Wirecast is showing High CPU

Checking High CPU usage

Pictured below is a composite image of Wirecast displaying errors due to high CPU usage. Seen below the System CPU is far too high and is causing the frames-per-second to drop well below the 30 FPS preset. Additionally we see the stream icon is not green but rather orange, red, and red with disabled icon. These icons mean there are issues with the stream, the stream has been interrupted, and no connection respectively.

Note: We recommend CPU usage remain below 80% for most of the stream, short spikes of CPU usage over 80% are normal.

How to Lower CPU Usage

Output Settings

If you are recording your stream through Wirecast check the output settings located in the top menu bar under 'Output'. Then ensure the encoding preset is the same for both streaming and recording. Pictured below is the Output Settings and the encoding preset is "Test Live" but each school will have a preset made for them when first joining Striv.

• Streaming and recording using the same encoder uses less CPU than two different encoders

• Stream to one destination (and share) rather than multiple destinations

Preview/Live View in Broadcast Area

You can lower CPU usage by changing the view in the broadcast area. It is recommended that you select the button labeled below as 'Display Preview Only' or 'Display Live Only'. 

Also disabling live icons can lower CPU.  Wirecast > Preferences > Performance disable Live icons

Restart Wirecast and/or Computer

First try restarting Wirecast, if that fails then restart the computer. This is often successful but takes valuable time and will interrupt the live stream.

At times Wirecast and other applications can slowly encounter non-fatal errors that continuously take up system resources. Over time those errors can add up and significantly effect the performance of a computer.

Encoding Settings

Encoder: Intel QuickSync (Windows), NVENC (Windows), Apple H.264 (Mac) instead of x264

Make sure that the frame rate is 30fps instead of 60fps

As a last resort in lowering CPU usage is to decrease the stream quality. This is done in the output settings located in the top menu bar under 'Output'. Once at the output settings click the gear icon next to 'Encoding' dropdown and select edit. You should see a dialog box similar to the one pictured below.

To lower the stream quality, lower the number in the input field next to 'Average bit rate'. It is recommended to drop this number by increments of 50.

Computer

• Quite all programs not needed for streaming.

• Don't have browser open monitoring stream on the same computer you're streaming

  from.

• i7 processors are better than i5 More cores are better. Newer generation Processors are

  generally better within a given family.