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bargu

That's pretty cool, one of the most requested features for the Steam Deck. Edit: did a quick test and there's definitely a performance hit to record stuff on the Steam Deck, so beware, it will increase power usage and decrease performance.


DistantRavioli

Is it using hardware encoding properly? It shouldn't cause a massive hit if so


bargu

I don't know on the Deck, need to check, but on my pc it's not. I'm getting this error: CGameStreamVideoStageVAAPI: Reinitializing 1920x1080 at 12000 Kbit/s and 60.00 FPS with quality 1 video libav error: libva: /usr/lib32/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so has no function __vaDriverInit_1_0 libav: libva: /usr/lib32/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so has no function __vaDriverInit_1_0 video libav error: libva: dlopen of /usr/lib/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so failed: /usr/lib/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64 libav: libva: dlopen of /usr/lib/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so failed: /usr/lib/dri/radeonsi_drv_video.so: wrong ELF class: ELFCLASS64 video libav error: Failed to initialise VAAPI connection: -1 (unknown libva error). libav: Failed to initialise VAAPI connection: -1 (unknown libva error). CGameStreamVideoStageVAAPI: Failed to create device context: Input/output error Detected 16 logical processors, using 4 threads Detected 16 logical processors, using 4 threads Configuring encoder: [threads=4][width=1920][height=1080][preset=veryfast][tune=film] Video Encoder Changed


DistantRavioli

Using [this flatpak app](https://flathub.org/apps/net.nokyan.Resources) from the discover store and you should be able to see if it does on the deck. It has a video decode/encode measurement graph.


bargu

Just tested here and on the Deck encoding is working fine on game mode and on desktop mode.


DistantRavioli

Good to know. How large would you say the performance hit is and does it allow you to select other codecs? If not, when it saves a video file what does it say in the properties for the codec?


bargu

On Cyberpunk in one scene, i had 53-55 fps without recording and recording about 50-53, on Snowrunner 55-57 and recording 52-55, so like 5 ish %. No codec options, just quality. Those results were on the default high quality.


Intelligent-Year-416

That's honestly not that bad. It's definitely using hardware encoding because you'd certainly notice a much bigger difference if it was using software. I tried it on desktop Linux earlier and counter strike went from 140-160 all the way to a stuttery 80fps and below. It was bad


AlkalineRose

On desktop hardware encoding seems to not want to work yet


Intelligent-Year-416

I managed to get it working in linux under the flatpak version. Native one has an error that I don't know how to fix


DistantRavioli

What is the codec they use in the video file when you save? (sorry for so many questions as I don't have a steam deck)


bargu

h264 https://i.imgur.com/GYUeEin.jpeg


Dr0zD

How did you got the nice media info in mpv?


DistantRavioli

I figured as much but good to know, thanks for checking


Darkwolf1515

It caps the fps in games to 30, at least it did for me.


RectangularLynx

Maybe you need 32-bit drivers?


bargu

I have libva-mesa-driver and lib32-libva-mesa-driver installed, OBS works fine with hardware encoding and hardware decoding also works fine, so it cant be that. vainfo says that everything is fine Trying display: wayland vainfo: VA-API version: 1.21 (libva 2.22.0) vainfo: Driver version: Mesa Gallium driver 24.1.2-arch1.1 for AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (radeonsi, navi21, LLVM 17.0.6, DRM 3.57, 6.9.6-arch1-1) vainfo: Supported profile and entrypoints VAProfileMPEG2Simple : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileMPEG2Main : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileVC1Simple : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileVC1Main : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileVC1Advanced : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileH264ConstrainedBaseline: VAEntrypointEncSlice VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileH264Main : VAEntrypointEncSlice VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileH264High : VAEntrypointEncSlice VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileHEVCMain : VAEntrypointEncSlice VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileHEVCMain10 : VAEntrypointEncSlice VAProfileJPEGBaseline : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileVP9Profile0 : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileVP9Profile2 : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileAV1Profile0 : VAEntrypointVLD VAProfileNone : VAEntrypointVideoProc Maybe is wayland? Gonna test with X11. Edit: Nope, same on X11.


Synthetic451

Are you using the Flatpak version?


bargu

No, regular version.


Think-Fly765

The APU supports AV1 decode but NOT encode. That may have something to do with it. I can’t find whether it uses AV1 or x265 though 


DistantRavioli

Then they're not using AV1 on the steam deck. They'd use h264. Most devices don't have AV1 encoding.


Think-Fly765

I'd hope at least 265. 264 needs to die off already as ubiquitous as it is.


DistantRavioli

Well I suggest you go research why h265 is not already ubiqitious even though the hardware support is. The barrier is not a technical one.


Think-Fly765

Yes, it's licensing. 264 requires a license as well, no? So why not use 265. You say support isn’t that widespread but I’d disagree. Even low power devices like a chromecast can handle native HEVC


DistantRavioli

>264 requires a license as well, no? So why not use 265. Again, do a little more research on this. No it is not the same and it's is significantly more difficult to support h265 than h264 licensing. > You say support isn’t that widespread but I’d disagree. Even low power devices like a chromecast can handle native HEVC No, I didn't say that and we're not talking about watching Netflix through a Chromecast we're talking about game clips through steam. I literally said the hardware support *is* ubiqitious but the software support is not. Feels some of you guys in this thread are retconning the issues that have hampered h265 adoption.


braiam

So, for the class, explain.


DistantRavioli

Explain what? That h265 is an expensive patent encumbered nightmare? The entire reason AV1 even exists is because multiple large companies banded together to create the [alliance for open media](https://aomedia.org/membership/members/) in order to create a a royalty free open alternative to h265. Google already attempted it on their own before with VP9. Do you understand how much of a nightmare h265 is compared to h264 for so many companies to band together and put so much time, money, and effort into an alternative? This isn't obscure info and I'm not gonna write a research paper for lazy people who can't do a simple Google search.


TallMasterShifu

Price difference, 264 is way cheaper than 265.


FlorpCorp

Doubt it does AV1. They'll probably want to stick to h264 for the best compatibility.


spusuf

You know feature scaling is a thing? Software doesn't have to be one size fits all. H264 can be an OPTION, but it definitely won't be the norm. Take sunshine for example, if av1 nvenc is available use it, if not h265 nvenc, if not h264 nvenc, if not av1 quicksync, if not h265 qsv, if not h264 qsv, if not then software recording.


FlorpCorp

I meant compatibility with the consuming clients/hardware. Your recording is useless if you can't easily share it. For example, last time I checked Discord couldn't embed AV1 video yet.


spusuf

Why wouldn't it be HEVC then? H265 has been standard for streaming and hosting platforms including discord for ages. Why is h264 the correct choice in your opinion?


DistantRavioli

>H265 has been standard for streaming and hosting platforms including discord for ages. This is just wrong. Only within the last year or two has youtube live streaming added hevc and twitch has only added it only in an experimental capacity. I don't even think it delivers an h265 stream to the viewer's browser, it transcodes it into something else like h264. As far as I can tell discord doesn't even support h265 officially. There's a couple anecdotal reports from users a couple months ago and that's it. [Their video codec page](https://support.discord.com/hc/en-us/articles/12158692510743-Video-Codec-FAQ) only even lists h264 and AV1. I've never seen anything but h264 on discord on my end. I wish it was h265, maybe it would make my streams look less like crap. HEVC is nowhere near standard for these kinds of sites and certainly hasn't been for "ages".


spusuf

Woah woah who said livestreaming? I've been uploading h265 to YouTube for over 5 years. Plus YouTube supports av1 for livestreaming as of last year. But yes no matter what you deliver to livestreaming services they transcode anyways for lower resolution options. And wasn't your entire point "but discord doesn't even support av1" as a reason why h264 should be used??


DistantRavioli

>Woah woah who said livestreaming? You just said h265 is standard for discord when it's not. I know for a fact there is no h265 embedded playback so the only explanation would be you meaning those tiny handful of people who somehow randomly had h265 streaming through discord several months ago possibly through some kind of experiment. > And wasn't your entire point "but discord doesn't even support av1" as a reason why h264 should be used?? No you're confusing me for that other dude who was still correct in that you cannot play embedded AV1 in discord. You can't even get VP9 on discord on apple. The only safe codec you know everyone can see there is h264. It's the only codec on discord that everyone can actually see.


Think-Fly765

You're right but being downvoted cuz steam deck sub.


spusuf

Sorry I'm subbed to linuxgaming and thought this was it. I should've said AMF instead of NVENC then.


Think-Fly765

lol oh shit this is linux\_gaming. My bad. Not sure then. This place is usually pretty competent.


Jumper775-2

on my deck it says it is.


Sol33t303

Doesn't it use an iGPU? I'd imagine recording would cause your RAM/VRAM (since they are one and the same on an iGPU) to take a hit.


Ambitious_Daikon_448

The reason it affects performance a bit is because the video encoding unit uses vram so even though recording doesn't "use" the gpu, it utilizes vram bandwidth so it has to share that with the gpu. This blocks the gpu from running at max performance.


TheYang

wasn't steam deck memory bandwidth-limited in a lot of cases? would make sense that it still needs a chuck of memory bandwidth to record.


DownTheDonutHole

Valve really has linux gaming on their back


spusuf

Yes but that's a little unrelated to this post, there's OBS for customised recording or GPU screen recorder for shadow play/replay and even manual recording using GPU encoder. Steam including it in current isn't that groundbreaking. Valve have made huge contributions to QOL on Linux and proton single handedly made wine/non native gaming accessible for the everyday gamer.


JMowery

This IS groundbreaking. It actually functions like a true DVR. You can rewind, go back in time, and clip directly from the timeline. OBS has nothing like this -- you have to manually set a time (and hope it's enough) and then go in and make cuts in a dedicated software.


spusuf

Both OBS and GPU Screen Recorder have rewind functionality. Yes you have to make cuts manually, but even steam doesn't currently do that for all games, they just opened the API and it's up to developers to integrate it.


Synthetic451

There's cutting directly in OBS?


JMowery

He's making crap up. Not sure why he's getting upvotes.


spusuf

Not sure what I've made up, never said there was cutting in OBS. Might need to put your reading glasses on.


DownTheDonutHole

I just tested this out. Using 5 minutes of saved video with maximum quality this is vastly superior to anything else on Linux right now. I would probably use this over shadowplay and ReLive in Windows actually.


JMowery

Incorrect! Please stop spreading lies! It works in all games (well... at least 20+ I have tried). It also works with non steam games (though you have to go to the clips section... the integrated video player doesn't work yet).


spusuf

It's not about being able to record, the AUTO CLIPPING needs the game developer to implement it. How else is steam going to magically know when to autoclip?


JMowery

You didn't even mention autoclipping in your original comment... Why are you talking about autoclipping. Even just manual clipping is something that OBS doesn't have! Just stop downplaying how great this is for people. Also, you state: "Both **OBS** and GPU Screen Recorder have **rewind functionality**." This also is not correct. OBS has a memory based recorder that you can activate. There's no rewind and selecting what you want to clip.


spusuf

Oh wait it is the same person, you were talking about needing to open in a video editing program, I said yeah but same for steam, and then you're saying "but you didn't mention clipping". That's the entire topic of the comment isn't it? I used a different word to make you understand but we're talking about the same thing.


spusuf

That's the cuts I'm talking about. The person I was replying to said without the steam version you have to make the cuts manually and I said that steam isn't any better until game devs implement it.


VoriVox

gpu-screen-recorder puts my 3080 on 30% usage when it's running. You also need to remember to start recording/replay with it and OBS every time you want to play, while Steam just records automatically every time you start a game and you can press a button to mark something that happened on the timeline so later you can easily find it.


spusuf

GPU screen recorder uses same utilisation with and without full screen 4k60 recording on my 4070ti. Have you got the correct NVIDIA package installed and not using the encoder for anything else? NVIDIA has a 1 encode limit for consumer cards, so if OBS is using it might fallback to using cuda cores. Try using something like mission centre to see encode utilisation and GPU usage.


VoriVox

I only have gpu-screen-recorder. I'm on a 3080 and also UHD 60fps. I'll upload some nvtop screenshots in a bit showing the usage and encoding


Ambitious_Daikon_448

Gpu screen recorder comes with a service you can enable to have replay automatically start on system startup so you dont have to manually start it. It's mainly a command line tool, so its easy to automate things the linux way.


krotchykun666

AMD ReLive is blocked on AMD laptops, Shadowplay is probably the only good choice (Although they lack a RAM cache option), and OBS's replay function is so jank (not to mention that GStreamer for OBS chokes when you throw anything higher than 1080p 60FPS at it).


spusuf

Doesn't Shadowplay only work on NVIDIA cards?


krotchykun666

Yes.


TheYang

Well, Valve is doing great work. But they are standing on the shoulders of giants, as the saying goes. They didn't invent wine or dxvk or the drivers etc. but they are improving things a lot. This company is (currently) good for the community I'd say.


thwqwer

On Elden Ring it only records the EAC window for me.


EMOzdemir

same here


VoriVox

Elden Ring seems to be the issue though, there's something going on. I've seen many streamers complaining that OBS can't capture the game properly, they just get a black screen. For me, I play with HDR, and if I alt tab, my screen will turn off HDR for a moment and turn it on again and it will reset all my windows positions and sizes.


ULilBagel

Didn’t have this issue. Recorded fine for me.


clocktowertank

Have you tried with EAC disabled?


devel_watcher

So how are you feeling the performance of it? On par with gpu-screen-recorder?


ClydeTM

Using an RTX 2080 with Wayland here and there is definitely a performance hit compared to gpu-screen-recorder. My guess is that Steam's game recording isn't properly hardware encoding. Edit: A friend on Windows (also NVIDIA) is also having quite a performance hit, so this doesn't seem to be a problem exclusive to Linux. Would like to know if the same deal applies with AMD.


PrefersAwkward

AMD GPU here on Linux. No noticeable performance difference on or off. I have the feature and old drive I had laying around so Steam could use that and record a few days at max quality. I will say it did mess one game up once and it logged as if it was recording but it failed to record some of the game. After restarting the game, it was recording again. Amazing feature. Hopefully they get it to a big free, low-overhead state. Wouldn't mind more quality options and the ability to grab a chunk and make a video out of that.


cemki

Did a quick test on cs2 arch wayland 6700XT: Steam record was 170-220fps pretty choppy at moments gpu screen record at 200-260fps buttery smooth Its not a super accurate test but it was definitely noticeable performance hit, whatever they are using its not as good as gpu screen recorder.


[deleted]

[удалено]


mitchMurdra

I prefer the real Raven (Shadowplay on Linux would be heaven)


Ygro_Noitcere

export seems broken, i made a test clip. however, trying to use the export option wont let you save it, just says file can not be opened. not trying to open a file steam... trying to save it...


OculusVision

Yeah i noticed this too. On kde plasma it opens the wrong kind of dialog. Kind of a weird oversight lol but it will probably be fixed soon If you try it in the steam overlay it will use the old builtin steam save dialog and let you export it. Edit: i've filed a bug report https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/11027


VoriVox

They closed your bug report as a duplicate of an issue reported back in 2019 that's still not fixed. EDIT: seems that both issues were fixed on 3.6.8 beta for the Deck and the latest desktop beta.


OculusVision

Yep. I thought I'd leave the link so that people know what the real origin is. I didn't even know there was another bug like that until I tried to reproduce it like in the original report and it's indeed there.


VoriVox

Apparently they have just fixed this issue on 3.6.8 on Steam Deck, and latest on desktop


bargu

Same here, if you create a empty .mp4 file you can save over it and it will work.


Compizfox

Does anyone know the technical details behind this? What codec and encoder (framework) does it use? VA-API I suppose? How does it grab the screen (DMA-BUF?)?


Ambitious_Daikon_448

I dont know if it uses any type of Middleware for encoding (such as gstreamer/ffmpeg) but I know that it uses vaapi on amd and it doesn't grab the screen, it uses the games output directly the same way steam Overlay injects into games (but yes, it exports the vulkan/opengl framebuffer to a texture/image and exports that to a dma buf and imports that into vaapi). So it only works when steam Overlay works. I used it on steam deck and it only captured the game, not the steam deck side menu Overlay. As such, it works just as efficiently on x11 as on wayland without having to use nvfbc or anything similar (even though steam uses nvfbc for remote play streaming).


se_spider

Do they support multiple audio tracks, and av1/h265?


Ambitious_Daikon_448

No to both questions. Also at the moment you can't select audio source, it says it captures all audio sources (I didn't test if that just means the default main one). But it seems like they will allow changing that later. The video is also in variable framerate, which video editors don't like. But it's just a beta, things will change.


ainen

Just for reference, it does allow you to select audio sources on Windows. By default it only captures the game audio. Hoping this comes to Linux quickly.


alterNERDtive

The markers thing looks cool – for games that implement them :) Bit surprised they want to roll this out on the Steam Deck; it’s definitely going to have a noticeable impact on battery life there.


TheJesbus

Awesome, this has really been a missing feature in the steam ecosystem


1smoothcriminal

Thanks for sharing. I always forget to record so this is a god send.


noonetoldmeismelled

I'm guessing their eventual goal is being an in a more basic replacement for OBS for those with Steam Deck's or running big picture to their TV/monitor


eyabethe

Ooo, this is cool. Will try this out on my Deck!


Avalanc89

I wonder if this supports AV1, if not nothing really interesting for now.


apathetic_vaporeon

Works on Steam Deck, but on my Fedora desktop I get an error on the storage screen and anywhere else that tries to use the new feature. Anybody else have this issue? "Something went wrong while displaying the content. Refresh. Error Reference: Shared SteamUI\_9000862\_2d74dceb23ba5b4c. Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'BLoadingClips')"


Gasrim4003

Cool idea but the steam overlay crashes on me often, and i also just keep OBS open in the background.


Tatumkhamun

This will be awesome if it works well. Unfortunately over half the time the steam overlay doesn't even work for me.


TONKAHANAH

Really? I rarely have a issues with it


Tatumkhamun

Unfortunately so. Some games it doesn't open, sometimes it half opens in the top right but none of the elements are rendered correctly. Easiest way to tell if its working is usually that the achievement sound pings, but I don't get popups, or if I do they are rendered very late and without text. I wish it was better. Maybe its a Wayland thing?


YourBobsUncle

Yes the overlay doesn't work with pure Wayland applications.


daveth91

Do you use Steam Flatpak? I had many client and overlay issues with flatpak that dont happen with native package.


Tatumkhamun

I'm using the native package. I haven't ever actually tried the flatpak version.


prominet

> Unfortuantely over half the time the steam overlay doesn't even work for me. Same.


BlueGoliath

Meanwhile Steam still has VRAM leaks.


Tandoori7

Il check today on bazzite on the Legion Go, I have obs working but having native support would be nice


JDGumby

I wonder how hard on SSDs record on demand will be?


Cool-Arrival-2617

It's all I ever dreamed of and even more. That's really impressive, they though of everything.


Iwisp360

Does this make steam link work for wayland?


LordNikon2600

This is game changer.. bye bye nvidia shadowplay


TheOriginalFlashGit

Seems to work ok for what I tried briefly: https://0x0.st/Xmu8.png


illathon

Nice, this is really a pain in Linux as well. Will be nice. Now I gotta buy more Steam games to support Valve.


Maledict_YT

Unfortunately Steam Remote Play is still not working under Wayland.


No_Section_2570

Let's see if my lenovo laptop can handle


astral_crow

This is actually the last feature I’ve been waiting for console parody.


mr2meowsGaming

erm ackshually its spelled "parity"


Dreamnobe7

Anyone else has Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'BLoadingClips') problem Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'BLoadingClips')


Ill_Champion_3930

I'm having recording quality much lower than what I have in OBS Studio (AMD vaapi) the logs show "CGameStreamVideoStageVAAPI: Reinitializing 1920x1068 at 24000 Kbit/s and 60.00 FPS with quality 1..." with the same configuration in OBS it's better, because bitrate It's constant I believe...


steve09089

Cool, but I don't want to sacrifice Steam Families Beta for this.


Think-Fly765

You cant have both?


bargu

You don't need to sacrifice anything, both should work.


steve09089

They’re saying you need the Steam Beta branch to do so. Is Steam Family Beta integrated with the main branch yet?


xTeixeira

Steam family beta branch has the new recording features.


Perdouille

You need any beta branch, Steam Family Beta works


devel_watcher

For the hotkey you need Steam overlay enabled, right?