OBS Lemmings Video Recording/Uploading Future Plans: Help Me Decide the Format

[kaywhyn]

Hi all,

I've been contemplating a lot recently about recording and uploading Lemmings videos to my Youtube, so I decided to check out OBS. This wasn't recommended to me by anyone. Rather, from what I can gather in the forums, most seem to be using OBS to record, hence why I know about it. Initially, I had problems with a black screen for the display capture, but thank goodness for video tutorials on how to fix this. It's just like the person in the tutorial said, the problem is that my laptop is choosing my NVIDIA GPU rather than the Intel GPU to render it. Once I followed the steps to fix it, I was able to get my laptop display to show in OBS. I did a couple of video recording test runs with OBS, and it works swell! It was much easier to setup than I thought it would be, so I absolutely agree, OBS is very easy to set up, only takes a few minutes. I did have a problem figuring out how to start recording when I'm in NL and how to stop it after a level is solved, but that's an easy fix thanks to another OBS tutorial I saw, which is simply assigning a hotkey to them. I currently have start recording to F1 and stop recording to F2. Only thing I don't like is that F2 is also the key to bring up the level select menu. So, what would you suggest as hotkeys for starting/stopping recording?

With this, I may be jumping on the wagon of recording/uploading videos of Lemmings to my Youtube soon. For one thing, my Youtube channel can certainly use more content. All that's currently on there are about 10 videos, most from way back in 2008. However, don't expect me to record videos of any other games, as my channel will mostly be limited to Lemmings videos. For another, since this community seems to think that I'm one of the better solvers of Lemmings level packs (not trying to toot my own horn here, just simply what I gathered from the feedback and praise from others I've gotten on my own My Solving Abilities topic), I'm sure this will be much appreciated, not only by the community, but also for pack authors of packs that I'm covering. Not to mention another forum member covering packs via video

This is where I would like your input: the format my Lemmings videos should take. In order of preference, I can do 1) silent ones, where I simply upload my solution of the level, 2) post-commentary, where I upload my solutions, as well as give my thoughts/feedback on the level, or 3) blind playthrough of a level pack, either with or without commentary. Since I currently live with my elder folks, #1 is the easiest for me, since both #2 and #3 will be quite difficult for me to do in peace. The only way I can get around that is by recording late in the evenings. Of course, I could video edit, but as I'm not very good at it and prefer to avoid doing it, that's pretty much out of the question. At the same time, I love giving feedback, as you can tell by the huge posts that accompany when I post my replays, so I can certainly do #2 or #3. If I decide to go the audio commentary route, do expect a lot of fumbling and a lot of pausing in between voicing my thoughts, as I'm not very good at quickly thinking on my feet, but I don't mind, as I've seen from the other videos of LPers that we all get stuck in articulating our thoughts from time to time. Obviously, some are naturals at it, but we all seem to run into a block in our thoughts every now and then.

Also, for recording audio, do any of you use anything else in addition to OBS? Or do you just use OBS? From what I can gather, most seem to say that the audio recording is not so good with OBS. If that's the case, what software do you recommend for recording audio? At the same time, in my own video recording tests, the audio with OBS isn't too shabby, so I might just use OBS only for the audio too.

In regards to streaming, I think that's pretty much out of the question, since I prefer to solve levels in peace, as well as figure out the solutions on my own. Nevertheless, I might give it a try just for the experience. Now, I do have a question, and that is are Youtube and Twitch streams the same in that only the person recording can be heard, while the rest can only interact via chat? Are there advantages/disadvantages of Youtube vs Twitch? The other problem, of course, is finding a good time for people to make the stream, but of course I would announce the date and time in advance. I'm just not sure if late evenings are fine for people, since that tends to be the best time for me to record.

Along the same line, I wonder if I would be a welcome addition to joining a Lemmings stream and providing help if the person is stuck on a level. The problem I see with this are with packs that I haven't myself played yet. In this case, I can probably just not join, since nothing will be spoiled for me this way. It won't be a problem if it's a pack I already played, since nothing will be spoiled for me anyway.

Finally, as to when I announce that I have videos up, I might just wait until I have a full rank of a pack uploaded first before providing my link. I might also wait until I get a newer laptop in about a month or so before recording and uploading videos. My laptop has a problem in that it's pretty much a nose cam due to the awkward placement of the integrated webcam on the bezel of the laptop. With the newest Dell XPS model, the webcam placement is finally in the right location, and so with that I might also do webcam capture videos as well in the future. Also, the audio quality might be much better as well, given that the speakers will be in a better location and supposedly the speakers are higher quality than they are in the current Dell XPS laptop I have.

Looking forward to doing this soon!

[namida]

You can also use the mouse to open the level select screen - middle-click on the title screen (this doesn't work anywhere else, though, only on the title screen).

I personally use Ctrl+Shift+8 for start and Ctrl+Shift+9 to stop. There was a reason for these choices, but I've long since forgotten what it was and stuck to them purely out of habit.

[kaywhyn]

You can also use the mouse to open the level select screen - middle-click on the title screen (this doesn't work anywhere else, though, only on the title screen).

I totally forgot about middle-clicking to bring up the level select menu, although that's because I never use middle-click for it, only F2. However, that's not the problem when recording. Rather, if I go the route of uploading solutions to single levels, I would like to stop recording on the post-view results screen. As mentioned before, I currently have stop recording as F2, which is the exact same key that brings up the level select menu. I guess I'll have to use a different hotkey here to prevent the menu from coming up. Middle-click is pretty much out of the question, as I prefer to not click the mouse wheel. Also, I didn't know that it was possible to bring up the level select menu on the post-view results screen, as I have always used either left click to proceed or Esc to go back to the title menu.

[Turrican]

Personally , I upload single level videos in my channel , so here is the the trick , that I use for my Neolemmix videos! I load the level while having OBS minimized and not recording , I load the replay , I have it complete the level by pressing the button for skipping 10 seconds multiple times ,  and when the level is completed , I choose retry level , start recording with OBS , and minimize OBS again! In that case ,  the level start again and the replay is works again automatically , so you can record it without needing to load it again! Then when the level is completed , at the end screen , I maximize OBS again , and stop recording!

The problem is that you will end with the intro and the end screen of the level , being more seconds long that what you would want for your video , so you need a way to edit it and cut the unneeded seconds at the intro and the end screen! Personally for that purpose for my videos , I use an additional program , called "Shotcut" ( It's free , like OBS) , that does the job very well , but also I haven't searched "in depth" the options that OBS provides , so if OBS has already an option with that functionality , please ignore my suggestion for an additional program like shotcut!

[namida]

Personally , I upload single level videos in my channel , so here is the the trick , that I use for my Neolemmix videos! I load the level while having OBS minimized and not recording , I load the replay , I have it complete the level by pressing the button for skipping 10 seconds multiple times ,  and when the level is completed , I choose retry level , start recording with OBS , and minimize OBS again! In that case ,  the level start again and the replay is works again automatically , so you can record it without needing to load it again! Then when the level is completed , at the end screen , I maximize OBS again , and stop recording!

That's a bit overcomplicating things. You can load replays on the preview screen - just hit your Load Replay hotkey (note that this won't work if it's the same as a key with a hardcoded function on the preview screen - so not an arrow key, enter, escape, space, F2 or F3). By default, the Load Replay hotkey is L on the traditional layout, or F7 on the functional layout.

Note that the above is only true for fairly recent versions - I think it may have been 12.7 when this feature was added? However, even prior to this, you don't have to wait for the replay to finish playing after loading it in-game; you can load it, hit Esc - NOT the nuke - to exit out, and immediately replay the level and the replay will still be there.

[Turrican]

That's a bit overcomplicating things. You can load replays on the preview screen - just hit your Load Replay hotkey (note that this won't work if it's the same as a key with a hardcoded function on the preview screen - so not an arrow key, enter, escape, space, F2 or F3). By default, the Load Replay hotkey is L on the traditional layout, or F7 on the functional layout.

Note that the above is only true for fairly recent versions - I think it may have been 12.7 when this feature was added? However, even prior to this, you don't have to wait for the replay to finish playing after loading it in-game; you can load it, hit Esc - NOT the nuke - to exit out, and immediately replay the level and the replay will still be there.

Ok! I didn't know it , so thank you for notifying me about this method! That makes things much simpler!

[kaywhyn]

Personally , I upload single level videos in my channel , so here is the the trick , that I use for my Neolemmix videos! I load the level while having OBS minimized and not recording , I load the replay , I have it complete the level by pressing the button for skipping 10 seconds multiple times ,  and when the level is completed , I choose retry level , start recording with OBS , and minimize OBS again! In that case ,  the level start again and the replay is works again automatically , so you can record it without needing to load it again! Then when the level is completed , at the end screen , I maximize OBS again , and stop recording!

The problem is that you will end with the intro and the end screen of the level , being more seconds long that what you would want for your video , so you need a way to edit it and cut the unneeded seconds at the intro and the end screen! Personally for that purpose for my videos , I use an additional program , called "Shotcut" ( It's free , like OBS) , that does the job very well , but also I haven't searched "in depth" the options that OBS provides , so if OBS has already an option with that functionality , please ignore my suggestion for an additional program like shotcut!

Yea, I agree with namida that this sounds like more work and trouble than it's worth. I think it's easier to just simply press the hotkey for start recording on the level preview screen, enter the level, load the replay, let it run, then hit the stop recording hotkey once you're on the results screen.

As for video editing, I'm not too big on that. Not to mention that I'm not good at it either. With the way I'm doing it, I don't have all that extra fluff at the beginning or at the end, and so video editing won't be necessary. However, when viewing the videos, I have noticed a thumping noise about a second before the music starts playing for the level. I'm not sure what's causing it.

As for commentary, do you just use OBS or do you use other software as well? Personally, since I like to avoid unnecessary work wherever possible, I will probably just end up using OBS for recording and audio, despite how many here have said that the OBS audio tends to be subpar compared to other software.

[kaywhyn]

Ok, I finally got to record Lemmings videos on my new laptop, and I was wondering. Is there a way to eliminate or at least reduce the audible mouse clicks? Also, there appears to be a tiny echo on the "let's go" and when the trapdoor opens, something which wasn't present in the videos in my old laptop. See attached file. I wonder why I'm having these issues now. Not sure if it's the fact that my new laptop has 4 speakers, compared to my old one which only has 2. Or maybe it's something in the way I have OBS configured.

Perhaps it's easier for those who use OBS to simply tell me the settings they have configured.

edit: So I tried tweaking the desktop audio level. When I put it all the way to the left, the issues disappear, but then the audio's way too low. Any adjustments by putting it to the right the echo issues start to come up and the music seemed a bit off as well.

edit 2: I've added audio output and input as sources. The mouse clicks aren't as audible anymore, but the echo and music are really off. I'm honestly at a loss here.

[IchoTolot]

Ok, I finally got to record Lemmings videos on my new laptop, and I was wondering. Is there a way to eliminate or at least reduce the audible mouse clicks? Also, there appears to be a tiny echo on the "let's go" and when the trapdoor opens, something which wasn't present in the videos in my old laptop. See attached file. I wonder why I'm having these issues now. Not sure if it's the fact that my new laptop has 4 speakers, compared to my old one which only has 2. Or maybe it's something in the way I have OBS configured.

Perhaps it's easier for those who use OBS to simply tell me the settings they have configured.

edit: So I tried tweaking the desktop audio level. When I put it all the way to the left, the issues disappear, but then the audio's way too low. Any adjustments by putting it to the right the echo issues start to come up and the music seemed a bit off as well.

edit 2: I've added audio output and input as sources. The mouse clicks aren't as audible anymore, but the echo and music are really off. I'm honestly at a loss here.

What do you have in terms of audio output and input devices?

If you are just using speakers for output then there will be an echo most likely as the speakers noise will reach the microphone as well.

I, as an example, use a headset which has very noise isolated speakers on my ears. Let's say when I hear something on my computer and another person speaks to me, there is a very high chance of me not hearing it as the sound from outside has a hard time getting to my ears. As a result, noise from the ear speakers does not get through to the microphone.
Mouse clicks and keyboard sounds still reach the microphone though.

Edit: My headset is a "Logitech G35"

[kaywhyn]

Output: Realtek audio speakers

Input: Realtek internal microphone

So, what you're saying is there's not much one can do about the mouse clicks then? I think that makes sense, since I can still somewhat hear the clicks in your commentary videos. In that case, it would be nice to reduce the echo on the "let's go" and trapdoor sounds then. Also need to fix the music sounding weird in my OBS recordings. I plan to do a video series similar to your Reunion/United commentary I tested my voice/mic and it sounds perfectly fine in the recordings.

I have always wondered if an external mic is better than the built-in one on a laptop.

[IchoTolot]

In that case, it would be nice to reduce the echo on the "let's go" and trapdoor sounds then.

If you are just using standard laptop speakers you will most likely have the echo.

Sound comes out of the speakers and travel into your microphone.

The solution is to get noise isolating headphones and only output the sounds of your machine through these. If the sounds can't get out of the headphones they can't get to your microphone.

[kaywhyn]

The solution is to get noise isolating headphones and only output the sounds of your machine through these. If the sounds can't get out of the headphones they can't get to your microphone.

In that case, something like your Logitech set should do. I love and can attest to the high quality of Logitech products, as I have recommended my dad to get a Logitech keyboard/mouse. From what I've seen, I think yours is pretty much a well outdated model now and so there should be plenty of newer models that are cheap and can do the same thing with being isolated/cancelling microphone. I don't need a very expensive one anyway, a cheap one that's well-liked should do just fine then.

Thanks Icho, this was quite helpful. I'll keep you updated and for sure will send my video series your way when it's ready and uploaded

[IchoTolot]

My headset is like 5 years old now and still rocking. So yes it should be outdated.

Just keep the receipt and test if the new one you bought has enough noise isolation to not distrurb the mic. If it's still bad you can still refund it for another model.

and can do the same thing with being isolated/cancelling microphone.

Not the microphone. That is still outside.

The sound coming out of the headphones should be isolated to the ear area with no way out. Let's say, if you have problems hearing anything else other than the laptop sounds when wearing the headset you know nothing is getting out to the mic in reverse.

[namida]

If you have a phone headset with a 3.5mm jack, you can also use that. Won't be the best quality, but should be good enough.

Avoid using bluetooth headsets to record audio. You can listen on one, but in such a case make sure your laptop's internal mic (or another dedicated mic) is recording. Both input and output quality go way down when bluetooth is operating bi-directionally.

[kaywhyn]

For namida and Icho, I bought myself a Logitech H540 headphone. Even though it has a mic, I'm wondering if it's better to use my internal mic or the mic on the headphone. In this case, what device should I set for the input? Same thing with the speakers. Should I use the headphone's speakers or my laptop's speakers? I've been experimenting with switching between devices. Sometimes, it works with getting rid of the keyboard/mouse clicks in the videos, but at times it seemingly appears to come back in future recordings. Finally, for the headphones, is it better to increase or decrease something known as sidetone? My laptop defaults it to a level of 9/10. From what I understand, it's supposed to make your voice more audible on the headphones so that you can hear yourself. From what I seen, decreasing it really works in reducing/eliminating the keyboard/mouse clicks that get picked up.