Recording Your Cinematic

Core Cinematics renders the shot live in your game. To export a video file, you capture the in-game playback with an external screen recorder. There is no built-in video export yet — use OBS Studio.

INFO

Don't confuse the two "recordings":

• The in-editor recording captures vehicle/ped motion as data so you can replay them later on your timeline.
• The screen recording (OBS) captures your monitor output to a video file — this is what you share.

Recommended: OBS Studio

OBS Studio is free, open-source, and has the cleanest capture path for GTA V. Here's the exact configuration that works without stutter.

Launch OBS as Administrator

Always Run as Admin

Right-click OBS → 'Run as administrator'. GTA V runs elevated for anti-cheat; OBS must match or Game Capture will black-screen or stutter.

WARNING

This is the single most common cause of dropped frames and black frames in GTA captures. If you're seeing stutter, check this first.

To make it permanent: right-click the OBS shortcut → Properties → Compatibility → check Run this program as an administrator.

Record as MKV (not MP4)

MKV Container

MKV writes each frame to disk as it's captured — if OBS, your PC, or the game crashes, your footage is safe. MP4 only finalizes on clean stop and will be corrupted on crash.

Remux Later

After recording, remux MKV → MP4 from OBS' File menu for editor compatibility. Instant, lossless, no re-encode.

Settings → Output → Recording → Recording Format: mkv

Set Automatically remux to mp4 if your editor (Premiere, DaVinci, CapCut) prefers MP4.

60 FPS

60 FPS Minimum

Cinematic camera moves look clearly choppy at 30. 60 FPS is the baseline for smooth pans and vehicle shots. Shoot 120 FPS only if your GPU holds it — otherwise prefer stable 60.

Settings → Video → Common FPS Value: 60

TIP

Your in-game FPS must also hit 60 or higher during playback — if GTA drops to 40, your recording will, too. Close background apps and set GTA graphics low enough to hold 60 steady.

Full OBS Settings

Video

Setting	Value	Why
Base (Canvas) Resolution	Your native (e.g. 1920x1080)	Match your monitor
Output (Scaled) Resolution	Same as base	No scaling = sharpest image
Downscale Filter	Lanczos	Only matters if you scale down
Common FPS	60	Smooth cinematic motion

Output (Advanced Mode)

Switch Output Mode to Advanced — the simple mode hides most of what you need.

Recording tab:

Setting	Value	Why
Type	Standard	Default
Recording Format	mkv (Matroska)	Crash-safe, remux later
Video Encoder	NVENC H.264 (Nvidia) · AMF H.264 (AMD) · QuickSync H.264 (Intel)	Offloads encoding to GPU — zero CPU stutter
Audio Encoder	AAC	Universal
Rate Control	CQP	Quality-constant, great for archival
CQ Level	16–20	Lower = higher quality · 18 is visually lossless
Keyframe Interval	1	Easier to scrub in editor
Preset	P5 (Slow / Quality) on NVENC · Quality on AMF	Best quality your GPU can sustain
Tuning	High Quality	NVENC only
Profile	high	Better compression at same quality
Look-ahead	On	NVENC only — smarter bitrate allocation
Psycho Visual Tuning	On	NVENC only — prioritises visual quality
GPU	0	Your main GPU
Max B-frames	2	Default

TIP

If your GPU is older and can't hold 60 FPS with NVENC Slow preset, step down to P4 (Medium) or P3 (Fast) before you drop to CBR or x264 software encoding.

If CQP is unavailable, use CBR instead:

Resolution	Bitrate
1080p60	50,000 Kbps
1440p60	80,000 Kbps
4K60	150,000 Kbps

Audio

Setting	Value
Sample Rate	48 kHz
Channels	Stereo
Audio Bitrate	320

TIP

Mute the Desktop Audio source if you plan to add your own music/SFX in post — otherwise you'll have to fight the original game audio in the edit. Keep it on if you want the game's ambient sounds in the raw.

Sources

Add a Game Capture source (not Display Capture or Window Capture):

• Mode: Capture specific window
• Window: [GTA5.exe]: Grand Theft Auto V
• Capture Cursor: Off (you don't want the mouse in the shot)
• Anti-cheat Compatibility Hook: On (required for FiveM)
• Allow Transparency: Off
• SLI/Crossfire Capture Mode: Off

WARNING

Display Capture on Windows 10/11 with HDR enabled will blow out your colors. Always prefer Game Capture for GTA V.

Advanced

Setting	Value
Process Priority	Above Normal
Renderer	Direct3D 11
Color Format	NV12 (8-bit) or P010 (10-bit HDR)
YUV Color Space	Rec. 709
YUV Color Range	Full (for true blacks/whites in the edit)

INFO

Set YUV Color Range to Full only if your editor supports it (Premiere, DaVinci, After Effects do). If you edit in CapCut or a consumer tool, keep it on Partial to avoid crushed blacks.

In-Game Recording Workflow

The editor's own recording system captures vehicle and ped motion as data, replayed later as puppets on the timeline. This is separate from screen recording.

1

Start OBS Capture First

Hit record in OBS before you do anything in-game. Recording a few extra seconds is free; missing the intro isn't.

2

Open the Editor

Type /cinematics in chat to open the editor.

3

Configure the Recording Panel

Click the Recording panel in the side menu. Choose your recording targets:

• Vehicles — every vehicle within RecordRadius (default 150m)
• Peds — every human ped within radius, including the player

Adjust RecordRadius in config.lua if you need a tighter or wider capture window.

4

Start the Recording

Click Start Recording. The editor closes automatically so you can drive or act.

Alternative: use the chat command /cinematics record to skip the UI.

5

Drive / Act the Scene

Drive the car, walk the ped, fire the gun — every frame of position, rotation, velocity, steering, RPM, handbrake, horn, weapon state, and aim gets captured.

6

Stop the Recording

Press BACKSPACE (or whatever key you set in Config.RecordingStopKey) to save the take.

Chat alternative: /cinematics stop.

You'll see a toast: Saved N vehicle(s), M ped(s) — Ts. Open /cinematics to preview.

7

Build Your Shot

Re-open the editor with /cinematics. Your recorded entities now appear as replay puppets. Add keyframes on the timeline, position the camera at each, and choose an interpolation mode.

8

Play Back & OBS Captures

Press Space (or the Play button) to play back the shot. The recorded vehicles and peds re-enact their motion, your keyframed camera sweeps through, and OBS captures the whole thing to an MKV on disk.

When done, stop OBS → remux to MP4 → drop into your editor.

Tips for Better Shots

Lock the World

Use the World & Scenery panel to freeze time of day and weather. Stops the sun from moving mid-shot and keeps lighting consistent across takes.

Ease Into Shots

Set first and last keyframes to 'Ease In-Out' easing. A camera that starts and stops at full speed feels robotic — ease curves give it weight.

Cinematic Mode

Interpolation → Cinematic with Tension ~0.5 is the trailer-shot look. Spring adds overshoot for bouncy energy.

Kill the Ambient

You're already in an isolated bucket (no NPCs/traffic). Combined with frozen weather, your scene is deterministic take after take.

Three-Angle Rule

The tutorial teaches it for a reason — three well-framed keyframes around one subject beats ten random ones. Make every camera see the subject.

Scout in Preview

Use /cinematics preview to watch the camera prop glide the path without opening the editor — great for scouting framing before the final take.

Troubleshooting

OBS is recording a black screen

• OBS must be launched as administrator (same elevation as GTA).
• Use Game Capture source with Anti-cheat Compatibility Hook enabled.
• Disable third-party overlays (Discord overlay, RTSS, MSI Afterburner OSD).

Recording stutters even with NVENC

• Cap your in-game FPS to 60 in GTA settings — uncapped FPS fights the GPU encoder.
• Make sure OBS is not on the same drive as the game if you're on a single slow HDD. SSD recommended.
• Check Task Manager — a background service eating CPU will cause frame drops.

Audio is out of sync after 10+ minutes

• This is almost always a variable-frame-rate source. Use CFR (constant frame rate) in GTA and keep OBS at fixed 60 FPS.

File is huge

• CQP 16 at 1080p60 is ~80-120 Mbps. That's normal for archival quality. Encode a delivery copy at 20-30 Mbps after your edit.