FAQ (36)

Using external codecs - using x264.

Using an external codec - Using x264

oCam supports external codecs (VFW), and here we will learn how to use the x264 codec.
 

You can download the x264 codec from the site below.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/x264vfw/


Go to the site and click the download button.


 

Download starts automatically.

For the installation screen, you can just click Next.

Agree to the license agreement.

Specify the installation path.

Installation is complete.

Click Finish.


After installing the codec, you must restart oCam to see it in the external codec list.

After restarting oCam, click the Codec button on the main oCam window and click the External Codec menu.


 

Check the Use External Codec box.



In the list, select x264vfw - H264/MPEG-4 AVC codec.



Then click the Settings button to view detailed codec settings.



A codec settings window opens as shown below. Since this is not normal video encoding but real-time screen recording, select Ultrafast in Preset and check the Zero Latency box to make encoding as fast as possible, then click OK.

(This setting is useful for real-time recording, and you can adjust it as appropriate for your situation.)

After setting it this way and starting recording, it will be recorded using the x264 codec.




If you record like this, the recording is done using x264 codec.


* For game recording, if the game you want to record is 64-bit, you must also install the 64-bit version of x264vfw (by default, unless you touch the option during x264vfw installation), x264vfw-Configure x264vfw64 from the Start menu. Run it and set it up as described above.


* Keep / Accept only YUV 4: 2: 0, Keep / Accept only YUV 4: 2: 2, Keep / Accept only YUV 4: 4: 4 are not supported for x264vfw setting and recording will fail when using this setting.


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How to Reduce the Size of Recorded Video Files When Recording Games (NVIDIA Codec)

If you are using the NVIDIA NVENC H.264 codec by default, the recorded file size may be very large.


Click the Codec menu in oCam to check whether you are using the NVENC H.264 codec, as shown below.

In the oCam Codec menu, click Hardware Encoder Settings.

The Hardware Encoder Settings window will appear as shown below. You can reduce the size of the recorded video file by changing the options highlighted in the yellow box.

First, let's look at how to reduce the size of the recorded file using variable bitrate.

( Rate Control must be set to 1-PASS VBR. )


The Quantizer value can be set from 1 to 51.

The lower the Quantizer value, the better the video quality, and the higher the Quantizer value, the lower the video quality.

In other words, the recording quality is defined by the range from the minimum Quantizer value to the maximum Quantizer value.


For example, 

If the minimum Quantizer value is 1 and the maximum Quantizer value is 13, the recording quality range is 1 to 13.

If the minimum Quantizer value is 1 and the maximum Quantizer value is 51, the recording quality range is 1 to 51.

If the minimum Quantizer value is 13 and the maximum Quantizer value is 51, the recording quality range is 13 to 51.

In conclusion, to reduce the size of a recorded video file, increasing the minimum and maximum Quantizer values will lower the recording quality and reduce the file size.


You can adjust the Quantizer values depending on your needs, as follows.

If you want to maintain the highest recording quality while lowering the quality at certain points to reduce the size of the recorded video, set the minimum Quantizer value to 1 and set the maximum Quantizer value to a higher number depending on how much you want to reduce the quality.

( Example: Minimum Quantizer: 1, Maximum Quantizer: 30 )


If you want to maintain medium quality while lowering the quality as much as possible at certain points to reduce the size of the recorded video, set the minimum Quantizer to 26 and the maximum Quantizer value to 51.

For reference, the minimum Quantizer value cannot be greater than the maximum Quantizer value.

That is, the minimum Quantizer value <= the maximum Quantizer value.


Caution: If you set both the minimum Quantizer value and the maximum Quantizer value to 1, the recorded video file size will become extremely large, so do not use this setting.

The default values in oCam are a minimum Quantizer value of 1 and a maximum Quantizer value of 13, and we recommend setting them within the following range.

Minimum Quantizer >= 1 and Maximum Quantizer value >= 13


Next is how to reduce the size of the recorded video file using constant bitrate.

Change Rate Control to 1-PASS CBR and then set the average bitrate.



The higher the average bitrate, the better the video quality. The lower the bitrate, the lower the video quality and the smaller the recorded file size.


Finally, there is a method that uses a fixed Quantizer parameter.

Set Rate Control to 1-PASS Fixed Quantizer Parameter.



Unlike VBR, there is no concept of minimum and maximum Quantizer values, and the quality is set using a fixed Quantizer value.

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