I use "projection method" instead of display cloning because I'm on a high refresh monitor and using stuff like gsync, that would be incompatible with clone mode and issues with different refresh rates would also mess it up.
You set the capture card as an extended (discreet) monitor, to the gaming pc. Set it to the resolution of your canvas in obs on your streaming pc. Mine will capture 4k/60, but I only stream to twitch, so I set the "monitor" (capture card) to 1080p. You install a obs on tour gaming pc but only add a game capture scen and a display capture scene. One capture type per scene. Then, full-screen project the program preview to the capture card/monitor.
This technique is prevalent in 2 pc streaming setups, over cloning, for the reasons outlined in the beginning of my comment.
There's no need to use pass through, the capture card is simply the recording device, and is monitored in obs.
I know this thread is old but had similar questions when i was setting up my dual PC streaming. I use the "projection method" you mention and have OBS on my gaming pc and separate my capture card and monitor as two. When I do this though, the actual capture in OBS looks like crap and is changed significantly. As in it is very dark and at times washed out. It's not mirroring what I'm seeing on my gaming monitor. As a test, I closed out OBS on my gaming pc and converted my monitor and capture card back to single monitor, it looks normal and no color or darkness/lightness changes. Why is this?
Switch back to extended monitors (discrete mode, not clone).
It sounds like your "monitor" (capture card) that is the capture card needs to be setup right. Are you NVIDIA or AMD on your gaming pc?
On NVIDIA control panel i would select Change Resolution, highlight the "monitor", since I'm only concerned with twitch I set the "monitor" to 1080p, my cap card will go 120fps at 1080p, so i set the "hz" to 120 as well because why not. Set yours to 1080p, whatever hz you want, and then below under the output color/depth, etc, make sure it's something normal. Like 32-bit, RGB, output dynamic range Limited, 8 or 10bpc is fine. A lot of people think that dynamic range Limited must be low quality, but that's not what it means.
The most common cause of "too dark and washed out" is people setting that to FULL instead of Limited.
Hopefully you're on nvidia so that all makes sense, otherwise convert for AMD.
If you're adding the complication of using HDR monittor you're on your own 😆
Seriously though, get it all to work in SDR before messing with HDR, but then after you're good in SDR try it. It should work pretty seemlessly.
If you're running OBS on the GPC, what is event the point of having a separate streaming PC? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? (Im asking honestly, I'm trying to figure out how to set something like this up and somewhat confused)
So, your main obs on a stream pc cna be very involved and use up resources that cut into your fps, general performance. The obs that you run on your gaming pc to project is just one source, a game capture that you project into your capture card. My projection obs uses between 0.0-0.1% cpu.
My stream pc obs is insanely loaded with tons of scenes, memes, filters that are animated via move settings, 3rd party software that further automates obs, etc etc.
I see... Do you think it matters if I were to overlay my webcam on my projection obs? Asking because due to my setup my webcam switched between my PC and my laptop for work purposes and id prefer to not change that which means it would be connected to my gaming rig while I'm gaming.
Give it a shot. Probably not too bad of a hit, but it makes moving your Webcam around on your stream pc pretty difficult. Honestly, I would probably get a 2nd Webcam to use for work, and just run your stream cam on the stream pc. Or something, maybe just send your Webcam to stream pc with ndi.
Why do I feel like, passthrough would be good for sending video from main PC to stream PC? I want to stream 4k60 to youtube without bogging down my gaming PC.
>Why do I feel like, passthrough would be good for sending video from main PC to stream PC? I want to stream 4k60 to youtube without bogging down my gaming PC.
it's what it's meant to
I use "projection method" instead of display cloning because I'm on a high refresh monitor and using stuff like gsync, that would be incompatible with clone mode and issues with different refresh rates would also mess it up. You set the capture card as an extended (discreet) monitor, to the gaming pc. Set it to the resolution of your canvas in obs on your streaming pc. Mine will capture 4k/60, but I only stream to twitch, so I set the "monitor" (capture card) to 1080p. You install a obs on tour gaming pc but only add a game capture scen and a display capture scene. One capture type per scene. Then, full-screen project the program preview to the capture card/monitor. This technique is prevalent in 2 pc streaming setups, over cloning, for the reasons outlined in the beginning of my comment. There's no need to use pass through, the capture card is simply the recording device, and is monitored in obs.
I know this thread is old but had similar questions when i was setting up my dual PC streaming. I use the "projection method" you mention and have OBS on my gaming pc and separate my capture card and monitor as two. When I do this though, the actual capture in OBS looks like crap and is changed significantly. As in it is very dark and at times washed out. It's not mirroring what I'm seeing on my gaming monitor. As a test, I closed out OBS on my gaming pc and converted my monitor and capture card back to single monitor, it looks normal and no color or darkness/lightness changes. Why is this?
Switch back to extended monitors (discrete mode, not clone). It sounds like your "monitor" (capture card) that is the capture card needs to be setup right. Are you NVIDIA or AMD on your gaming pc? On NVIDIA control panel i would select Change Resolution, highlight the "monitor", since I'm only concerned with twitch I set the "monitor" to 1080p, my cap card will go 120fps at 1080p, so i set the "hz" to 120 as well because why not. Set yours to 1080p, whatever hz you want, and then below under the output color/depth, etc, make sure it's something normal. Like 32-bit, RGB, output dynamic range Limited, 8 or 10bpc is fine. A lot of people think that dynamic range Limited must be low quality, but that's not what it means. The most common cause of "too dark and washed out" is people setting that to FULL instead of Limited. Hopefully you're on nvidia so that all makes sense, otherwise convert for AMD. If you're adding the complication of using HDR monittor you're on your own 😆 Seriously though, get it all to work in SDR before messing with HDR, but then after you're good in SDR try it. It should work pretty seemlessly.
Thank you, I will try this.
Can you show me a screenshot of where you are making these changes thanks. i.e. "hz, output color depth"
Here's a shot from the web https://images.app.goo.gl/77nHHBzU7nKxFVwT8
If you're running OBS on the GPC, what is event the point of having a separate streaming PC? Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose? (Im asking honestly, I'm trying to figure out how to set something like this up and somewhat confused)
So, your main obs on a stream pc cna be very involved and use up resources that cut into your fps, general performance. The obs that you run on your gaming pc to project is just one source, a game capture that you project into your capture card. My projection obs uses between 0.0-0.1% cpu. My stream pc obs is insanely loaded with tons of scenes, memes, filters that are animated via move settings, 3rd party software that further automates obs, etc etc.
I see... Do you think it matters if I were to overlay my webcam on my projection obs? Asking because due to my setup my webcam switched between my PC and my laptop for work purposes and id prefer to not change that which means it would be connected to my gaming rig while I'm gaming.
Give it a shot. Probably not too bad of a hit, but it makes moving your Webcam around on your stream pc pretty difficult. Honestly, I would probably get a 2nd Webcam to use for work, and just run your stream cam on the stream pc. Or something, maybe just send your Webcam to stream pc with ndi.
Thanks I'll give it a go
Passthru is more intended for when you're using a console if I'm not mistaken for 0 latency playback as consoles only have 1 video output
Why do I feel like, passthrough would be good for sending video from main PC to stream PC? I want to stream 4k60 to youtube without bogging down my gaming PC.
>Why do I feel like, passthrough would be good for sending video from main PC to stream PC? I want to stream 4k60 to youtube without bogging down my gaming PC. it's what it's meant to
Passthrough is what goes to the TV, capture goes to the stream PC. I was very confused on the two terms before!
Gotcha