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ikrananka
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Game Mode FPS Issues - H264 (CPU)

Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:53 am

I am attempting to record an OpenGL game, in game mode, at 2560x1440 @ 60fps (CFR). I am recording to MP4, using the H264 (CPU) codec (VBR) and 100q. The issue I'm having is that my output only reaches around 50 to 53 fps.

I have checked and found that my CPU and memory usage never exceed around 50% and so they're not the issue. I have also tried recording to both my HDD and SSD, again with no improvement. So where is the bottleneck? Is it inherent in the Bandicam software, the codec or what? I would have thought with my CPU being only at 50% utilisation that this would enable Bandicam to meet my fps target.

Due to my workflow with editing and uploading my footage I MUST record in MP4 format. I tried the MPEG-4 codec and that managed to achieve the 60fps but at the expense of horrendously large files.

Are there any suggestions you can give to help the H264 (CPU) codec achieve 60fps without reducing quality?

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Re: Game Mode FPS Issues - H264 (CPU)

Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:20 pm

Hi ikrananka,

If the encoder's performance is not good enough, it is likely that the video will be saved as VFR.
We understand that you would like to get the best quality of the captured video, but it is hard for us to solve the issue under your settings and recording target.
Please refer to the following page and find better settings for yourself.
https://www.bandicam.com/faqs/how_to_re ... recording/

Sorry that we cannot solve your issue.

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ikrananka
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Re: Game Mode FPS Issues - H264 (CPU)

Tue Nov 29, 2016 12:12 am

I'm still curious to know where the bottleneck is in this recording process. Is it hardware or software related? Would a specific hardware upgrade solve the problem?

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Re: Game Mode FPS Issues - H264 (CPU)

Sun Dec 04, 2016 6:48 am

If I may pop in ikranaka, [and I am sorry to come in after an Official Response from Bandisoft], but if I can try help: what is your h264 (cpu) settings?

For example, are you trying:
  • Faster Encoding Speed
  • Balanced Performance
  • Smaller File Size
?

Just wondering, as even though it is only requiring ~50% of your CPU, that is merely the usage that the Codec is requesting, to perform it's analysis and compression. Although hardware can severely limit the performance of a Codec, the Codec itself will still be limited by factors outside of that, such as Processing Time per frame (so that it does not lag behind), Analysis Time per frame (to not spend too much time inspecting and deciding what to compress, to make it look better). These factors limit the output performance of the codec, without increasing the computing requirements of the codec, is what I mean [I hope this is making sense I am a little tired, heh]

To explain a bit more, the "Faster Encoding Speed" setting will spend much less time per frame, analyzing them and deciding how to compress them (to make it smaller, look better, etc) and will pass it on to the output very quickly (RAM buffer, drive bus, etc).
In contrast to that, the "Smaller File Size" will spend much more time per frame as it comes through, analyzing them and taking longer to decide what to compress (to make it smaller, look better, etc) and will take longer to pass the frames on to the output processes.

This happens with all Codecs; the more complex the settings used, the more time it will need to take per frame of material ("the higher the settings, the slower it will perform").

This is why codecs such as RGB, YUY, FRAPS1, DXTORY, LAGARITH and more, are fast but produce very large files. They don't spend a lot of time analyzing and deciding what to do with the frames, they do very light analysis and very light compression and this means that their output is very fast - barely any "lag" is encountered in this process while playing (if the hardware can handle the speed of the data handling) - it is just that the files will be very large, since there is little time spent on compression.
In contrast to that again, codecs with higher analysis and compression capabilities, such as h264 and h265, VP8 and VP9 (used in WEBM files) and more, are slower but can produce very small files. They take a lot of time per frame, looking at it and deciding how best to compress them, to still have them 'look good', within the restrictions of the settings configured. If high and complex settings are configured, it can take a very long time to compress a video stream of data - but the file can be very small and look really nice, with processing such as Deblocking and other Filtering done on it - all within the codec itself.

This brings us back to my check on what setting you are choosing for the Optimization of the codec (h264 cpu). Located under:
Video Tab > Format section > Settings button > Video section > Codec settings ("...") > Optimization section

Although Bandisoft has improved the performance of their usage of this codec pretty well over their course of using it in Bandicam [in my opinion], the higher/complex settings of "Smaller File Size" can still have an effect on performance (lag in recording, lag in output (dropped frames)), due to it trying to analyze the frames longer as they come through the codec, taking more time to compress the frames further, resulting in the lower performance - but it will make nice small files... You are trying to record in 1440p, which is pretty demanding (not for your hardware but for the codec itself) to process quickly, depending on the type of material being recorded and how it is being passed into the codec (what game, game engine, etc).

This is of course, just an idea I am 'throwing out there', in case it does have to do with the codec.... You can try the "Faster Encoding Speed" and see if that helps, just remember that the file size will be much larger than if it was on the other settings, because it is 'spending less time processing the frames and letting them go through faster', so that would need to be accounted for [dealing with the larger files if you are lower on diskspace].

This would also explain why you can attain 60fps with MPEG-4 (which uses lower compression, spending less time processing the data as it streams through).

Codecs, compression, recording, output - it is all a 'balancing act' unfortunately. Deciding between Small Files and Fast Compression is a give-and-take that must be decided somewhere along the line. How small do I want my files? How much lag am I getting? Do I have to reduce the compression, getting bigger files, so that it is all happening faster? These are questions many recorders/streamers eventually face.... [well, until humans unlock quantum processing and keep the data on crystals and proteins and everything happens near-instantaneously, then there will be no lag anywhere! lol].

I have other ideas, but I just wanted to ask this for now.
I will try to return to this thread and help out further, if I can.

For now, if I can suggest: since it is only occurring with one game, perhaps approaching that developer (the Official WoW/Blizzard forums) as well, since it may be something specific to your hardware combination, something that needs a 'hotfix' (patch to be downloaded and installed) or other issue with WoW that can more expeditiously be solved from there. Just an idea of course, I don't like 'passing the buck/problem' on to others, I will come back here with more ideas, if that is something that will help... It's just that this specific issue may be beyond Bandicam (or help from outsiders) and stuck within the confines of the performance of the codec itself (for now - don't worry, as long as lower-compression codecs work [which will be faster too] and you can still record WoW, it just means you may have to put up with bigger files for that one game - for now...).

Good luck with it!

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