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Update (13th May 2011)
XSplit have released a better x264 encoder in their update package. The directions in this thread are no longer necessary, simply update to the latest XSplit version. More information: http://www.xsplit.com/blog.php?post_id=267
The content below is preserved for historical reasons only.
What?
I recently wrote a stream quality guide and lambasted XSplit for its lack of multi-core encoding which severely hinders performance on modern PCs that can execute 4 or 8 threads simultaneously. I was intrigued since XSplit uses x264, which is programmed to be multi-thread capable and decided to look into it further.
Turns out XSplit ships with an old x264 encoder which either doesn't support multithreading or it is turned off by default. Thankfully due to the wonders of API compatibility, we can simply drop in a replacement encoder and get full benefit from multi-core systems! Here are two videos highlighting the difference, encoded with the exact same xsplit settings - same bitrate, same FPS, same quality - only the modified encoder.
Preview Video
Here's a preview of the difference using fast action (Quake II) with hard-to-encode scenes (motion blur, quick camera switching, etc):
Old x264: http://www.mediafire.com/?vivb4c3dckabuy3
New x264: http://www.mediafire.com/?4wz96f7i84sk8cx
How To Install
0. Close XSplit.
1. Download libx264112.zip.
2. Rename libx264-112.dll in your C:\Program Files\SplitMediaLabs\XSplit folder to libx264-112.dll.old
3. Extract the new libx264-112.dll to your C:\Program Files\SplitMediaLabs\XSplit
That's it! Now when you encode with XSplit, it will use as many cores as necessary for a good quality video.
On my Core i5 2500k @ 4GHz, I am able to use the x264 "medium" preset - the same quality that our TSL VODs are encoded in - in realtime @ 720p30. Obviously results will vary once you throw SC2 into the mix, but for those of you who use XSplit on quad core and especially i7 CPUs, this should allow you to greatly increase quality on your stream (note that replacing this DLL won't actually improve quality by itself, it will allow you to set higher quality without running into single thread CPU limits).
Credits
The x264 encoder was taken from LoRd_MuldeR's libx264 for AVIDemux replacements (link). I have re-hosted it on TL to ensure a safe download.
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Holy shit, were you full screen on quake? I would love to stream quake!
No really though, this is amazing. EDIT: Just actually watched it, and DAMN what a difference.
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This is huge. Thanks for your continued help for all of the up and coming streamers out there.
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Thanks for this awesome find R1CH! Will be very interesting to test this out!
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Holy crap R1CH that is amazing. I noticed you mentioned i5 and i7 but I have an AMD Phenom II x4 955 (3.2GHz), would this help me out streaming at all? Although admittedly I never had any huge issues to begin with.
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Yeah it will help on any system quad core or higher.
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United States7478 Posts
I noticed this greatly increases the size of the file, presumably it also affects bandwidth use? How will this replacement affect people who are already streaming near their max upload speed?
edit: guess i should have downloaded the videos instead of just clicking the links lol
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On May 09 2011 08:11 Antoine wrote:
I noticed this greatly increases the size of the file, presumably it also affects bandwidth use? How will this replacement affect people who are already streaming near their max upload speed?
I recorded longer in the second video since I wasn't getting motion sickness. It's the exact same bitrate, just longer. You get to enjoy more awesome frags.
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One would wonder why the developers of such a popular program have not done this. So would you prefer xsplit with this fix over FMLE, R1CH?
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So there's nothing to adjust with this change? Is it just smoother or the capabilities better?
Also, do I have to readd this every patch?
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Thanks for this definatly gona use for my stream.
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On May 09 2011 08:15 lynx.oblige wrote:
One would wonder why the developers of such a popular program have not done this. So would you prefer xsplit with this fix over FMLE, R1CH?
I'm still disappointed with the full screen source scaling and lack of diagnostic information, but this makes it a lot better. Since it's x264 and not MainConcept, the quality from XSplit encodes should be much higher quality than FMLE.
On May 09 2011 08:18 Torte de Lini wrote:
So there's nothing to adjust with this change? Is it just smoother or the capabilities better?
Also, do I have to readd this every patch?
Most likely, since XSplit uninstalls and re-installs each patch.
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thanks rich 
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Have you had any time to fiddle with the quality 1-10 on xsplit? Im wondering how much of an impact it has.
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Would this be an improvement for a dual core machine?
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on a quad core system will you run into any problems running sc2 at the same time as xsplit if its attempting to use all 4 cores, or will it be smart about its usage?
either way big thanks!
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Wow just downlaoded it gonna try it now, really awesome! Thx for that!
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On May 09 2011 08:10 R1CH wrote:
Yeah it will help on any system quad core or higher.
I presume not very much on dual, if any, based on that quote but R1CH would know better.
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On May 09 2011 08:23 Vequeth wrote:
Have you had any time to fiddle with the quality 1-10 on xsplit? Im wondering how much of an impact it has.
The quality setting sets the CRF, which is then further capped by the VBR limit. CRF basically sets how many bits are assigned to each frame. It has a big impact, most people on quad core systems should be able to handle 5-10 easily though. It's more of a bitrate than a CPU thing, lower quality will result in lower bitrate.
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will people with only 2 cores benefit aswell?
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EPT
