Possibly best way to record VR gameplay in Il2?

[O_DesoLunatic]

I think I finally figured out how to record VR gameplay without stutter and with proper resolution - please excuse me if it is common knowledge but I haven't seen anyone post this method before. 

So I've tried to record gameplay using OpenVR capture plugin for OBS or mirror in steamVR - both resulted in subpar resolution and lots of stutter - while those methods always end up with jittery video no matter the in-game framerate I noticed that what is displayed by the 2d game window on the desktop is always smooth. 

 

The problem is that it shows both eyes at the same time. So I figured out I will force the game to run in borderless window and change windowed game resolution in startup.cfg to 220% of my 1080p screen res (so 4356x2376). Then I found utility called winexp which allowed me to move the borderless window offcenter so that only view of the right eye is visible on the screen. Now I can just record my desktop in OBS and have full 1080p  VR video with, what is more important, smooth framerate of the output file. 

Edit:

 

After further testing I got  best results with setting resolution in config to 3840x2160 and increasing the size of the window further in winexp as needed. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by desolunatic

[DD_Arthur]

Blimey!  I don't think I've seen that method described before

 

So....er....show us what you got

 

Edit;   is this so you can livestream?

Edited April 3, 2020 by DD_Arthur

[O_DesoLunatic]

I just figured it out and did initial testing but I will upload a test video tomorrow. I'm really not the streamer type but we will see how it goes from now. I was reluctant to work on more content for youtube because the stutter was really unpleasant to look at but I think this changes things. 

[peregrine7]

Either use SteamVR mirror or Oculus Mirror (depending on which headset you have).

Set up recording for "right eye", configure the FOV you want. Use OBS or Shadowplay to record that (not the game).

Done.

[DD_Arthur]

8 hours ago, desolunatic said:

I just figured it out and did initial testing but I will upload a test video tomorrow. I'm really not the streamer type but we will see how it goes from now. I was reluctant to work on more content for youtube because the stutter was really unpleasant to look at but I think this changes things. 

 

These are all flown in VR.  The first two are online squad coops and the Flying Circus one is a single mission.

 

 

 

 

[TCW_Brzi_Joe]

Guys if I may suggest, take care to put your brightness back to normal level when recording video, often people make it too dark. 

[O_DesoLunatic]

18 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

So....er....show us what you got

 

 

Alright here is a test recording of a quick fight in Berlonga duel server - looks sharper then steamvr mirror and with less dropped frames. 
 

 

[DD_Arthur]

1 hour ago, desolunatic said:

Alright here is a test recording of a quick fight in Berlonga duel server

 

Nice bit of action but.....if you're not streaming,  haven't you kinda got yourself a solution looking for a problem?

 

What headset and graphics card do you use? 

[O_DesoLunatic]

 

21 minutes ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Nice bit of action but.....if you're not streaming,  haven't you kinda got yourself a solution looking for a problem?

 

What headset and graphics card do you use? 

Well I was looking for a solution because I didn't really feel like recording everything using demos was the way to go. Edit: Just to clarify what I mean is that I think there is a difference between showing the actual gameplay and how game represents or recreates this gameplay using the demo system.

I have Rtx 2060 with Lenovo Explorer - if you meant that recording using steam mirror or plugin for obs should work fine with this setup for some reason it's not. Maybe steamvr doesn't like WMR and video ends up choppy (also upscaling the mirror to 1080p ends up with worse image quality overall). If you look at other videos on my channel you will see the difference. 

Edited April 3, 2020 by desolunatic

[DD_Arthur]

18 minutes ago, desolunatic said:

 Edit: Just to clarify what I mean is that I think there is a difference between showing the actual gameplay and how game represents or recreates this gameplay using the demo system.

 

Ahhh...understand now.  It's an interesting question.  By demo system you mean the in-game track recording system? 

I'm pretty sure it reproduces exactly what happened during a flight but it does seem to give a different cockpit field of view.

  

I run a Rift CV1 on an RTX2070.  I don't use Steam and i don't need WMR.  Having a Rift means I can use something called OpenComposite instead which is much less taxing on my system. I don't use OBS or Fraps when the game is running either as they have a performance penalty.

 

I record the action in-game.  Then I make my game settings for 2D with v-sync on and ramp up all the graphic settings to max.  I also increase the screen res. by using Nvidia DSR factors so I can produce a Youtube vid at 1440p.  I record the action I'm replaying using ShadowPlay.  It has an absolute minimum hit on performance.

 

This is my brief trip around Berloga server earlier.  I always switch the hud off completely when I fly as I feel the game gives better performance that way. 

As I'm recording a recording I thought I'd start with an external view to give it a bit of context.

   

 

 As I'm running with v-sync on my frames are pretty steady around or just below 60.  

 

I think my video is technically better than yours.    However,  the more I watch your vid the more I like it because you're right.  It does give a truer representation of what we 'see' in VR.    The field of view from within the cockpit is much more accurate.  Really interesting technique that's worth developing.

 

I wonder what can be done with an HP Reverb and an RTX2080ti?

[O_DesoLunatic]

7 hours ago, DD_Arthur said:

 

Ahhh...understand now.  It's an interesting question.  By demo system you mean the in-game track recording system? 

I'm pretty sure it reproduces exactly what happened during a flight but it does seem to give a different cockpit field of view.

  

 

 

Yes, it is interesting topic all in all.  Not only there is a small difference in FoV but I would say there is also some additional inherent value in 'hey, look - this is shown exactly as it was happening to me and now you can see it in the same way'. But both methods have their place because with track recording apart from the fact that it is simply cool to look at the game's maxed-out graphics, you can also supplement cockpit view with additional context like close-up view on a plane being shot down etc. and mix and match as in your example. 

I also do agree that my method would be most useful for livestreaming but I don't think there is much interest in this type of content in the community afterall. 

Edited April 4, 2020 by desolunatic

[VR-DriftaholiC]

I did a test with SteamVR - VR View and OBS using window view for that window full screen and had great results with my Index. Looks like I'm going to stream some VR IL-2

Edited April 4, 2020 by driftaholic

[Black-Moose]

Hello everyone 

Just tried to record first video did not turn out to good. Recorded tracks look great on my monitor but bad after recording. What is the best format for recording tracks and any other settings advice for recording videos.

Salute moose 

 

[peregrine7]

12 hours ago, 56RAF_moose1x1 said:

Hello everyone 

Just tried to record first video did not turn out to good. Recorded tracks look great on my monitor but bad after recording. What is the best format for recording tracks and any other settings advice for recording videos.

Salute moose 

 

 

Boost the bitrate! That's about it really.

 

Ideally you should capture at 70-100mb/s (2160x1440 60fps in this case) and your final edit can be  25-30mb/s or so for youtube.

[VR-DriftaholiC]

Recommended video bitrates for SDR uploads

To view new 4K uploads in 4K, use a browser or device that supports VP9.

Type	Video Bitrate, Standard Frame Rate (24, 25, 30)	Video Bitrate, High Frame Rate (48, 50, 60)
2160p (4k)	35-45 Mbps	53-68 Mbps
1440p (2k)	16 Mbps	24 Mbps
1080p	8 Mbps	12 Mbps
720p	5 Mbps	7.5 Mbps
480p	2.5 Mbps	4 Mbps
360p	1 Mbps	1.5 Mbps

 

 

I've done many many uploads to YouTube at various settings, anything higher then recommended gets re-compressed by YouTube and doesn't end up looking any better. 

Edited April 6, 2020 by driftaholic

[Kanth]

looks SO much better than recording mirror, thanks for the tips!!

[Black-Moose]

Thanks Peregrine7 and Driftaholic will do before I record next video.

Thanks again for the advice.

Salute moose 

[[TDH]Meankitty731]

On 4/2/2020 at 8:56 PM, desolunatic said:

I think I finally figured out how to record VR gameplay without stutter and with proper resolution - please excuse me if it is common knowledge but I haven't seen anyone post this method before. 

So I've tried to record gameplay using OpenVR capture plugin for OBS or mirror in steamVR - both resulted in subpar resolution and lots of stutter - while those methods always end up with jittery video no matter the in-game framerate I noticed that what is displayed by the 2d game window on the desktop is always smooth. 

 

The problem is that it shows both eyes at the same time. So I figured out I will force the game to run in borderless window and change windowed game resolution in startup.cfg to 220% of my 1080p screen res (so 4356x2376). Then I found utility called winexp which allowed me to move the borderless window offcenter so that only view of the right eye is visible on the screen. Now I can just record my desktop in OBS and have full 1080p  VR video with, what is more important, smooth framerate of the output file. 

Edit:

 

After further testing I got  best results with setting resolution in config to 3840x2160 and increasing the size of the window further in winexp as needed. 

Is the recording of whats coming off the monitor? I have been trying to figure this out for a while too. I am forced to use steamvr and WMR because I have a samsung odyseey headset. What happens, is that the game is playing 3 different times. And it really slows down the pc. How can I solve this??

[O_DesoLunatic]

3 hours ago, [TDH]Meankitty731 said:

Is the recording of whats coming off the monitor? I have been trying to figure this out for a while too. I am forced to use steamvr and WMR because I have a samsung odyseey headset. What happens, is that the game is playing 3 different times. And it really slows down the pc. How can I solve this??

You can stop the preview in WMR window with the pause button at the bottom and record using the Il-2 game window on the monitor that starts anyways - as explained in the first post. Set game to borderless, set res in config to 2x of your screen res and download winexp and use it to move and resize the game window further so only view from one eye occupies whole screen.