Major Breakthrough: OBS Studio VT h264 Hardware Encoder on macOS - Great for Live Streaming!

This makes complete sense and I think it solved my problem. Thank you!

Appreciate you truly!!! A living legend!

I appreciate the advice. I'm using a late 2015 iMac and I recently upgraded my RAM from the base, which was 8 gig to now the maximum 32 gig. I could stream fine with the old setup, but now that I've upgraded, my stream keeps crashing. I'm not having any issues with frame rate, it keeps saying "encoded overloaded." In fact, overall performance of my computer seems to be lagging. Any help? :(

You save my stream! thank you very much!

Why am I so late in the game with this?!!! AMAZING!!!!!! Thank you for this video, brother!

Thanks for the good movie!!!

What laptops have the hardware encoders , looking on a 2014 mbp i7 , I only see software option .

I’ve been using this encoder for 1yr, but randomly after updating to OBS 28 and MacOS Ventura, my OBS crashes every time when using this encoder: any idea why?

OMG thank you so much!! I gave up on live streaming as well for the Same reasons, but thanks to you I can't wait to try again 🤩!

I have the macOS Catalina version 10.15.7 does that work to

I still have issues with obs streaming from my mac. I got my system all upgraded last year and have had nothing but issues (randomly) which makes it hard to stream. I don't have an option for the Apple VT h264. Is there an extension I need to install?

I find that on the M1 Chip. I have the Mac mini with 16 gbs of ram the hardware encoder only does like 400 bitrate when I type in 9000 using cbr which sucks. I stream 720p here btw idr if I used 30 or 60fps but my internet being gigabit internet can handle a bitrate of 40000 and 1440p 60fps resolution and frame rate but I like the lower latency 1080p 60fps offers here. I wish the Mac could handle 1080p 60fps tho maybe it can with x264 but it really makes the quality worse than my windows desktop using the new nvinc encoder and performance halts to a crawl but idk x264 well enough to know the best settings to use.

Can I use this encoder in Streamlabs ??

hello, could you pls tell me what kind of graphic card should i use for streaming obs thru streamyard, thank you:)

Thank you so much for this video!

Hello,

Can you tell me why my picture keeps pixelating minimally for a short time?
Output is 720p with 30Hz at 6000mbits?
The whole thing is running on a Mac mini with current OBS. The GPU is doing the encoding.

Thank you

there is no tutorial on the web on how to install this Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder ...... nothing...... you could be the first to SHOW us how to install this. I tried it just gives me Apple VT H264 Software Encoder

it would be good if you actulaly showed us how to set this up!!!

Earlier this year i was using the Apple VT encoder to stream on Twitch and it worked great. But recently when i tried to stream to twitch with the same encoder and settings my live stream had audio but no video. I think you're onto something about the services rejecting VBR but I haven't been able to confirm yet.

Thanks for the video. On my macbook Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder is not listed, how do I know if my device is compatible?

I’m at a conference and notice it lags a little bit. I’m not even streaming. I’m just recording to a hard drive.

Hey, just curious why you limited the bitrate to 5000 when Twitch calls for 6000 on HD? Is 5000 the sweet spot? Also curious what you have you FPS set at?

Yes! I can also confirm this works. Streaming with mid 2012 15 MacBook Pro —16gb ram— 1tb ssd —dropped my cpu by 15-20 %

on macbook air 2017, i only have Intel HD 6000, which i believe is an integrated graphics card. Will Apple VT H264 Hardware Encoder work with that, or am i stuck with x264?
Thanks

I was having no problem streaming until now that my live stream suddenly started lagging and I get the message encoder overload I tried playing with the settings moved the encoder the output resolution and still is very laggy I use a 2017 MacBook Air and el gato capture card idk what to do anymore it happened from one day to another

what about m1 macbook air?

My streams were struggling because I was using the wrong encoder. Thanks for helping me rectify my mistake.

Apple VT H264 hardware encoder is lower in quality than x264. However if you need the CPU cycles or have a weak CPU then the Apple VT H264 hardware encoder can be the better option. Most macs have very powerful CPU so x264 software encoder with faster or very fast settings will only utilize about 20% CPU. There is diminishing returns using x264 medium or slow, so for live streaming stick with fast or very fast. Apple VT H264 Software encoder should almost never be used because you should just opt for x264 in that case.

fabulous!

Great video, thanks for explaining this so clearly. I've followed your advice and it's knocked a huge amount off my CPU processing, making OBS much faster.

Thanks!

Thank you for the helpful vid! Do you know whether Streamlabs supports this as of May 2021?

Where can I check what obs’s version i have?

Hi! I have a new macbook (2020 13"). I am planning to stream ableton sessions. If I need to get a new graphics card because of CPU load, which would you rec??

Hello, I have a MacBook pro-mid-2012, I tried the encoder for 10 minutes and I did not have drop frames. I was ready to build a new pc for streaming. thank you for the info. I was having the same problem.

question: should this switch in settings put less stress on my mac minis cpu?

Thank you brotha

Thank you!

I am fighting the snap, crackle, and pop as heard in this video. I mean no disrespect.I have the same exact noise in my music streams/recording. It is bearable, but I can not stand it. I have searched, and searched only to find no solution. I somehow ended up here. I'm only asking here to you having the same issue. Anyone know why this happens? It seems to be only happening ONLY while listening to the playback of stream/recording. Anyone help please!

This was a HUGE help! Thank you very much for breaking this issue down and solving my biggest hurtle. 🤘🏼

Thank you so much, I'm recording to test this configuration and it does help a lot. The percentage of lost frames due to processing went from 30% (using x264) to 10% maximum (using what you said). I'm hoping to stay below 5% do you have more tips? :)

Any ideas on why after about an hour my elgato capture card turns my stream on obs to a blue screen saying it’s searching for signal. Even tho everything is plugged in?

How do I know what bitrate my internet can handle?

My problem is that i have a intel core i5 with 1,6ghz and 2 cores

how can i use this while on bootcamp windows?

meanwhile, congratulations for the channel, for the growth of the last 12 months because you deserve it all! .. always interesting contents, well assembled and a lot of passion! ... in the second, best wishes for the new year to you and your family! .. in last we come to us! ... I will have seen this video of yours at least 10 times, and I am still undecided whether or not to buy an Egpu!
I'll quickly explain my configuration and what I do, so maybe you can advise me on what to do! ... since it's not exactly two pennies 😂😂.
I have a 27 "5k late 2017 iMac, with 16 gb of Ram (which I would like to bring to 32 gb), i5 processor (7500 or 7600 if I'm not mistaken) quad core at 3.4 ghz with turbo boost at 3.8 ghz, I have Thunderbolt 3 at 40Gbs and on Thursday I get the 512GB sabrent rocket SSD, so I'll mount the new BIG SUR operating system there, to make it even faster! ..
the 1tb internal HDD in fusion drive, I will keep it internal as storage.
As a line I have a classic TIM Fiber with 50 in download and 20 in upload,
I use iMac to stream my channel with Xbox One and Series X, and also to use FCPX for post production content.
For the two consoles I have the two Elgato HD 60 S + video capture cards that facilitate the life of my iMac, and today I don't have big streaming problems, in fact, in live I can bring up to two gameplay simultaneously, two green screens, me and a friend who plays with me live from my home, plus all the various animations related to chat, banners, subscribers etc etc!
Here we come to the point, with this configuration I have a CPU usage on streamlabs equal to 45/50%
And in the streamlabs preferences I set the encoding with APPLE HARDWARE (so it sends much of the work back to my integrated video card) that was recommended to me instead of the classic X264 (all the load on the CPU).
My integrated video card if I'm not mistaken is a 4gb Radeon 570 to complete the description of my setup.
Actually, this modification suggested to me lightens my workload a little because APPLE HARDWARE calibrates itself around 45/50% CPU usage, unlike the X264, which with the same configuration mentioned above makes me get to 55/60% .

Well, having said all this, can an Egpu with a minimum 8gb if not 16gb video card help me not to overload my CPU?
And then lighten my streaming a little? ...
For FCPX thanks to you I already sensed that I would have a big step forward, even if up to now I don't complain about big problems! ...
Take all the time you need to answer me, I thank you in advance and I renew my wishes and congratulations!
Hi Ario!

Man a lot of talking... hehe