** Official Recording/Streaming Tips & Tricks Exchange **

[uncle_rufus]

Hey everyone,

Quite a few of us are involved in posting videos and streaming, but with the vast array of different pieces of software, hardware and techniques available it can sometimes be a bit confusing

So this thread is a place for all of our fellow OcUK creators to ask questions, learn from each other and share any tips, tricks or knowledge about the process. I think we're all sensible on here but just in case - please don't treat this as an opportunity to shamelessly self-promote (links to (or embedded) videos are fine if they are relevant to the tips being discussed, otherwise a simple link in your signature is more than enough promotion)

I'll kick things off with a question - I'm curious what software everyone is currently using for their recording and editing? Perhaps we can start off by posting what we all use:

For me:

Recording:
DXTory w/ Lagarith codec (and for both audio channels) for RETRO/8-bit games
DXTory w/ UTVideo codec (and for both audio channels) for normal 3d games
OBS Studio w/ UTVideo + Audacity to record audio in some cases (where DXTory doesn't work)

Streaming:
OBS Studio

Hardware:
2x Shure SM57s, Scarlett Focusrite 6i6 interface, Logitech C290 webcam for streaming

Editing:
Audacity for audio, Blender VSE for video (seems an unpopular choice but I like it)

 

[Raumarik]

I record using DXTory to a separate 7200rpm mechanical HDD and keep my mic, Teamspeak and game audio on separate channels using:

Vb cable (free)

Voicemeeter (free)

Voicemeeter allows you to mix and match what inputs go into what virtual cables, you can merge for example teamspeak and your mic to make it a natural conversation or keep them separate to allow you to balance levels between your mic and your friends later on (or to remove your heavy breathing.)

Recording: Shadowplay (game footage + game audio), DXtory for teamspeak/mic audio channels (recording at 1FPS 1 pixelx1 pixel to keep files small), Virtual audio cable and voicemeeter.
Streaming: Steam (only used it twice)
Hardware: Modmic 4.0 unidirectional with in-line mute.
Editing: Audacity for cleaning up audio, Sony Vegas Pro for video/rendering.

 

[Cromulent]

Is it worth upgrading from Fraps to Dxtory? I've been using Fraps for a little while (owned it for ages but only really just started using it) and I had a problem with one game I was trying to record crashing when I stopped recording which meant that I lost a whole videos worth of content which was annoying.

Plus is it easy to edit footage recorded with Dxtory in Adobe Premier CC? I'm thinking of getting a subscription to the full suite of applications because I could make use of Photoshop, Premier, After Effects and Audition in my YouTube stuff.

 

[Raumarik]

DXtory isn't for the faint hearted, it's a bit like OBS in that it's about control rather than convenience, there is a free trial though but you might want to look into Shadowplay (Nvidia), Raptr(AMD), OSB (it's free), camtasia or one of the other dozen of free tools first.

I like DXtory because it gives me control over audio as well as codec etc down to a very good level of detail, so I can tweak things.

However that doesn't mean it's better, I was pretty happy with Shadowplay and Mirilis action (when it worked) before that.

 

[~>Dg<~]

many of the tools are similar its editing which is more of a trial and error until you get what you want.

i still prefer fraps and how i edit my videos than dxtory. dxtory is good though.

 

[Gimpymoo]

Avoid Twitch for streaming.

Latency is high and Twitch has just become the "goto" brand for no other reason than it is just a brand.

www.hitbox.tv is a better service in my opinion.

Most running a monetised stream have different priorities.

 

[Cromulent]

DXtory isn't for the faint hearted, it's a bit like OBS in that it's about control rather than convenience, there is a free trial though but you might want to look into Shadowplay (Nvidia), Raptr(AMD), OSB (it's free), camtasia or one of the other dozen of free tools first.

I like DXtory because it gives me control over audio as well as codec etc down to a very good level of detail, so I can tweak things.

However that doesn't mean it's better, I was pretty happy with Shadowplay and Mirilis action (when it worked) before that.

I'm not too worried about the complexity. I can easily set aside an hour or so to get the right configuration with a bit of testing. The one feature I like about Dxtory that Fraps doesn't have is that Dxtory allows you to record game audio and microphone audio on separate audio tracks which makes editing SO much easier. If you have an audio problem with Fraps it is quite hard to fix if you get the levels wrong because it is all stored in the same audio track.

I do already use OBS for streaming but I'm not a big fan of the file recording options I have to say. I do have an Nvidia GPU so Shadowplay is an option but unfortunately the Geforce Experience app doesn't like to run on my machine because I have a very strict firewall set up and it allows errors out on launch which basically means it is not really an option as I'm not going to relax my firewall rules just to record game footage.

many of the tools are similar its editing which is more of a trial and error until you get what you want.

i still prefer fraps and how i edit my videos than dxtory. dxtory is good though.

Yeah I'm still trying to figure out my editing process. I'm still fairly new to the whole thing so just getting the hang of everything really.

 

[Raumarik]

That's essentially why I ended up on DXtory too, virtual cable / voicemeeter, job done - I can edit conversations in and out of the video as I please, no more problems with the game sound being too high or low either.

 

[Gregster]

I record with Shadowplay and record direct to a HDD, I then use Sony Vegas to edit and add my voice if I am doing a review.

Settings are well over the top for Vegas for me though but I like the final video quality and stick with it. I also game at 1440P but record at 1080P mostly but noticed the last video I did (Rise of the Tomb Raider) wasn't such great quality, so might well go back to 1440P recording.

 

[uncle_rufus]

Is it worth upgrading from Fraps to Dxtory?

It probably depends if you can justify the cost (it's only ~£20) - I can only echo what the others have said, you get a lot more control and particularly having the audio tracks separate is nice.

DXtory isn't for the faint hearted, it's a bit like OBS in that it's about control rather than convenience

I don't think it's that bad really... I picked up OBS only recently when trying out streaming but had always heard a lot of people saying it was good for recording, but I find the options really lacking for normal recording (compared to DXTory) - am I missing some settings somewhere?

Avoid Twitch for streaming.

www.hitbox.tv is a better service in my opinion.

Never heard of this... As you say I went to Twitch as it was the only service I knew of - do the other services really have a lot of users? (will check hitbox.tv when I get home)

That's essentially why I ended up on DXtory too, virtual cable / voicemeeter, job done - I can edit conversations in and out of the video as I please, no more problems with the game sound being too high or low either.

Yeah this can't be understated (although it is achievable without DXTory, it just so happens to make it easier). Not only being able to edit conversations but being able to apply separate audio-processing to your voice, your friends voices and the game audio is really really useful

 

[arc@css]

Although I've been uploading videos for just over a year now, it's only very recently that I've switched from very basic, free editors like Windows Movie Maker to something much better.

Recording : ShadowPlay / Mirillis and just started using Dxtory. Mainly ShadowPlay atm.
Streaming : never tried it.
Hardware : none, yet.
Editing : Premiere Pro / Vegas.


Is it Adobe After Effects that I require to make good video intros / channel intros?

 

[Cromulent]

It probably depends if you can justify the cost (it's only ~£20) - I can only echo what the others have said, you get a lot more control and particularly having the audio tracks separate is nice.

Yeah the cost isn't a big issue given how much I'll probably use it. I think I'll go for it. At least I'll download the free trial and give it a good test run.

 

[arc@css]

What do any of you use to fix things if audio is out of sync? I don't know if it's a setting within the game (EAX?), but almost all of my Oblivion Lost videos require me to re-encode the files in handbrake or format factory, but even handbrake sometimes takes a few attempts before it manages to sort the problem out. Is there are simpler way?

 

[uncle_rufus]

Is it Adobe After Effects that I require to make good video intros / channel intros?

It's not the most professional looking thing in the world, but I made our intro using a combination of Blender (which I use to edit) and GIMP (aka the poor-man's photoshop). So for example I had a part of the logo I wanted to spin around - I made 2 copies of the logo image in GIMP, one with the spinning part missing and one with only the spinning part showing... Then I layered them over the top of each other (in Blender) and keyframed the "rotation" of the layer I wanted to spin... Hope that makes sense

What do any of you use to fix things if audio is out of sync? I don't know if it's a setting within the game (EAX?), but almost all of my Oblivion Lost videos require me to re-encode the files in handbrake or format factory, but even handbrake sometimes takes a few attempts before it manages to sort the problem out. Is there are simpler way?

When you say out of sync do you mean like it's offset by a constant amount the whole way through or is it drifting? (Is this your same question from the other thread - with ShadowPlay?)

 

[arc@css]

It's not the most professional looking thing in the world, but I made our intro using a combination of Blender (which I use to edit) and GIMP (aka the poor-man's photoshop). So for example I had a part of the logo I wanted to spin around - I made 2 copies of the logo image in GIMP, one with the spinning part missing and one with only the spinning part showing... Then I layered them over the top of each other (in Blender) and keyframed the "rotation" of the layer I wanted to spin... Hope that makes sense

Yours look good to me. I did actually make a thread about blender a few months back as I was interested in learning some of the basics. I might well take a look at it again (especially since it's free), and then if need be I could try out After Effects later on. It would save me going from £17 to £45 per month (Adobe).

When you say out of sync do you mean like it's offset by a constant amount the whole way through or is it drifting? (Is this your same question from the other thread - with ShadowPlay?)

Yes, it's in relation to the same question as before. I'm not entirely sure if it's drifting or constant (drifting would be my most likely answer). For example, I just re-encoded one of the files and at first everything seemed fine, but after a minute or two when shooting at en enemy, you can quite clearly tell it's out. I mention EAX (bit of hunch) as by accident I enabled it at the start of the playthrough; once all of the footage is exhausted I can check to see if the new batch of recordings are at fault. As I say, it's just on that one game, so that's why I wondered if it was an in game setting.

 

[Ashley Jordan]

Avoid Twitch for streaming.

Latency is high and Twitch has just become the "goto" brand for no other reason than it is just a brand.

www.hitbox.tv is a better service in my opinion.

Most running a monetised stream have different priorities.

I've been having issues picking up regulars with twitch, mainly due to my inconsistency and also such a huge competition. Do you personally use hitbox? i can see it has a smaller viewer base but i kind of like the look of it.

 

[Cromulent]

I've been having issues picking up regulars with twitch, mainly due to my inconsistency and also such a huge competition. Do you personally use hitbox? i can see it has a smaller viewer base but i kind of like the look of it.

I did my first ever stream to Twitch the other day and got a solid 6 viewers without really doing anything particularly special simple because I chose a good game to play that wasn't very popular.

You might also be able to break into YouTube Gaming as well. That could be another option.

 

[uncle_rufus]

I might well take a look at [Blender] again (especially since it's free), and then if need be I could try out After Effects later on.

Could be worth a shot... Just like GIMP Blender is really just a well run open source clone of many of the best features of the pro paid for software. The only downside is it takes a bit of learning because not too many people use it (as a video editor). I think I watched a series of tutorials by a guy called Mike Myers (neither of "the" Mike Myers's though ) Also I can try and help a bit if you run into anything specific

I just re-encoded one of the files and at first everything seemed fine, but after a minute or two when shooting at en enemy, you can quite clearly tell it's out.

I can't imagine it would be to do with the game settings - as far as I know most capture programs will literally be grabbing the audio directly from the signal being sent to the device. I'm still fairly convinced that your problem is the video not the audio, and it has ended up being recorded in VFR (variable frame rate). Most editors can't cope with VFR - it's very annoying and actually one of my reasons for switching from ShadowPlay to DXTory - to save the extra step of re-encoding to CFR (constant frame rate) every time.

Alternatively if you're talking about your final rendered video (not the raw captured footage) - I do sometimes get a weird problem where the video inexplicably renders out sped up (like a flat 2x speed increase) and then clearly doesn't match the audio and "runs out" before the end of the video. It's super weird - if I chop an extra frame or two from the start of the clip the problem usually goes away but it's very annoying and I can't work out why it does it (maybe it's a Blender problem, or DXTory, or something else I'm doing?)

I did my first ever stream to Twitch the other day and got a solid 6 viewers without really doing anything particularly special simple because I chose a good game to play that wasn't very popular.

That's pretty good - we did a quick test stream and got pretty much nobody! But since I've bought it to play anyway might try streaming a little XCOM2 this weekend (it'll be popular though so I don't expect it to really take off - but like I say I'll be playing it a lot over the weekend whether I stream or not so worth a try!)

 

[Cyanide]

I did a bit last year and want to get back in to it.

I've got a Logitech C920 & Blue Snowball, edit using Adobe CC. I've been capturing audio with Audacity and video with Shadowplay but I've found it can be a bit of a pain sometimes. Debating whether there will be any advantage to rigging up my Elgato HD as a 2nd output from my GPU and capturing that way?

 

[tcfreer]

My personal set up

Youtube Videos
OBS to record
Windows Movie Maker to cut edit transition and join

Stream
Twitch -but I was already using it and have a fairly consistant viewer base
OBS - Stream through this to twitch
Snip - Music title software to display on channel
Nightbot - In stream chat bot to mod etc
Twitch Alerts - new follwers, donations, host etc

Hardware
Headset - Corsair 1500

Video's and stream all look goo IMHO, few people have also said this