For YouTube Live, start with CBR, a 2-second keyframe interval, and a bitrate selected from YouTube’s live ingest recommendations for your resolution, frame rate, and codec. In OBS, set the canvas and output resolution deliberately, then choose 30 or 60 fps according to the motion you’re showing and what your system and upload connection can sustain. For a local recording, configure a separate quality target when needed and record to MKV for better protection against an interrupted session.
These are starting points, not a universal preset: hardware, connection stability, encoder availability, and scene complexity all affect the right settings.
Recommended YouTube Live settings
YouTube’s recommendations below are for live ingest, not for uploading a finished recording. The figures are YouTube Help’s published recommendations, accessed October 3, 2026; they are platform guidance, not guaranteed results on every system or connection. Check YouTube’s current guidance before a broadcast because ingest recommendations can change.
| Output resolution and frame rate | H.264 recommended bitrate | AV1 or H.265 recommended bitrate |
|---|---|---|
| 720p30 | 8 Mbps | 6 Mbps |
| 720p60 | 8 Mbps | 6 Mbps |
| 1080p30 | 14 Mbps | 10 Mbps |
| 1080p60 | 17 Mbps | 12 Mbps |
| 1440p30 | 21 Mbps | 15 Mbps |
| 1440p60 | 34 Mbps | 24 Mbps |
| 2160p30 | 42 Mbps | 30 Mbps |
| 2160p60 | 50 Mbps | 35 Mbps |
Use the row that matches the actual output you send to YouTube and the codec you use. The table shows recommended rates, not minimums. A higher bitrate cannot compensate for an unstable upload; choose a setting your connection can sustain with headroom.
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Core encoder settings
- Rate control: CBR.
- Keyframe interval: 2 seconds. YouTube says not to exceed 4 seconds.
- Protocol: RTMPS is YouTube’s recommendation. YouTube also lists RTMP.
- Video codec: YouTube lists H.264, H.265, and AV1. Which choices appear in OBS depends on your operating system and hardware.
- Frame rate: Up to 60 fps is supported in YouTube’s listed guidance. Pick 30 or 60 based on the content and the capacity of your system.
- Audio: YouTube recommends 128 kbps stereo and lists AAC or MP3 audio.
- Color for SDR: Rec. 709.
For fast-moving games, 60 fps can make motion look smoother, but it is more demanding than 30 fps. If the game, capture sources, and OBS cannot keep up, a stable 30 fps stream is preferable to a higher target that drops frames.
Set OBS video resolution and frame rate
- In OBS, open Settings → Video.
- Set Base (Canvas) Resolution to the workspace size that matches how you arrange sources, such as a game capture and overlays. This is the canvas OBS uses to lay out the scene.
- Set Output (Scaled) Resolution to the size you want viewers to receive. Choose it based on the viewing quality you want and what your connection and system can handle.
- Choose Common FPS Values of 30 or 60. Test with representative gameplay or other motion-heavy content before committing to 60 fps.
- Select Apply, then OK.
If performance is strained, lower the output resolution or frame rate and simplify expensive scenes before changing the canvas. Changing the canvas can complicate source layout; reserve that adjustment for cases where the system is severely resource-constrained.
Configure OBS for a YouTube Live stream
- In OBS, open Settings → Stream, choose YouTube as the service, and connect the account or enter the stream key using the connection method available in your OBS version.
- Open Settings → Output. Simple output mode is a straightforward starting point. Use Advanced output mode if you need separate stream and recording encoders, recording quality controls, or multiple audio tracks.
- Set the streaming encoder to an available option. Hardware encoders generally reduce CPU work; quality and efficiency differ by encoder and generation, so no one encoder is best for every machine.
- Set rate control to CBR, enter the YouTube-recommended bitrate for the codec and output size you selected, and set the keyframe interval to 2 seconds.
- Choose the audio bitrate and codec from the available options, using YouTube’s 128 kbps stereo recommendation as a baseline.
- Apply the settings and run a private or unlisted preflight stream with representative motion and audio. Check OBS statistics and YouTube stream health before using the setup for a public event.
Do not assume NVENC, x264, or another encoder will always look best. Available encoders vary by hardware and operating system, and performance depends on the game and OBS scene. Compare an available option in a test, checking for dropped frames, rendering or encoding lag, and the resulting image.
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Record locally while streaming
A local recording intended for editing or later upload is a separate workflow from YouTube Live ingest. In OBS’s Settings → Output, Advanced output mode lets you choose a distinct recording encoder and quality target. That flexibility can use extra system resources, particularly if recording uses a separate encoder or a quality setting other than Same as stream.
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Quality-based recording starting points
OBS’s Advanced Recording Settings guide gives these encoder-specific examples. They are OBS baselines, not one-size-fits-all prescriptions; test for the quality and file size that suit your footage and editing workflow.
| Encoder | Example rate control | Example quality range |
|---|---|---|
| NVENC | CQP | 16–23 |
| x264 | CRF | 16–23 |
| AMD | CQP | 16–23 |
| QuickSync | ICQ | 16–23 |
In these examples, a lower quality-control number trades larger files for higher quality. Do not copy these recording rate-control settings into a live stream that should use CBR.
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Choose a recording format
- In OBS, open Settings → Output and configure the Recording section. Select a recording path with enough free storage.
- Choose MKV as the recording format when available. OBS recommends MKV because an unexpected stop is less likely to corrupt the whole file.
- If your editor or another part of your workflow requires MP4, use OBS’s File → Remux Recordings tool to convert the completed MKV recording to MP4.
- Make a short test recording and verify that picture, game audio, microphone audio, and any intended tracks are present before relying on the setup.
OBS offers recording presets such as Same as stream, High Quality, Indistinguishable, and Lossless. Higher-quality choices can increase resource use or storage needs. OBS’s guide estimates lossless recording at about 7 GB per minute; this is an approximate figure from the guide, not a universal file-size guarantee.
Settings for a finished video you will upload
For a locally recorded video that will be uploaded after editing, use YouTube’s separate upload-encoding guidance rather than the live ingest table. For SDR uploads, YouTube recommends BT.709 and these example video bitrates:
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|---|---|---|
| 720p | 5 Mbps | 7.5 Mbps |
| 1080p | 8 Mbps | 12 Mbps |
Those are YouTube’s upload recommendations for finished SDR video, not live-stream bitrates. Select export settings that match the footage and editing workflow; a recording’s quality target in OBS and the final upload encode are distinct choices.
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Preflight checklist before going live
- Confirm the output resolution, frame rate, codec, bitrate, and keyframe interval match the settings you intend to use.
- Run a speed test and make sure sustained upload capacity has headroom over the stream bitrate.
- Test the full scene with representative game motion, overlays, microphone, and other audio sources.
- Check OBS statistics for rendering or encoding lag and dropped frames.
- Watch YouTube stream health during the test and again during the event.
- If recording locally, check that the destination drive has space and that the test file plays or remuxes as expected.
Troubleshoot a poor stream or recording
OBS shows rendering or encoding lag
This usually points to system workload rather than a YouTube ingest bitrate mismatch. Try 30 fps instead of 60, lower Output (Scaled) Resolution, and simplify the scene by reducing costly sources or effects. OBS scenes use GPU resources, and scene complexity affects performance. Check OBS statistics and logs after each change to identify whether the adjustment helped.
Viewers report buffering, but OBS renders smoothly
Investigate upload stability and whether the bitrate is too close to the connection’s sustained capacity. Run a speed test, reduce the bitrate or output quality if needed, and repeat the preflight test. Monitor YouTube stream health; an unstable connection will not be fixed simply by choosing a higher bitrate.
Frames look soft or blocky
Check that you selected the correct row in YouTube’s live table for the stream’s codec, resolution, and frame rate. If the connection cannot sustain the recommended rate reliably, use a lower output resolution or frame rate that it can support consistently rather than pushing an unstable bitrate.
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The local recording is missing or damaged after an interruption
For future sessions, record to MKV and remux to MP4 in OBS only after recording finishes, if MP4 is needed. Also verify the recording path and available disk space before starting.
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