How to Record Games on OBS | Quick & Easy

Want to amaze your friends, colleagues, or social media audience with brilliant gaming skills or showcase your talent to the world? Whatever the purpose is, recording gameplay sessions is the first step in the process! However, no one would like to watch gameplay videos with lags, interferences, and a poor frame rate per second. You can use the OBS Studio- a professional-grade game recorder to record the gameplay sessions in high-quality resolution with crystal clear audio. 

No doubt, OBS Studio serves the purpose of recording gaming visuals in brilliant quality with smooth transitions. Still, a drawback is that it has a complex user interface that might be difficult to understand. However, worry no more! Here’s a detailed guide on how to record games on OBS and configure the settings on this game recorder. Let’s explore the process of adjusting optimal settings and recording games with OBS Studio!  

Part 1: How to Record Games on OBS: Settings

OBS Studio is most popular among streamers and gamers due to its advanced capabilities and seamless integration with other platforms. This screen recorder allows you to create scenes, which helps record screens from multiple sources such as Windows, images, text, browser, webcam, and more. 

The nicest aspect of OBS Studio is that you can configure an endless number of scenes that can be swapped easily using custom transitions. Aside from that, OBS Studio has a 1920×1080 screen recording resolution at 30 FPS, which results in lag-free films with no time restriction. 

Wondering how to capture gameplay on OBS? Here’s the step-by-step guide to follow!

Step 1. Click the “Windows” button to download OBS Studio for Windows PC from the official website. Once downloaded, install the software by following the on-screen instructions.

Step 2. Click “File” and “Settings” from the drop-down menu. Here, you can adjust the basic video, audio, and streaming settings in OBS Studio.

Step 3. Configure “Video” settings in OBS Studio, such as Resolution, Aspect Ratio, Downscale Filter, and common FPS Values. 

Step 4. Configure the basic Audio settings in OBS Studio to record the crystal-clear sound. Adjust the sample rate to 48 kHz for a clearer sound. You can also set the “Channels” to Stereo and Mono based on your preference. Choose the recording/ audio input source from the “Desktop Audio” and “Mic/Auxiliary Audio” settings. 

Part 2. How to Record Games on OBS: Configuration for Optimal Performance

It’s time to tweak the parameters for best results after completing the basic setup. You need to tweak the encoder settings, video bitrate, audio bitrate, recording quality, format, and several other sophisticated aspects in order to record the games correctly with crisp images and rich sounds. Let’s go on to configuring OBS Studio for best performance:

Step 1. From the Output tab, choose the “Output” mode and keep it “Simple.” If you’re a professional and can handle the advanced parameters, you can switch to “Advanced” mode. 

Step 2. Adjust the “Video Bitrate” and “Audio Bitrate” from the settings. You can choose the maximum settings, but it depends on how high-end your PC is. 

Step 3. Click on the “Advanced” tab from the left-side pane. Here, you can adjust the advanced video parameters like Renderer, Color Format, Color Space, and more. You can also adjust Network settings from this tab. Enable hardware acceleration for improved performance. 

Part 3: How to Record Games on OBS: Record Your Gameplay

Now that you’ve configured all of the parameters and optimized the settings, it’s time to record the gameplay. Game Capture and Display Capture are the two basic techniques to capture gameplay sessions. 

Method 1. Via Game Capture

Game Capture is a special option in OBS Studio for recording games. It has completely upgraded settings and 3D recording capabilities so you can capture action in excellent clarity. Let’s examine the detailed instructions:

Step 1. Launch the OBS Studio on your PC and navigate to the “Sources” section. 

Step 2. Click the “+” sign and then “Game Capture” from the options. 

Step 3. Adjust the properties of Game Capture and choose whether to capture full screen or a specific window. Click OK to confirm the settings. 

Step 4. Click on “Start Recording” from the right side to initiate the recording process. 

Method 2. Via Display Capture 

Capturing the entire display on your PC’s screen can be another option while recording gameplays. Therefore, OBS Studio’s Display Capture can capture your winning or losing moments seamlessly. 

Step 1. Launch the OBS Studio on your PC and navigate to the “Sources” section. 

Step 2. Click the “+” sign and then “Display Capture” from the options. 

Step 3. Adjust the properties for Display Capture, such as “Capture Method” and “Display“. 

Part 4: How to Make OBS Record only Game Audio

While recording gameplay, many users have reported that the OBS Studio captures audio from the system, such as games and other applications. If you wish to record the game audio only, follow these instructions:

Step 1. Launch the OBS Studio on your PC and navigate to the “Sources” section. 

Step 2. Click on the “+” sign and then “Application Audio Capture (Beta)” from the options. 

Step 3. Mute all other audio sources except the newly created audio source.

Step 4. Click on three dots for “Game Audio Only” and then “Advanced Settings” from the Audio Mixer section. Choose Track 1 only for this audio source. 

Step 5. Navigate to “Settings > Output” and set to “Advanced” mode. Then, click the “Recording” tab and set Audio Track to 1. Now, OBS Studio will only record the game’s audio from track 1. 

Part 5: Common Challenges and Disadvantages of Using OBS

There are plenty of benefits to using OBS Studio, but it also comes with certain drawbacks. 

• Difficult to Use— OBS Studio is high-grade software, but it can be difficult for most users to understand. Users with basic knowledge will be unable to handle the advanced video and audio settings. 
• System Lag— Since OBS Studio uses more system resources, the system might feel laggy sometimes. 
• Shuttering— OBS Studio shuttering while recording is a common issue many users have experienced. It occurs when the system resources get overloaded due to excessive use of GPU or encoding lag. 

Part 6: Simplify Game Recording with Screenify

Don’t want to lose your precious gaming moments due to OBS Studio’s black screen, crash, shuttering, or laggy issues? No worries! We have a perfect OBS Studio alternative to record gameplay. Screenify— an all-in-one 4K game recorder— offers a seamless and lag-fee experience to share your gameplay sessions with your friends and colleagues. Screenify offers unlimited screen recording time for Windows and Mac, so you don’t miss any details. Additionally, you can even record both game audio and microphone at the same time.

Want to get rid of noise in your background? Screenify has a brilliant noise reduction feature that helps minimize excessive noise and disturbances in the background. The best part is that you can adjust the volume of both audio input sources to make a perfect blend. The Lock Window Recording option prevents your personal details from getting leaked in the screen recording of your games. 

Key Features and Advantages

• Screenify helps you record fast-paced games in 4K quality at 60 FPS with no lags.  
• You can record desktop screens and webcams simultaneously for better engagement.
• Screenify is free to use with no watermark and dual recording modes such as full screen or region. 
• It has an intuitive interface and uses less system resources for optimal gaming experience.

Steps to record games using Screenify

Step 1.Download and Install Screenify on Computer.

Step 2.Launch Screenify on your computer, and select Record screen mode.

Step 3.Configure Recording Settings aims to configure settings like system audio before recording.

How to Record Games on OBS FAQs

1. Is OBS better for game recording than Screenify?

Screenify serves the purpose better as it offers 4K resolution at 60 FPS without any lags. Moreover, it uses fewer system resources to eliminate shuttering issues. 

2. Can I record high resolution with Screenify?

Yes! Screenify offers a 4K resolution for recording gameplay at 60 frames per second. 

3. How can I solve the lag problem when recording with OBS?

You can try several solutions, such as lowering the video’s bitrate, switching to a stable internet connection, updating video drivers, and more. 

4. Can I edit my recordings in Screenify?

Yes! Screenify offers basic editing features such as video trimming, adjusting the speed and volume of video during playback, noise reduction options, and markup tools such as text, brush, rectangle, and more.  

Conclusion

OBS Studio can record and share gameplay with your friends or colleagues. This open-source software has multiple advanced parameters that can be configured to improve the quality of your recorded clips. However, many users have difficulty handling the advanced settings and complex user interface. We recommend using Screenify— a 4K screen recorder for Windows and Mac with a simple UI and brilliant 4K recording ability. You can record your games for unlimited time without any watermarks now! Try Screenify for a hassle-free recording experience and achieve high-quality game recordings easily.