RECORDING GUIDE

How to record your gameplay

Nexus reads your HUD, killfeed and scoreboard straight from your video, so a clean recording of just the game gives the most accurate stats. Setup takes about five minutes, and you only do it once.

The short version

  1. Record only the game

    Use OBS’s Game Capture so the recording never shows your desktop, other windows or alt-tabs.

  2. 1080p at 60 fps

    Nexus is tuned for 1920×1080. Playing at 1440p or 4K? OBS can scale the recording down for you.

  3. Keep the HUD clear

    No webcam, chat or alerts on top of the game. Anything covering the killfeed, score or scoreboard can hide stats.

  4. Keep the same HUD layout

    Nexus learns where your HUD sits from your first upload. Changing HUD size or layout means it has to learn again.

Set up OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free, used by most streamers, and gives Nexus the cleanest video. These are the settings we recommend.

  1. Install OBS Studio

    Download it free from obsproject.com and open it.

  2. Add a Game Capture source

    Start the game first. In OBS, under Sources, click +, choose Game Capture, then set:

    Mode
    Capture specific window
    Window
    [cod26-cod.exe]: Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare® 4

    Remove Display Capture. If you have a Display Capture or Window Capture source, delete it (or hide it with the eye icon) so your desktop can never end up in a recording. If the Game Capture preview stays black, run OBS as administrator.

  3. Video settings

    Open Settings → Video.

    Base (Canvas) Resolution
    Your game’s resolution1920x1080 for most players
    Output (Scaled) Resolution
    1920x1080
    Downscale Filter
    LanczosOnly shown when your game runs above 1080p
    Common FPS Values
    60
  4. Recording settings

    Open Settings → Output, set Output Mode to Advanced and choose the Recording tab.

    Type
    Standard
    Recording Format
    Matroska Video (.mkv)MP4 works too
    Video Encoder
    NVIDIA NVENC H.264AMD: AMD HW H.264 (AVC) · Intel: QuickSync H.264
    Rate Control
    CBR
    Bitrate
    8000 Kbps
    Keyframe Interval
    2 s
    Preset
    P5: Slow (Good Quality)
    Profile
    high

    Why 8,000 Kbps?

    It’s the quality of the stream VODs Nexus is built and tested on. OBS’s “High Quality, Medium File Size” preset records at roughly 20–30 Mbps, three times bigger for no gain in accuracy, and every extra gigabyte is upload time.

    Why MKV? If OBS or your PC crashes, an MKV keeps everything recorded up to that moment. Nexus accepts MKV directly, so there’s no need to convert.

  5. Record your session

    Click Start Recording before your first match and Stop Recording when you’re done. Menus, lobbies and loading screens are fine; Nexus finds the matches itself. One file per session is ideal, but several files are fine too.

  6. Upload to Nexus

    Your recordings are in the folder under Settings → Output → Recording Path. On Upload / Analyze, drop in one or several, then add your in-game username (and clan tag, if you use one) and the date you played.

File size and upload time

What a session weighs at our recommended bitrate compared with OBS’s high-quality preset, and how long it takes to upload on a 20 Mbps connection.

Session8,000 KbpsHigh-quality preset (~25 Mbps)
1 hour3.6 GB · 24 min upload11 GB · 1 h 15 min upload
3 hours11 GB · 1 h 12 min upload34 GB · 3 h 45 min upload
5 hours18 GB · 2 h upload56 GB · 6 h 15 min upload

What can hurt your stats

  • Overlays on the game. A webcam, chat box or alert covering the killfeed, score or scoreboard hides what Nexus needs to read.
  • Leaving the game. Alt-tabbing, the desktop or other windows in the recording.
  • Other people’s gameplay. Watching streams, replays or VODs while recording; Nexus can’t tell those matches from yours.
  • Stretched or ultrawide video. Record at 16:9, ideally 1920×1080.
  • Low quality. Below 1080p or under about 5,000 Kbps, small HUD text becomes hard to read.

Common questions

I play on console. What should I use?

Connect a capture card and add it in OBS as a Video Capture Device source instead of Game Capture. Use the same 1080p, 60 fps and recording settings, and turn off any overlays in the capture card’s software.

Can I upload my Twitch or YouTube VOD?

Yes, as long as the game fills the screen and nothing covers the HUD. Matches where a webcam sits over the killfeed or score may come back with missing stats.

Which files can I upload?

MKV and MP4 work best; MOV and WebM work too. Each file can be up to 50.0 MB, and you can upload several at once.

Should I use HEVC or AV1 instead of H.264?

Please use H.264 for now. It’s what Nexus is tested on, and every recent graphics card records it.

Do I need to record audio?

No. Nexus only uses the picture. Audio in the file doesn’t hurt anything.

Does Nexus have its own recorder?

Not yet. OBS gives the most reliable recordings today; we’ll let you know if that changes.

Ready to see your stats?

Upload one recording or a whole week of sessions.

Upload a recording