bradtem
Member
Most of the freezing problems I've seen have related to streaming. I set up OBS to use via OBS-virtualcam with zoom and other tools, and it was working fine for several weeks. Then it started getting into a mode where every 30 to 60 seconds, the video will freeze in the OBS screen, and Zoom will switch to gray screen (no camera.) Then zoom will come back but with frozen jerky video for a second or two and finally it will sync up. Audio (which is going through OBS as well, and out the monitor channel to a virtual audio cable) does not hiccup but video does.
During these hiccups, CPU usage will briefly drop, then spike up, to 80% all the way to 100%. It is normally around 50%. Yes, this machine is an old quad-core i5, and a bit underpowered, but it was working fine for quite some time without hiccups. The down-up-back looks a bit like a heartbeat on an ECG. Even more odd, Windows task manager reports that it is Zoom, not OBS that is using more CPU, and it reports the same for Skype or Hangout or other programs using the virtualcam.
Except if you kill zoom, it still happens, in fact even if you kill the virtualcam it still happens (though not as much) with it now reporting that OBS has had the spike in CPU usage. So yes, it happens with just OBS, so the problem is there and probably not in Zoom or OBS-virtualcam, they just make it more visible. It is affected by how much spare CPU there is (ie. it happens less often if the machine is less loaded) and then the CPU spikes don't hit 100%, but the hiccup still happens.
I could fork out for fresh hardware, but I fear that would not actually find the root of the problem.
No, a reboot doesn't fix it, at least not any more. And I have killed everything else that shows any CPU usage like the browser and any daemons. I tried downgrading to 25.0.4, since the problem started happening roughly around the time of 25.0.8, but no joy.
I've tried reducing the size of the canvas to 1280x720 -- no luck. I've tried using very simple scenes, it still happens. (My normal scenes have video playing and chromakey on a camera so they do need resources.) OBS is making good use of the GPU as shown in task manager, but nowhere close to overloading it (the GPU is much more recent.)
I've tried tweaking process priority. No joy. Tweaking streaming settings should not affect anything as I am not streaming.
I may do the hardware upgrade anyway, but otherwise this system was working as my Zoom/OBS studio just fine for several weeks, running for hours with no hiccup. Yes, it seems as though something else installed later might be to blame, and I may eventually try to pull everything out, but there is nothing apparent running or using CPU. I will note that "System" is using about 20% of CPU, OBS is also using about 15% (plus GPU) and Zoom another 20% in stable operation.
Another possible clue: Before thsi problem happened, OBS would start up very quickly when I invoked it, like most programs do. (The system is all SSD.) However, roughly at the same time as the troubles, it takes a few seconds for the window to display in that situation.
What else to look for or tweak?
During these hiccups, CPU usage will briefly drop, then spike up, to 80% all the way to 100%. It is normally around 50%. Yes, this machine is an old quad-core i5, and a bit underpowered, but it was working fine for quite some time without hiccups. The down-up-back looks a bit like a heartbeat on an ECG. Even more odd, Windows task manager reports that it is Zoom, not OBS that is using more CPU, and it reports the same for Skype or Hangout or other programs using the virtualcam.
Except if you kill zoom, it still happens, in fact even if you kill the virtualcam it still happens (though not as much) with it now reporting that OBS has had the spike in CPU usage. So yes, it happens with just OBS, so the problem is there and probably not in Zoom or OBS-virtualcam, they just make it more visible. It is affected by how much spare CPU there is (ie. it happens less often if the machine is less loaded) and then the CPU spikes don't hit 100%, but the hiccup still happens.
I could fork out for fresh hardware, but I fear that would not actually find the root of the problem.
No, a reboot doesn't fix it, at least not any more. And I have killed everything else that shows any CPU usage like the browser and any daemons. I tried downgrading to 25.0.4, since the problem started happening roughly around the time of 25.0.8, but no joy.
I've tried reducing the size of the canvas to 1280x720 -- no luck. I've tried using very simple scenes, it still happens. (My normal scenes have video playing and chromakey on a camera so they do need resources.) OBS is making good use of the GPU as shown in task manager, but nowhere close to overloading it (the GPU is much more recent.)
I've tried tweaking process priority. No joy. Tweaking streaming settings should not affect anything as I am not streaming.
I may do the hardware upgrade anyway, but otherwise this system was working as my Zoom/OBS studio just fine for several weeks, running for hours with no hiccup. Yes, it seems as though something else installed later might be to blame, and I may eventually try to pull everything out, but there is nothing apparent running or using CPU. I will note that "System" is using about 20% of CPU, OBS is also using about 15% (plus GPU) and Zoom another 20% in stable operation.
Another possible clue: Before thsi problem happened, OBS would start up very quickly when I invoked it, like most programs do. (The system is all SSD.) However, roughly at the same time as the troubles, it takes a few seconds for the window to display in that situation.
What else to look for or tweak?
