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48683 Posts
Some of you may have seen the guide on how to stream with FFSplit, an open-source alternative for XSplit. However, there are some features from XSplit that aren't in FFSplit, such as the ability to do multiple scenes and having multiple sources on one screen.
Luckily, there is now a new program that does all of this, OBS, or 'Open Broadcaster Software'. Not only it is free to use, but uses less resources than the commercial alternative. This results in a user allowing to utilize their computer more when streaming; for example, with XSplit I couldn't stream 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps smoothly, but with OBS, I can do both without taking as much of a performance hit as with XSplit.
For reference, Quantic.Illusion uses OBS. His stream is one of the most smoothest and best looking streams out there at 3000kbps/720p/60fps. From what I understand, it is being encoded with a consumer-level CPU. With XSplit, these sorts of results can only be achieved with a enthusiast-level CPU or a heavily over-clocked, high-end consumer CPU.
EDIT: + Show Spoiler [His Specs] +On October 01 2012 16:42 QuanticIllusion wrote:
Core i5 3570 @ 3.40Ghz
AMD Radeon HD 7800 series =]
Anyway, let's take a look through the program.
First of all, download the program from the main website.
Honestly, if you are planning on streaming, you should have a 64-bit operating system installed. Therefore, there is no reason you should be using the 32-bit version of the program over the 64-bit version, unless you are still running 32-bit Windows for whatever reason.
Install/extract then run OBS. You should be approached with the main screen.
Note that unlike in XSplit, you will have to create scenes manually. To do this;
1. Right-click in the 'Scenes' box.
2. Select 'Add Scene'
3. Name your scene.
Also in this box, you can add a hotkey to quickly switch between scenes. To do this;
1. Right-click the Scene you wish to hotkey.
2. Select 'Set Hotkey'
3. Input the key(s) you wish to use (CTRL, ALT and Shift work in combination with most keys).
Now lets add some sources to the scene. You can do this one of two ways;
1. Adding sources individually to each scene.
2. Adding sources as a global function.
I'm not sure whether either makes a difference, but lets go through both options.
For individual;
1. Right-click on the 'Sources' box.
2. Select which kind of Source you wish to add. Monitor / Window Capture is the OBS equivalent of Screen Region from XSplit, Bitmap is to add an image file (overlay) and Video Capture Device is to add a webcam or third-party screen capturing device (e.g. Dxtory, Camtasia). For games, use Game Capture.
3. Name your source whatever you wish.
For global, click on global sources, then click add. Repeat steps as above.
Once you have added your sources, click on 'Edit Scene' to start adjusting each source (size/placement). A rectangular, red border should come up, where you can begin to adjust the source.
Rinse and repeat for every scene and every source you need to do.
For those that use overlays/webcams, you'll have to mess around with the source priority list. To do this, click on a source, then right-click, and depending on what sources you would want on top/below, you can move them up or move them down.
To see these scenes in effect, click 'Show Preview'. You can adjust scenes while preview is both on or off (it should be on).
Now lets look at the settings menu.
General - Self-explanatory.
Encoding - Self-explanatory as well. See http://obsproject.com/estimator for a rough guide as to what to set.
Broadcast Settings - Unless you are only using OBS to locally record, the mode should be set to Live Stream. Streaming service is self-explanatory, but if you are not using Twitch/Own3d, you'll have to manually input the Channel Name/Stream Key/Server. For those on Twitch, your Stream Key can be found at here, at the bottom. For server, select the one that provides the best ping for you. A useful program for finding this out is R1CH's Jtvping, found here. Leave the rest of the settings alone unless you know what you are doing.
Video - Your base resolution should be the resolution of the main monitor you are streaming. If you wish to downscale your resolution for streaming (for example, down to 720p), you can select it with the dropdown. FPS is self-explantory. Aero should be disabled if you are planning to stream with the software capture option.
Audio - All self-explanatory.
Advanced - Do not touch unless you know what you are doing.
Let me know if you found this guide useful. If you have any problems regarding the software itself, I suggest posting in the OBS Forum, as the creator of the program, Jim, is quick in responding to any queries.
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Has anyone done a performance test between this and FFsplit ?
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Thanks for this. Didn't know it existed, not a great fan of XSplit for the various obvious reasons. Can't wait to give it a go.
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Just tried it out... 720@60fps looks/feels pretty good. Might have to make a permanent switch. Thanks for the [G]
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Wow, thank you very much for writing this guide. I was actually going to do something similar myself after I had polished up the software a bit and officially go into beta, but er.. actually, the reason I haven't really said anything anywhere about the app is because I may had been sort of hoping to sneak in some dark souls and borderlands 2 time in while my emails have died down again, I admit. I was going to do another reddit post when I go to beta (which is looking pretty soon) as well.
The app was nigh unusable a month ago when I made that first reddit post, but fortunately I ironed out every single issue that people have brought up, added a ridiculous number of features, and it's in fact gone far beyond my original expectations.. So I'm pretty proud of it.
This app would be nothing today without everyone who helped test, report bugs, and request features. R1CH as well has been contributing to the project, and his help has been immeasurable. So thank you to everyone for your support.
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Core i5 3570 @ 3.40Ghz
AMD Radeon HD 7800 series =]
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anyone have any idea why I am getting the .dll files missing thing? its like d3dx10_43.dll or something.
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Hm, rare for someone not to have an up-to-date version of directx. But you can get it here - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109 - I'll also see if I can't somehow make sure directx is up-to-date in the installer.
Also, I know that you quantic guys and many pro gamers use transitioning images to show your team sponsors (you know, where you have multiple sponsors fading in/out on a single area of the screen), so I'll get something in next version for you guys so you can do that.
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The thing is it seems like it only supports only 16 downscale format as of now so improving it for 4:3 or 16:10 in the future would be better.
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On October 01 2012 17:30 obs.Jim wrote:Hm, rare for someone not to have an up-to-date version of directx. But you can get it here - http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109 - I'll also see if I can't somehow make sure directx is up-to-date in the installer. Also, I know that you quantic guys and many pro gamers use transitioning images to show your team sponsors (you know, where you have multiple sponsors fading in/out on a single area of the screen), so I'll get something in next version for you guys so you can do that.
I just tested some stuff and it works really great with dxtory too. Overlay feature when using dxtory doesn't get messed up like in ffsplit. Can use png files as bitmap easily. The only bad thing is For example i put dxtory as a scene and my desktop as another. When i switch scene and go back to dxtory one i have rescale the dxtory window because of downscaling that i use. Doing this everytime changing a scene if you use video output is bad so if there is an easy fix for it it would be great for me too.
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Sounds like another good alternative, what ISP are you with? I seem to get reasonably bad ping with like 1000kbps+
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48683 Posts
I use university internet, which is why I have a higher upload speed than normal.
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On October 01 2012 14:43 nucLeaRTV wrote:
Has anyone done a performance test between this and FFsplit ?
Not officially, but i have done several tests with both ffsplit and OBS. The trouble with ffsplit, is that if you don't actually have the processing power, it drops the frame rate, whereas with xsplit / OBS you will actually see a performance hit in-game.
System that i'm testing on:
i5 2500k @ 4.7 ghz
no capture card
radeon 7950 @ 1000mhz
I have done some tests:
FFsplit:
at 1080p @ 45 fps generally works most of the time, usually goes down to 40-30 at the end of a long sc2 game.
720p @ 60 fps works ok-ish, it usually goes to around 40-50 fps
OBS:
Can stream 1080p 60 fps just fine, don't really see any performance hits at all. (usually around 100 fps on medium and high)
720p 60fps obviously works fine.
I don't have the paid version for xsplit, as it is expensive as hell, so can't really do any tests in that respect.
Will provide links when i get back to my main computer (at the weekend).
Please take into account that the VOD's will have a very low bitrate, as my internet is quite bad (only 1mb up).
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This looks amazing... been having some problems downloading though. Tried both the direct download link and the 64 bit binary, and once OBS was downloaded and I tried to open it, I got this error message:
"The program can't start because d3dx10_43.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."
I've tried reinstalling, to no luck. Any ideas?
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On October 02 2012 01:00 DG.Zeya wrote:
This looks amazing... been having some problems downloading though. Tried both the direct download link and the 64 bit binary, and once OBS was downloaded and I tried to open it, I got this error message:
"The program can't start because d3dx10_43.dll is missing from your computer. Try reinstalling the program to fix this problem."
I've tried reinstalling, to no luck. Any ideas?
Did you even read the previous posts... as there is already a solution for that missing file thing
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Nice, decent streaming (720p@60fps - tho I doubt OBS ever managed to achieve 60fps  - source 1920x1080) while playing sc2 on a lol i3 2120 and GT430
Good job "Jim".
Oh, had to activate vertical sync to have a smooth streaming, sc2 was pumping 150+ fps and there were no cpu left for OBS I guess.
Imba wooden league skills show off (switched to protoss 3 days ago) - http://www.twitch.tv/hwd2ro/b/334096703
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Speaking as someone who's been working with the FFsplit team for a while, I'd like to give my compliments.
Very impressive piece of software.
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Yea, I'll see what I can do about potentially getting directx updated via the installer if necessary, though I may have to switch to different installer software to do so, so it may be a while.
As for performance, I would love to see more comparisons being done. Most people are telling me it gets better performance for them than xsplit, and causes less issues for their games. I'm not entirely surprised because the app is written entirely in C and C++ with performance in mind, and I'm normally a game engine developer so I'm very familiar with writing performance critical code where each and every millisecond in each frame matters. Again, I admit I'm pretty proud of it.
WTFZerg - thank you very much. Like I said in my original reddit post, I didn't even know about ffsplit when I was originally making the software. I am just glad there are at least some alternatives to xsplit, regardless of which ones people use. Hopefully we can all learn from each other and just overall make sure there are better alternatives out there for everyone.
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On October 02 2012 03:22 obs.Jim wrote:
Yea, I'll see what I can do about potentially getting directx updated via the installer if necessary, though I may have to switch to different installer software to do so, so it may be a while.
As for performance, I would love to see more comparisons being done. Most people are telling me it gets better performance for them than xsplit, and causes less issues for their games. I'm not entirely surprised because the app is written entirely in C and C++ with performance in mind, and I'm normally a game developer so I'm very familiar with writing performance critical code where each and every millisecond in each frame matters. Again, I admit I'm pretty proud of it.
WTFZerg - thank you very much. Like I said in my original reddit post, I didn't even know about ffsplit when I was originally making the software. I am just glad there are at least some alternatives to xsplit, regardless of which ones people use. Hopefully we can all learn from each other and just overall make sure there are better alternatives out there for everyone.
I can do more tests on my i5 2500k, ofc.
Maybe we could have a specific thread on your forum about it?
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Im trying to stream but the program keeps crashing on me. When I finally thought I was ready to go ahead streaming the program crashed again. When I opened it again the preview is just a red background for my dxtory input. No idea what to do.
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