OBS Studio How to Fix Dropped Frames

OBS Studio How to Fix Dropped Frames

Drops in frame rate are an absolute nightmare for streamers. Usually, these drops are a result of bad OBS settings or a problem with your internet connection. In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to fix stuttering and dropped frames in OBS Studio.

https://speedtest.net.

https://softtechtutorials.com/software/obs-studio-how-to-fix-dropped-frames/

0:00 OBS Dropped Frames Intro 0:30 Output Settings - Streaming 3:18 Video Capture Devices 3:50 Network Connection 4:44 OBS Studio - Recording Settings 5:44 OBS Advanced Settings 6:05 Updates and Location

#1 OBS Output Settings - Streaming

In OBS Studio, there are a few settings that we need to change or set. In the first method, we check the output settings.

Click on File in the top left corner, and after that on Settings.

Select the Output tab and change Output Mode to Advanced. In the Streaming tab, we can now change the Encoder. If possible, and if your card is powerful enough, change this to NVIDIA NVENC or RTX depending on your GPU. Otherwise, set it to x264.

Check the box next to Rescale output. Set it to 1920x1080 or 12-80 by 7-20. 12-80 by 7-20 is the safest choice to avoid stuttering. The lower the resolution, the easier it is to have a smooth running stream. The scaled resolution works best in a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Make sure that Rate Control is set to CBR. So as a rule of thumb, if you want to stream in 1080p and 60 fps, you should set the bitrate to at least 6000. For 1080p and 30 fps, you can set the bitrate to 5000.

For 720p and 60 fps set it to 5000 as well. For 720p and 30 fps lower it to 3000.

However, your connection needs to be fast enough to match this constant bitrate. If your bitrate is set to high and your connection can’t back it up, you will have frame drops and stuttering.

Next, adjust the keyframe interval to 2 seconds and the CPU Usage Preset to veryfast or to quality depending on your encoder choice. The last setting to change is Profile, set this to main.

Click on apply and it might be that changing these settings was enough to fix the stuttering.

#2 Deactivate Other Video Capture Devices

In the next method, we make sure that other video capture devices aren’t running in the background as this has a big impact on your CPU usage.

To change this setting. Double click on a video capture device. When it opens, check the box next to Deactivate when not showing. After that, click on Ok.

You have to do this for each source that you set in OBS.

#3 Network Connection

The next thing that you want to keep in mind is that streaming over WiFi can be unreliable as the signal strength changes constantly. When you live stream, you should try using an ethernet cable. If this stops the stuttering and dropped frames, you have an issue ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xl0LmKz1KwQ