Best OBS Settings for High Quality Gameplay Recording

Archiving gameplay footage requires a balance between pristine visual quality and manageable file sizes. This guide provides the optimal OBS Studio recording settings, covering encoder selection, rate control, resolution, and audio configurations to ensure your gaming memories are preserved in high definition.

Video Settings

To capture the sharpest image, you must configure your resolution and frame rate correctly in the Video tab:

• Base (Canvas) Resolution: Set this to your monitor’s native resolution (e.g., 1920x1080 or 2560x1440).
• Output (Scaled) Resolution: Match this to your Base Resolution. Downscaling reduces quality; keeping them identical ensures a pixel-perfect capture.
• Downscale Filter: If you must downscale, use Lanczos (36 samples) for the sharpest detail. If not downscaling, this setting does not affect performance.
• Common FPS Values: Set this to 60. Gameplay looks best at high frame rates.

Output Settings (Recording Tab)

Switch the Output Mode from Simple to Advanced, then navigate to the Recording tab.

• Recording Format: Use mkv or fragmented mp4. If OBS crashes during recording, these formats preserve your footage up to the second of the crash. You can easily convert MKV to MP4 inside OBS using File > Remux Recordings.
• Video Encoder: Select hardware encoders to reduce CPU strain.
  • Choose NVIDIA NVENC H.264 or NVIDIA NVENC AV1 (if you have an RTX 40-series card or newer).
  • For AMD users, choose AMD HW H.264 or AV1.
  • If you lack a dedicated GPU, use x264 (CPU encoding), though this impacts game performance.

Encoder Settings (CQP for Archiving)

For archival purposes, do not use CBR (Constant Bitrate). Instead, use CQP (Constant QP) or CRF (Constant Rate Factor). These methods allocate bitrate dynamically based on the complexity of the scene, ensuring high quality during intense action without wasting space during static screens.

• Rate Control: CQP (or CRF for x264).
• CQ Level: Set between 18 and 23.
  • 18 is visually lossless but results in larger files.
  • 20 is the recommended sweet spot for gameplay archiving.
  • 23 offers good quality with highly efficient file sizes.
• Keyframe Interval: 2s.
• Preset: P5 (Slow) or P6 (Slower). This dictates how hard the encoder works to compress the file. Avoid P7 unless you have a high-end system with thermal headroom.
• Tuning: High Quality.
• Multipass Mode: Two Passes (Quarter Resolution) is sufficient for a balance of quality and performance.
• Profile: High.
• Psycho Visual Tuning: Checked. This optimizes GPU use to make motion look smoother and reduce macroblocking.
• Max B-frames: 2.

Audio Settings

High-quality video deserves high-quality audio. Navigate to the Audio tab in your Output settings:

• Audio Bitrate: Set your active audio tracks to 320 Kbps. This ensures crisp, uncompressed-sounding audio for both your microphone and game sounds.