OBS is one of the best tools (both free and paid) for recording your gaming experience on the web today.
However, OBS is more like a double edged sword, while it’s free and excellent at doing whatever you want on your recording/stream, it is very complex for the average user.
Lets dive in!
Preface: OBS Classic vs OBS Studio:
OBS classic was the original version of OBS. While still a very reliable broadcaster, support ended for OBS Classic a few years ago.
If your new to this program I highly recommend you go ahead and get yourself used to the new OBS Studio. Studio is a tad more complex than OBS Classic; however it is the latest version of OBS and is better optimized.
Run in Administrator Mode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t stress this enough, ALWAYS run OBS studio in administrator mode. Windows 8.1 and 10 for some reason will not allow the game capture add-on (required for OBS to capture games) to function properly in non-administrator mode.
Also make sure your running the 64-bit version of OBS if you’re using a 64-bit PC.
1: Video Settings
Head over to the video tab in OBS settings. There you should see a few options for resolution scaling, downscaling and frame rate.
a. Basic (Canvas) Resolution: This is the resolution that your monitor is natively running at currently. Leave as is.
b. Output (Scaled) Resolution: This setting is for users who want to stream at a lower resolution than what their monitor is running at. It’s very useful if you want to A. Run the game the way you like it. And B. Stream without overloading your encoder and/or internet connection.
c. Downscale filter: This works similarly to Anti-Aliasing in games. When your downscaling from say 1080P to 720P, the image might lose its sharpness because of how downscaling works in OBS. However, the more samples you use, the more processing power it takes to encode. So make sure you don’t overload your GPU and CPU with this filter.
d. Frame Rate Menu: Controls how many or how few frames you want to display to your stream at one second.
a. Common FPS Values: This is going to be the best option for you novice users. Common FPS values are the most common frame rates that are used among movies, games, videos etc. If you’re streaming a game, your best option is to set this to 30 or 60fps.
b. Integer FPS Value: If you want to setup your own very precise frame rate for your stream or recording, use this option.
c. Fractional FPS Value: Basically, you can control how to run your frame rate on a fractional basis. However I’m not quite sure how this would be used in a real life scenario.
2: Output Settings
Now head over to the output tab in settings. I will be using the streaming tab. The Recording tab should be exactly the same except for some extras that don’t incorporate anything to do with encoding.
a. Encoder: This dropdown menu gives us the option to use either the CPU for encoding our streams or to use the built in acceleration chip on your GPU instead. More info on that later.
b. Rescaling Output: Rescaling operates in an almost identical manner as “Output (Scaled) Resolution” previously mentioned. But instead of scaling the resolution before the frame goes to the encoder, it does it afterwards. Only use this option if you want to record your stream at one resolution and natively stream in another.
c. Rate Control: Controls how to encode the bit rate of your video.
i. CBR: Makes the encoder always run at a constant bit rate no matter the scene. Recommended.
ii. VBR: Varies the bit rate on more complex scenes. Not recommended for regular game streaming.
iii. CQP: Very complicated, but the simplest way to explain it is this: It adjusts the bit rate based on motion of the scene. Also not recommended for regular game streaming.
iv. Lossless: Bit rate is completely ignored and the encoder encodes at completely native resolution. NEVER use this for streaming. Only use this if you’re recording gameplay then editing it in a video editor.
d. CPU Usage Present: This setting is to tell OBS how much CPU usage it can use. Note: On the lower end of the scale it’s INSANELY demanding, requiring probably 20+ cores to run smoothly. Which fortunately is a bit overkill anyways. Stick between veryfast, ultrafast, and superfast for any current desktop CPUs.
e. Profile and Tune: Leave these to default for regular streams. All these two menus do is change around how the image looks.
3: Extra Encoder options:
a. Present: This option is pretty self-explanatory. It allows you to add quality while sacrificing performance (ie. FPS) or vise versa. I suggest leaving this at default for novice users as your bit rate should be the primary control of your video quality.
b. Two Pass Encoding: This is probably the most important if you’re using hardware acceleration. Two Pass Encoding will tell the GPU to split the encoding into two steps. 1, Analyze the frame. 2, Encode the frame. Analyzing adds a bit of the quality back into your video that you might lose if your only using single pass encoding. I recommend you enable this as much as you can. But if you find your FPS going down more than expected, try disabling this feature.
c. GPU: Tells OBS how many GPUs to use.
4: 5 Rules for Optimal Streams
One of the biggest pet pees I have with some streamers is that they do not optimize their stream very well. The biggest of them all is when the video is recorded at 1080 60fps, but the latency is so bad that it looks like a 30fps stream.
1. Sync your frame rate with a multiple of your streams frame rate. When you don’t sync your frame rate with your streams frame rate (or a multiple of it), you’ll get a lot of latency in your streams and they will look very choppy (60fps vid will look like 30fps). This is because the stream has to either skip a few frames or duplicate a few frames because the frame rate in game is not even with the frame rate of the stream.
2. Lower Resolution + Better Bit Rate = Better Stream. Bit rate is more important than resolution in almost any stream or game recording. So for example if you want to play and stream at 1080P, but your bit rate can’t stay high enough. It’s going to look terrible. You’re better off going with a lower resolution and a better bit rate. Just think of resolution as another form of bit rate, which it actually is. Even if you’re running 1080P or 1440P, it might be best to lower your stream to 720P or 1080P.
3. Keep Your GPU Load At Roughly 90%: It’s easy to say “Oh I’ll just set my monitor to 60hz and my stream to 60fps and I’ll be golden!” But you’re actually not most likely. This is because your game is going to demand a lot from your GPU, so your frame rate will go down below 60fps. The best way to counter this is to lower graphical settings until you get a solid 60fps (or whatever your stream frame rate is). Typically it’s best to make sure the game stays at the 90% GPU usage range in the most demanding areas, that way you will guaranteed get a constant frame rate and will have enough juice to run GPU acceleration. You MUST run V-SYNC or some sort of artificial FPS limiter to make this happen.
4. Internet Connection: Another important factor is your upload speed on your internet connection. Make absolutely sure it doesn’t dip below a certain, mbps, that you need to run your stream. The best way to make sure is to run automatic mode of TestMy.net. Set the timer to once every hour or 30 minutes. Make sure it’s a whole day thing, so say from 9 AM to 10 PM or whatever time you stream. This will give you your Average upload and download speed which is the most important. If you optimize your stream for your average upload speed, you’ll have a smooth looking stream.
5. Don’t Run 60FPS If You Can’t: You could be one of those people who “needs” 60fps. But the fact is, you can work with 30fps quite well. I’ve seen a NUMBER of streams where 30fps looks incredibly smooth and buttery. If you use all the rules I’ve taught you above, you can make your 30fps stream look far better than bad 60fps streams. You can also possibly up your bit rate a tad more for even better looking frames.
However, OBS is more like a double edged sword, while it’s free and excellent at doing whatever you want on your recording/stream, it is very complex for the average user.
Lets dive in!
Preface: OBS Classic vs OBS Studio:
OBS classic was the original version of OBS. While still a very reliable broadcaster, support ended for OBS Classic a few years ago.
If your new to this program I highly recommend you go ahead and get yourself used to the new OBS Studio. Studio is a tad more complex than OBS Classic; however it is the latest version of OBS and is better optimized.
Run in Administrator Mode!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t stress this enough, ALWAYS run OBS studio in administrator mode. Windows 8.1 and 10 for some reason will not allow the game capture add-on (required for OBS to capture games) to function properly in non-administrator mode.
Also make sure your running the 64-bit version of OBS if you’re using a 64-bit PC.
1: Video Settings
Head over to the video tab in OBS settings. There you should see a few options for resolution scaling, downscaling and frame rate.
a. Basic (Canvas) Resolution: This is the resolution that your monitor is natively running at currently. Leave as is.
b. Output (Scaled) Resolution: This setting is for users who want to stream at a lower resolution than what their monitor is running at. It’s very useful if you want to A. Run the game the way you like it. And B. Stream without overloading your encoder and/or internet connection.
c. Downscale filter: This works similarly to Anti-Aliasing in games. When your downscaling from say 1080P to 720P, the image might lose its sharpness because of how downscaling works in OBS. However, the more samples you use, the more processing power it takes to encode. So make sure you don’t overload your GPU and CPU with this filter.
d. Frame Rate Menu: Controls how many or how few frames you want to display to your stream at one second.
a. Common FPS Values: This is going to be the best option for you novice users. Common FPS values are the most common frame rates that are used among movies, games, videos etc. If you’re streaming a game, your best option is to set this to 30 or 60fps.
b. Integer FPS Value: If you want to setup your own very precise frame rate for your stream or recording, use this option.
c. Fractional FPS Value: Basically, you can control how to run your frame rate on a fractional basis. However I’m not quite sure how this would be used in a real life scenario.
2: Output Settings
Now head over to the output tab in settings. I will be using the streaming tab. The Recording tab should be exactly the same except for some extras that don’t incorporate anything to do with encoding.
a. Encoder: This dropdown menu gives us the option to use either the CPU for encoding our streams or to use the built in acceleration chip on your GPU instead. More info on that later.
b. Rescaling Output: Rescaling operates in an almost identical manner as “Output (Scaled) Resolution” previously mentioned. But instead of scaling the resolution before the frame goes to the encoder, it does it afterwards. Only use this option if you want to record your stream at one resolution and natively stream in another.
c. Rate Control: Controls how to encode the bit rate of your video.
i. CBR: Makes the encoder always run at a constant bit rate no matter the scene. Recommended.
ii. VBR: Varies the bit rate on more complex scenes. Not recommended for regular game streaming.
iii. CQP: Very complicated, but the simplest way to explain it is this: It adjusts the bit rate based on motion of the scene. Also not recommended for regular game streaming.
iv. Lossless: Bit rate is completely ignored and the encoder encodes at completely native resolution. NEVER use this for streaming. Only use this if you’re recording gameplay then editing it in a video editor.
d. CPU Usage Present: This setting is to tell OBS how much CPU usage it can use. Note: On the lower end of the scale it’s INSANELY demanding, requiring probably 20+ cores to run smoothly. Which fortunately is a bit overkill anyways. Stick between veryfast, ultrafast, and superfast for any current desktop CPUs.
e. Profile and Tune: Leave these to default for regular streams. All these two menus do is change around how the image looks.
3: Extra Encoder options:
a. Present: This option is pretty self-explanatory. It allows you to add quality while sacrificing performance (ie. FPS) or vise versa. I suggest leaving this at default for novice users as your bit rate should be the primary control of your video quality.
b. Two Pass Encoding: This is probably the most important if you’re using hardware acceleration. Two Pass Encoding will tell the GPU to split the encoding into two steps. 1, Analyze the frame. 2, Encode the frame. Analyzing adds a bit of the quality back into your video that you might lose if your only using single pass encoding. I recommend you enable this as much as you can. But if you find your FPS going down more than expected, try disabling this feature.
c. GPU: Tells OBS how many GPUs to use.
4: 5 Rules for Optimal Streams
One of the biggest pet pees I have with some streamers is that they do not optimize their stream very well. The biggest of them all is when the video is recorded at 1080 60fps, but the latency is so bad that it looks like a 30fps stream.
1. Sync your frame rate with a multiple of your streams frame rate. When you don’t sync your frame rate with your streams frame rate (or a multiple of it), you’ll get a lot of latency in your streams and they will look very choppy (60fps vid will look like 30fps). This is because the stream has to either skip a few frames or duplicate a few frames because the frame rate in game is not even with the frame rate of the stream.
2. Lower Resolution + Better Bit Rate = Better Stream. Bit rate is more important than resolution in almost any stream or game recording. So for example if you want to play and stream at 1080P, but your bit rate can’t stay high enough. It’s going to look terrible. You’re better off going with a lower resolution and a better bit rate. Just think of resolution as another form of bit rate, which it actually is. Even if you’re running 1080P or 1440P, it might be best to lower your stream to 720P or 1080P.
3. Keep Your GPU Load At Roughly 90%: It’s easy to say “Oh I’ll just set my monitor to 60hz and my stream to 60fps and I’ll be golden!” But you’re actually not most likely. This is because your game is going to demand a lot from your GPU, so your frame rate will go down below 60fps. The best way to counter this is to lower graphical settings until you get a solid 60fps (or whatever your stream frame rate is). Typically it’s best to make sure the game stays at the 90% GPU usage range in the most demanding areas, that way you will guaranteed get a constant frame rate and will have enough juice to run GPU acceleration. You MUST run V-SYNC or some sort of artificial FPS limiter to make this happen.
4. Internet Connection: Another important factor is your upload speed on your internet connection. Make absolutely sure it doesn’t dip below a certain, mbps, that you need to run your stream. The best way to make sure is to run automatic mode of TestMy.net. Set the timer to once every hour or 30 minutes. Make sure it’s a whole day thing, so say from 9 AM to 10 PM or whatever time you stream. This will give you your Average upload and download speed which is the most important. If you optimize your stream for your average upload speed, you’ll have a smooth looking stream.
5. Don’t Run 60FPS If You Can’t: You could be one of those people who “needs” 60fps. But the fact is, you can work with 30fps quite well. I’ve seen a NUMBER of streams where 30fps looks incredibly smooth and buttery. If you use all the rules I’ve taught you above, you can make your 30fps stream look far better than bad 60fps streams. You can also possibly up your bit rate a tad more for even better looking frames.
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