lag like a mother (200% frameskips). Again, using OBS from my integrated driver and recording with "Multi adapter compatibility" will fix the issue, but at a cost of about 25% of my frames (nope!). Although, I'm not overly worried that OBS and Shadowplay don't work for DayZ, as DayZ barely works for DayZ lol.

For anyone encountering the same issues as me with DayZ though, try out "Action!" recording software. The NVENC encoder in that program works really well with DayZ and doesn't f*** the colours like shadowplay, although I don't really care for the interface or the lack of more then 2 audio tracks, but for now, it'll do.

EDIT: Also forgot to mention, I cleaned out old files from my hard drive before I fixed OBS, maybe that helped with write speeds or something? I had around 65GB free whilst I was having my problems, now I have about 145GB. Idk, no idea how that really works tbh, but thought I'd throw that in just in case.
 
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BornDownUnder

Member
Great to hear you managed to get on top of the issues you were having to some degree @Doc P.

Maybe it was an outdated driver left over from a prior installation causing an issue?

Shame to hear that ShadowPlay destroys the colours of recordings for you with DayZ. I imagine there is little option to change colour encoding method via ShadowPlay as well, though I have an AMD card so can't say for sure.

The extra disk space wouldn't have helped with write speeds, it would however cause a bit more fragmentation in the free disk address space, if a HDD then a de-fragmentation run would help with that.
 
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kibblz

New Member
Sorry, it's a very old thread but... every time I read a post like this, no one seems to know what it is or how to fix it. I've been up 24 hours straight trying to fix this. It's like an obsession. I cannot fix it and I need to in order to continue making videos. Same problem for me. It's only stuttering in the videos. Only display capture removed the issue but I can't rely on that for recording. So what in the world is this and why does it happen? It's so bizarre! And it only happens in Metro Exodus at the moment in this certain area, in the open snow. Everywhere else is smooth. Game is fine, its just the recording showing it.

https://youtu.be/2_Dass8xK10
 
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