Open Broadcast Software (OBS)

Hi all,

I just wanted to give some basic instructions for getting high quality video recording out of OBS. The default settings give very very bad quality, that bugs me, so this is how you get that resolution up.

Encoding
Use CBR: Disabled
Quality Balance: 10
Bitrate: 1000
Use custom buffer size: Enabled
Buffer size: 0

Advanced Options
Use custom x264 parameters: Enabled
Custom x264 parameters: crf=X
Where X is anywhere from 1-20, lower being higher quality / higher CPU usage. A good place to start is the 15 - 20 range. A CRF of 0 enables lossless recording which will have very high file size and CPU requirements and introduces compatibility issues, so be careful!

Explanation:
Setting the buffer size to zero disables the VBV system, allowing x264 to hit any bitrate necessary to achieve the quality (CRF) specified. If you wish to increase quality further, you need to use advanced options - quality 10 is equal to a CRF of 22, which is fine for live streams but not so good for local recording.

For compatibility with various editing software, it's also recommended to enable CFR (advanced options) and do not use CRF 0. CRF 0 uses "High 444" mode which a lot of editing software (and some video players) cannot handle.

Taken from the OBS website here.

EDIT: I no can spells.

Thanks for the numbers crunch. My GF is about to start streaming some game play of various games, and i will for sure direct her to this post so (we) she can set her OBS to run smooth.