---
title: 'Best OBS Studio Settings for RECORDING in 2026 (For Beginners)'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=RezNh9TllJc'
video_id: 'RezNh9TllJc'
date: 2026-06-17
duration_sec: 0
---

# Best OBS Studio Settings for RECORDING in 2026 (For Beginners)

> Source: [Best OBS Studio Settings for RECORDING in 2026 (For Beginners)](https://youtube.com/watch?v=RezNh9TllJc)

## Summary

This tutorial provides a clear, step-by-step walkthrough of the optimal OBS Studio settings for high-quality game recording. The creator, Cody, explains the configuration of the output, video, and audio tabs, breaking down complex encoder options and recommending a safe MKV recording format with automatic remuxing to MP4.

### Key Points

- **Start with Advanced Output Mode** [0:05] — Open Settings → Output tab, change output mode from Simple to Advanced to unlock recording-specific options.
- **Recording Path & Drive Choice** [0:34] — Set the recording path to an SSD to avoid stuttering. Recording directly to a slow hard drive can corrupt or stutter footage.
- **Use MKV Over MP4 for Safety** [1:02] — MKV format preserves footage even if the recording stops unexpectedly (power loss or crash). Enable automatic remuxing to MP4 in Advanced tab so you get both formats.
- **Video Encoder Selection** [1:55] — NVIDIA users choose 'NVIDIA NVENC H.264', AMD users pick the AMD equivalent. The x264 encoder (CPU-based) is slow and should be avoided unless you lack a proper GPU.
- **Encoder Rate Control: CQP** [2:46] — For recording, use Rate Control = CQP (not CBR). CQ Level 16–20 (recommended 17) balances quality and file size. Keyframe Interval: 0 or 2. Preset: P5–P7 (P7 for powerful PCs, P5 for weaker ones). Multi-pass: 'Two Passes (Full Res)' with 'High Psychological Visual Tuning'.
- **Audio Bitrate & Device Setup** [3:41] — In Audio tab (top), set all tracks to 320 kbps for best quality. Select correct Desktop Audio (headphones/speakers) and Microphone from dropdowns.
- **Video Resolution & FPS Settings** [4:17] — Base canvas = monitor resolution (e.g., 1080p). Output (Scaled) resolution = desired recording resolution (e.g., 1080p). If base ≠ output, choose 'Lanczos' downscale filter. FPS = 60 for smooth recording.

### Conclusion

By following this OBS configuration—especially using Advanced mode, MKV recording with auto-remux, CQP rate control, and correct audio/video settings—you can achieve crisp, compatible game recordings easily.

## Transcript

every gamer wants their recordings to
look perfect and clear problem is the
settings are confusing as heck so let me
show you the exact OBS Studio settings
to make your recordings look perfect
first we'll go into OBS studio and then
we'll go to the bottom right corner
where it says settings and then we're
going to skip over the general and skip
over appearance and skip over stream cuz
we don't need that we're going to go
directly to the output tab once you're
on the output tab we're going to change
the output mode from simple to Advanced
and that's going to give us more
settings to access then we're going to
change the Stream tab right here to the
recording Tab and this is where the meat
and potatoes really are going to hide
now I know this looks a little
intimidating but I'm going to explain it
that anyone can understand even your mom
first thing we got to worry about is the
recording path this is where all of your
recordings are going to save on your
computer so you can hit the browse
button and choose a location that you
want all of your recordings to go to I
will say you're going to want to pick an
SSD or some kind of good solid state
drive because I tried recording directly
on a crappy hard drive before and it
basically stuttered the recordings and
it was bad so pick a nice solid state
drive to record this to and then if you
want you can transfer it over later and
then for the recording format we're
actually going to pick MKV and you might
be thinking why the heck are we not
using something like MP4 well MKV
actually has a really useful feature
whereas if your recording gets stuttered
or your power goes out or for whatever
reason it just like loses the progress
then your recording file won't actually
be corrupted you're actually going to
keep all of the recording that you had
before that incident happened unlike if
you're using like MP4 because that whole
file is going to be Mia and the neat
thing is is if we actually go directly
to the advanced tab here we can scroll
down to where it says recording and then
we're going to choose automatically
remux to MP4 so what this will do after
you enable it is when you end your
recording it's automatically going to
give you the MKV file which you can
delete and then it's going to
automatically give you the mp4 file as
well so that way you can safely record
an mp4 without possibly losing your
footage if the power goes out or some
stupid thing happens so this actually
really helpful so highly recommend that
well let's go back to the output Tab and
we're going to move on to the video
encoder a lot of people get confused on
this but really there's only two options
you have Nvidia enve which is people
that have Nvidia cards like myself so
you'll be using the Nvidia enve h264 but
if you're an AMD user you're just going
to pick the AMD equivalent in your video
encoder it's that simple and then if you
don't have either of those options then
chances are your recordings are going to
look pretty bad because you don't have a
proper graphics card and then you'll
have to use x264 which is going to eat
up a lot of your CPU and your recordings
are going to look really rough so it
would highly recommend against using
x264 unless you absolutely have to just
know you're probably going to run into
issues the audio encoder we're going to
use FFM Peg fun to say the audio track
this is actually really important and
very helpful but it is a little complex
so I'm going to save this for the very
end of the video so stick around to make
sure that you use this cuz it's actually
a super helpful feature in recordings
but there's some other stuff we got to
tackle before we do that so we're
actually going to scroll down to where
it says encoder settings and if you
remember the streaming tab we use CBR on
here we're actually going to use cqp for
the encoder rate control because it's
going to be better for our recordings
and then for the CQ level you can pick
anything between 16 to 20 I prefer 17
it's right in the middle but if you're
experiencing issues you can lower it to
16 or if you want to go higher then you
can go all the way up to 20 but that
might be a little Overkill then the key
frame interval I have it at two you
could also have it at zero you might see
both in other videos but either is
really fine the preset can be anywhere
between P5 and p7 if you got a really
good computer I'd use p7 you got a
really crap computer I'd pick P5 you got
somewhere between P6 you can also switch
this up as you go in case you running
any issues just like the CQ level and
the key for Interval if you need to then
for the tuning multipass profile all the
rest of the stuff you can just copy high
quality two passes High pycho visual
tuning zero and two it's really that
simple and then you can hit apply and
we'll move on to the audio tab at the
very top not the one on the left but at
the top change all these bad boys to 320
to give you the best audio quality for
all of them and then we're going to move
to the actual audio quality but before
we do that quickly hit okay if you're
wondering why I got the starting soon
screen it's actually my streamer starter
pack which is linked in the description
down below so you feel free to check
that out we'll actually go back to the
settings in the bottom right corner then
we'll go to the audio tab on the left
make sure that you have your desktop
audio selected so that's going to be
your headphones or your speakers that
your audio is coming out of for
everything and then pick your microphone
from the first list here I'm using the
road pod mic USB right there love this
mic also linked in the description below
simply hit apply make sure that goes in
there then we'll go to the video Tab and
you're going to change your base canvas
resolution to whatever game you're
playing I game at 1080P and my monitor
is 1080p so my base canvas resolution is
1080 and then for the output you're
going to want to change it to whatever
you're going to record at I want to
record at 1080p 60 frames per second and
since these two numbers match here we
don't need a downscale filter but if
yours do not match you're going to
change this downscale filter to lands
Coast because it's going to give you the
best quality and then the common FPS
value we're going to pick 60 cuz I'm
recording in 1080P 60 FPS moving on to
the next app we got hot keys in case you
want to use any of these like start stop
recording with if you have an extra key
on your keyboard or you got a stream
deck or something like that but you can
feel free to explore these on your own
and also make sure to drop a like on
this video if it's been helpful so far
so other streamers can find this video
so we can now hit okay and these will
give you beautiful settings for your
recordings but the last thing I wanted
to touch on if we go to the settings in
the bottom right corner click that go
back to Output recording and then the
audio tracks you can actually split your
audio tracks so you can split your game
audio and your mic audio so when you
bring it into your video editor after
you can actually have more control over
both but I have an entire video covering
that entire process which is right here
to the side of me so give that one a
watch my name is Cody and I will see you
in the next one