Question / Help Lots of frame loss while recording and streaming

[shatgamer80]

Good evening all. I'm very new to this so bare with me.
I'm looking to stream and record at the same time, but when i do, there is a lot of frame loss during the stream, and waaaay more on the recording. There are multiple sections in the log file where it shows loss of 62%, 16.5%, 16.4%, and 74% due to encoding lag, for the really big numbers, and rendering lag for the smaller two.
I have included the log file for all to peruse. I did see that Game DVR was on, in the log file, and I have subsequently disabled it.
I would like to stream to both YT and Twitch but I'm not sure how things look in Twich during the stream and the TY "live video" is unwatchable when there is any kind of motion/action on the screen.
FYI my internet speed test comes up to around 135mbps down and 14mbps up.
Thanks in advance

 

[Narcogen]

There is a wide variety of video settings and encoder settings in this logfile, and the resolutions to each of these problems are different because the causes are different.

If you are just starting out I would suggest running the Auto-Configuration Wizard from the Tools menu.

 

[shatgamer80]

Ok. I'll give that a shot and see. Does that leave OBS to select the optimal settings? Bitrate, resolution etc?
Also does YT keep a backup of each stream? Would recording in OBS be necessary IF YT keeps a backup of the stream?

 

[shatgamer80]

Wow...Looks like things went from bad to worse. Went into PUBG and when only streaming, the stream was terrible. Attached is the latest log details. I did the auto config even downgrading some of the settings. It told me to set a bitrate of 10000 for streaming and lowered it to 3500. Output is wanted 1080 and dropped it to 720. WTF?!? Is my system that bad :(

 

[Narcogen]

You can tell YouTube to keep your streams afterwards. Whether that is adequate for you or not is your personal choice.

If you can actually sustain 10000 to YT you should do it-- unlike Twitch, they allow it, and they will transcode to lower bandwidth for viewers who cannot view a stream that high. However it looks like your connection can't do it:

19:20:46.194: Output 'test_stream': Number of dropped frames due to insufficient bandwidth/connection stalls: 149 (19.8%)

So set that at what you can do without dropped frames.

Also, if you are using restream to stream to YouTube and Twitch at 10000, they will not transcode down to Twitch's 6000 maximum for non-partners unless you pay them.

Looking at the last entries in the log it claims you're overloading the NVENC encoder at 720p60... which it seems to me your system should be capable of doing.

Are your drivers up to date? Is your GPU in the highest bandwidth slot available?

 

[shatgamer80]

You can tell YouTube to keep your streams afterwards. Whether that is adequate for you or not is your personal choice.

If you can actually sustain 10000 to YT you should do it-- unlike Twitch, they allow it, and they will transcode to lower bandwidth for viewers who cannot view a stream that high. However it looks like your connection can't do it:

19:20:46.194: Output 'test_stream': Number of dropped frames due to insufficient bandwidth/connection stalls: 149 (19.8%)

So set that at what you can do without dropped frames.

Also, if you are using restream to stream to YouTube and Twitch at 10000, they will not transcode down to Twitch's 6000 maximum for non-partners unless you pay them.

Looking at the last entries in the log it claims you're overloading the NVENC encoder at 720p60... which it seems to me your system should be capable of doing.

Are your drivers up to date? Is your GPU in the highest bandwidth slot available?

Thank you so much for this, Narcogen. I'm very surprised that the bandwidth/connection would be the issue. I've got an upload that averages well over 13mbps. I've clearly dropped well below the 10000 and down near 25% of my average setting it at 3500. Assuming 13mbps converts to a roughly 13000bit rate. This would be also keep me below the Restream limits as well.

So if I'm overloading NVENC, wouldn't that mean the system isn't capable? Not sure if there was a typo there :) I went to NVENC to avoid overloading the CPU with x264. Should I be switching back to x264?

Lastly the GPU...That's a great question. I'm going to assume yes but I'll have to look into that. If i can ever get something cooking I know where donations will be going lol

Thanks again. I'll check the gpu slot and drop another post here after another test stream and log file :D

 

[Narcogen]

In your NVENC settings perhaps turn off 2-pass, that would reduce load.

 

[shatgamer80]

In your NVENC settings perhaps turn off 2-pass, that would reduce load.

I'll give that a try as well. Just a quick update. The GPU is definitely in the right slot :) I was hoping it wasn't but alas...

Another Q regarding NVENC and x264. Is NVENC better when going with lower bitrates and x264 with higher? The frustration has me looking at upgrading the CPU and mobo :(

 

[carlmmii]

Narcogen is saying that your GPU should have absolutely no issue with the NVENC encoding. That's why the results of encoding lag on the NVENC side is weird (the card should have absolutely no problem even doing 4k encoding). Although, if there are bottlenecks elsewhere like an oversaturated PCIe bus, that would prevent the GPU from being able to keep up with scene rendering and encoding.

As far as your CPU though, that is long in the tooth by now, so that would explain your original issues with x264 encoder overloading.

Something that needs to be pointed out though.. you're slamming your CPU way harder than it can handle. Check your cpu usage while you're streaming -- you'll see that you're pegged at 100%. This could be causing some kind of effect of killing its ability to send frames to the GPU maybe, but that still seems weird to me.

Step 1 -- do NOT use "Rescale Output". This uses the encoder to do rescaling operations, and if you're using x264, that means your CPU is doing extra work it shouldn't have to. Just set the output (scaled) resolution under the Video tab to change the output resolution.

Step 2 -- don't try to go too high on your CPU preset for x264. Stick with veryfast, and try lowering the resolution (again, in the video tab) and/or framerate to get the encoding load within what the CPU can handle.

Step 3 -- try just abandoning x264 entirely and switch to using NVENC for the stream. The GPU is able to do 2 simultaneous NVENC encodes as well, so you can have separate settings for stream vs recording.

For the question of what's best for lower bitrates, 10-series NVENC encoding is about on par with veryfast, although the compression style and artifacting you'll get is slightly different (for instance, a bit more macroblocking with NVENC). Once you go up to higher bitrates, it's not that big of a difference and NVENC is usually the way to go just because it's essentially free (and the actual size of the recording matters less than the quality).

 

[shatgamer80]

That's a greatly appreciated breakdown, Carlmmii :)
I touched base with a chat agent at Restream and they suggested some setting to follow and the next stream yielded the log file attached. Looks like very minimal loss to encoding with x264, and the YT video looks decent. Borderline good lol https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6q7gsjoCBV0
Now i didn't simultaneously record and stream but for now I'll stick with the stream side of things and push bitrate to see what I can get away with. Once I get to a point that I'm happy with, I'll try to implement recording with your suggestions above.
Again, thank you all for your help. I greatly appreciate it.

Think I should i post the settings that work for me in case others are having similar issues?

 

[Gushy]

ello
I have problems with stream drops too. Normaly with this pc spec and this internet shoud stream with 0 frame drops. But happens to to get a massive framedrops. Any advice will be very helpful.
Btw, do you guys think will be better to stream with graphic card encoder ?
I only want those framedrops to stop.
Stream with OBS:
Obs specs:
1920x1080 = 60 FPS
Encoder: x264 = profile: Faster
Bitrate :CBR 6000
Profile: Main
X264 Options --vbv-bufersize 2800

Rig spec is this:

• CPU: Intel Core i9-7980XE Skylake X 18-Core 2.6 GHz LGA 2066 165W
• GPU: 2x Asus ROG STRIX-GTX1080-O8G
• RAM: G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 64GB (8 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 4000
• SSD: SAMSUNG 960 PRO M.2 1TB NVMe PCI-Express 3.0 x4
• SCREEN: 2 x Asus 27" SWIFT PG279
• MOBO: ASUS ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME LGA 2066 Intel X299 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1
• CASE: Cooler Master Trooper SE Full-Tower Case, Tempered Glass, VGA Vertical
• FAN: MasterAir MA610P RGB CPU Air Cooler, 6 CDC Heatpipes, MasterFan 120mm
• Internet upload speed : 20 Mbps

 

[carlmmii]

Gushy, you'll need to create a new thread with your issue as that appears to be a much different situation. Also be sure to include a log file in your post, otherwise it's hard to troubleshoot the actual cause.

 

[Gushy]

Gushy, you'll need to create a new thread with your issue as that appears to be a much different situation. Also be sure to include a log file in your post, otherwise it's hard to troubleshoot the actual cause.

Sure it will be after few hours :)
Thank you for answer.

 

[shatgamer80]

ello
I have problems with stream drops too. Normaly with this pc spec and this internet shoud stream with 0 frame drops. But happens to to get a massive framedrops. Any advice will be very helpful.
Btw, do you guys think will be better to stream with graphic card encoder ?
I only want those framedrops to stop.
Stream with OBS:
Obs specs:
1920x1080 = 60 FPS
Encoder: x264 = profile: Faster
Bitrate :CBR 6000
Profile: Main
X264 Options --vbv-bufersize 2800

Rig spec is this:

• CPU: Intel Core i9-7980XE Skylake X 18-Core 2.6 GHz LGA 2066 165W
• GPU: 2x Asus ROG STRIX-GTX1080-O8G
• RAM: G.SKILL TridentZ RGB Series 64GB (8 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 4000
• SSD: SAMSUNG 960 PRO M.2 1TB NVMe PCI-Express 3.0 x4
• SCREEN: 2 x Asus 27" SWIFT PG279
• MOBO: ASUS ROG RAMPAGE VI EXTREME LGA 2066 Intel X299 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1
• CASE: Cooler Master Trooper SE Full-Tower Case, Tempered Glass, VGA Vertical
• FAN: MasterAir MA610P RGB CPU Air Cooler, 6 CDC Heatpipes, MasterFan 120mm
• Internet upload speed : 20 Mbps

Wow! My pc specs are far lower and I've managed to get something going. It's not ideal, or 100% perfect, but it's something to get me rolling right now. You can check out the settings and try them to see if they work for you and make adjustments going forward.

 

[shatgamer80]

So i'm running into the same issue WITH better hardware. Please have a look at my log file and let me know what I should be changing. I really don't understand :(

 

[Narcogen]

19:23:19.588: Output 'adv_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 55966 (67.9%)

You are overloading your GPU.

 

[shatgamer80]

19:23:19.588: Output 'adv_stream': Number of lagged frames due to rendering lag/stalls: 55966 (67.9%)

You are overloading your GPU.

Also, I thought I had the Win Gaming features turned off...:S

22:05:17.800: Windows 10 Gaming Features:
22:05:17.800: Game Bar: Off
22:05:17.800: Game DVR: Off
22:05:17.800: Game DVR Background Recording: Off

New Thread is, as you know, here: https://obsproject.com/forum/threads/upgraded-hardware-w-worse-streaming-results.100399/