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Straight up, Smart or All out: which mode to choose?

Use Straight up when the OBS signal already works for every platform. Smart copies OBS and re-encodes only the vertical platforms. All out re-encodes every destination and asks more of your machine.

Published
Reading time
3 min read
Corneta version
0.11.0
Tested with
Corneta 0.6.0 (Windows 11)

The short answer

  • Straight up: when OBS already delivers a resolution, FPS and bitrate that every platform accepts.
  • Smart: when the landscape platforms accept the OBS signal and only the vertical ones, like TikTok and Instagram, need a different format.
  • All out: when each platform needs to get its own preset and your GPU or CPU can handle one re-encode per destination.

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Quality screen comparing Straight up, Smart and All out with upload and load estimates.

The estimate changes with the destinations, bitrates and settings of the current profile.

The estimate changes with the destinations, bitrates and settings of the current profile.Source: CornetaCorneta version: 0.11.0

Straight up

Corneta copies the compressed video from OBS to every destination. It doesn't open a new video re-encode per platform, so it's the lightest mode.

The limit shows up early: every platform gets the same video. If the setup that works well for YouTube goes over what another destination accepts, set OBS to the lowest limit or switch modes. A vertical platform, like TikTok or Instagram, comes out sideways on a copy.

Smart

Corneta copies OBS to the landscape platforms, like Twitch, YouTube and Kick, and re-encodes only the vertical ones on its own. It doesn't compare the OBS signal with each platform's limit: on the copies, the OBS bitrate is what goes out. The Quality screen shows the maximum the copied platforms accept.

Only Smart lets you choose, in Fine-tuning per platform, between Auto, Copy and Convert for each destination.

Check the mode cards: they show the total Upload and the estimated Load on your PC. If the re-encodes go beyond what the graphics card can handle, the screen warns you.

All out

Each destination gets its own re-encode, using the platform's preset. In Fine-tuning per platform, you choose the picture quality (Light, Standard or Sharp), the bitrate and What converts it: graphics card or processor. Resolution and FPS follow each platform's preset. It's the mode that puts the most load on the CPU or GPU. On cards with a limit on simultaneous sessions, the math may not add up.

How to decide on your PC

  1. Start on Straight up if every platform accepts the OBS output.
  2. Switch to Smart when you have a vertical platform or when only one destination needs to change. In that case, choose Convert on that one only.
  3. Use All out when per-platform tuning is worth the extra load.
  4. Do a test stream with your real game, camera, alerts and motion.
  5. On the Live screen, watch CPU and GPU in the Your machine panel and each platform's FPS and Drops during the heaviest stretch.
SymptomQuick testNext change
Encoder overloadedSwitch from All out to SmartReduce the number of re-encodes
GPU maxed out with the gameCap the game's FPSLeave GPU time for OBS and the encoder
Upload at the limitCheck the Upload on the mode cardLower the bitrate or use a cloud relay
A platform rejects the signalCompare its presetRe-encode only that destination in Smart

Do the math in the multistream upload guide.