Most efficient 4k60 recording settings for 2021?

[Galach]

Hello! I'm trying different settings to set dual PC 4k60 gameplay recording. Looking for good quality, but within reason.
Saw couple "lossless" tutorials on the web, but people get absolutely ridiculous files with 1 million bitrate, which is more than ProRes or other barely compressed codecs in some presets, but they use it for compressed h264, which is pointless as for me.
I'm looking for good balance in size and quality which will deliever nice looking footage with minimum artefacts and could be used with in large volumes of video production.
Last time I tried using CBR with 150.000 bitrate (VBR in my tests decreases target bitrate to much and looks unstable). Nvenc h264 codec preset Quality.
Results are not bad but in fast movements they could be better.
Interesting to hear the opinion and experience of other video nerds who tries to record 4k when 90% of audience watch in 1080p)

Stream PC (laptop) comfiguration
i7-10875h
RTX 3060 (105 tdp)
16gb ram
Gaming PC captures via Live Gamer Bolt card in 4k60

 

[koala]

4k recordings are no different than other recordings. Fast movement would be better if you use the CQP rate control with nvenc, and a CQ value of around 18. Lower values mean higher quality. If you don't need to record multiple audio tracks, switch to simple output mode and choose "Indistinguishable quality" as quality. This is a preset that creates good raw material for further processing while not being as huge as lossless.

 

[Galach]

4k recordings are no different than other recordings. Fast movement would be better if you use the CQP rate control with nvenc, and a CQ value of around 18. Lower values mean higher quality. If you don't need to record multiple audio tracks, switch to simple output mode and choose "Indistinguishable quality" as quality. This is a preset that creates good raw material for further processing while not being as huge as lossless.

Does simple output mode use New Nvenc codec? In settings it named just NVENC when in Advanced mode it's Nvenc h264 (new)

 

[Harold]

Yes it does.

 

[koala]

Simple mode is just a wrapper around the advanced mode with mostly fixed (optimized) settings. It's the same encoder. Same API, same quality. It's just a convenient way to use the recommended and usually optimal settings.

 

[Galach]

Simple mode is just a wrapper around the advanced mode with mostly fixed (optimized) settings. It's the same encoder. Same API, same quality. It's just a convenient way to use the recommended and usually optimal settings.

Thanks! I also wanted to ask about keyframe interval and b-frames. How they affect to the quality. About b-frames I heard that higher value give better quality but in fast motion can create more artefacts. About keyframe interval I didn't hear anything)

 

[koala]

These detailed encoding options are beyond the scope of this forum. I propose you change the values of the parameters you mention and compare the resulting videos with each other. If you see a difference, use the value from the better video. If you don't see any difference (this is what I would expect), use the OBS Studio defaults.

 

[wowiez]

Amazing, there's actually good conversation and details that help and it's met with being shut down.

For the record, this post comes up as one of the first when searching for the best settings to use for 4K streaming.

Thanks for the insight, Galach.. those are some interesting questions that I wouldn't have even thought of but now will do some research on.

 

[DayGeckoArt]

Well this is an old thread but here are the settings I use for 4K 4:4:4 encoding. Sometimes I turn up the CQP from 25 to 30 or 35 to reduce bitrate. With HEVC it still looks good. I have an RTX 2080 ti and Xeon W-1370p

 

[jekalxg]

Hey, even it is an old post it helps a lot ))
Can I ask why do you use 4:4:4 encoding ( is it P416-16 bit ?). Audio also ALAC 24 bit why not AAC? I have RTX 2060 Super and AMD Ryzen 5 5500. Monitors are 4k 60PF_ 120FP. I kinda try through Live Gamer 4k from PS5 to PC and record.