How to record gameplay so your editor can do more with it

How should I record gameplay so my editor can do a better job?

Record game audio, your microphone and each friend on their own track, keep the facecam as its own file, and don't stop recording mid-moment. Note timestamps for big moments as you play, then hand over the untouched files in one folder per video.

Everything below explains why each of those matters and how to actually set it up, mostly in OBS Studio, since it's the free recording tool most gaming channels already run. Copy the two lists below before your next recording session.

Before you hit record:

1. Game audio, your mic, Discord and each friend each on their own track — not mixed into one.
2. Facecam recording as its own file or source, separate from the game capture.
3. Same resolution and frame rate you've used in your last few videos.
4. A note app or phone open so you can jot timestamps for big moments as they happen.
5. Recording started before the moment begins and left running well after it ends — no stopping mid-scene.

After you stop recording:

1. Don't trim, compress or re-encode any of the files.
2. Put everything for that video — gameplay, every audio track, the facecam, your timestamp notes — into one folder.
3. Add a two-line note: the moments you most want kept, and a reference video if you have one in mind.

Why do recording choices limit what your editor can do?

An edit can only work with what's actually in the file. Once game audio, your mic and a friend's Discord voice are combined into a single mixed track, that mix can't be undone. Your editor can turn the whole track up or down, but they can't isolate one voice to duck it under a joke, mute a friend's mic during a dropped call, or fix one person's level without moving everyone else's. Splitting sources happens at the moment of recording, or it doesn't happen at all — no editing software un-mixes a track afterward.

The same logic applies to video. A facecam baked into the game footage, a session recorded at a different resolution than usual, a recording paused right before the punchline — none of these can be recovered downstream. Set it up once before you press record, and it holds for every video after.

How do you put game, mic and Discord audio on separate tracks in OBS?

OBS Studio can record up to six separate audio tracks in a single file. According to OBS's own Advanced Recording Guide and Multi-Track Audio, to use more than one track you first "switch to the Advanced Output Mode," then, in Settings → Output → Recording, "enable the tracks that you would like to record." From there, OBS's Multiple Audio Track Recording Guide covers routing: open Advanced Audio Properties — the gear icon at the bottom left of the Audio Mixer dock, or the same option from the Edit menu — and "assign each of your audio sources to its own recording track." OBS's own example keeps track 1 as the full mix, so the file still plays normally anywhere, and puts each source on its own track from 2 to 6: for example game audio on 2, your mic on 3, Discord on 4.

One detail decides whether any of this survives the recording: OBS's guide notes that "not all recording formats (container) allow for multi-track audio," and recommends recording to MKV, which can be remuxed to MP4 afterward without losing the separate tracks.

Other recording software uses different menu names, but the concept carries over: look for a setting that sends different sources to different output channels rather than one mixed stereo bus. If you can't find it for your setup, ask your editor before the next session, not after.

Recording with friends: how should co-op audio be split?

Co-op formats — friends surviving a new mod together, a duo challenge, a group call that runs the whole video — are a real client format, not an edge case. I edit co-op survival videos for Puff (1.83M subscribers) and single-creator full-length horror movies for Swaylemc, and the two need close to opposite source files. A co-op format needs every player's reaction kept on its own track so the edit can decide whose face or voice carries the moment; a solo full movie just needs one clean voice and one clean feed.

If you're recording with friends over a Discord call, either have each friend record their own mic locally and send you the file, or use a setup that saves each speaker on Discord as a separate track. A single "Discord audio" track with everyone mixed into it has the same problem as a mixed microphone track: nobody inside it can be pulled out afterward.

Should the facecam be its own file or source?

Keep the facecam as a separate video source, or a separate recording entirely, from the game capture — even if you'd normally composite them yourself before sending anything. A standalone facecam file lets an editor reposition it, resize it, push in for a close reaction, or drop it out for a beat. None of that is possible once it's flattened into one combined video; at that point the facecam's size and position are permanent.

Why keep resolution and frame rate the same all session?

Pick one resolution and frame rate before you start recording and keep it for the whole session, ideally for the whole channel. Switching mid-session, or recording one video at 1080p60 and the next at 4K30, means your editor spends time rescaling or re-timing footage instead of cutting it, and mixed frame rates inside a single video can show up as stutters that weren't in the original gameplay.

How do you mark big moments while you're playing?

You already know which moments matter more than an editor scrubbing through forty minutes of footage does. The moment something happens — a clutch play, a jump-scare reaction, a joke that landed — jot the timestamp and two or three words in a phone note. A list like "14:20 boss fight," "22:05 mic drop," "31:40 Alex screamed" turns a session into a shot list your editor can start from instead of a guess.

Should you trim, compress or re-record footage before sending it?

No. Trimming, compressing or re-encoding a file yourself means making editing decisions with fewer tools than your editor has, and once the original is gone, none of it can be undone. Compression can flatten a dark scene or crush game audio; trimming can cut the two seconds of setup that make a punchline land; a lower bitrate can add artifacts an editor then has to work around instead of removing. Send the files exactly as they came out of OBS, or whatever you record with.

How should you hand off the files to your editor?

Put everything for one video — the gameplay capture, every separate audio track, the facecam file if it's separate, and your timestamp notes — in one folder per video, in whatever shared drive or transfer tool you and your editor already use. Add the short note described above: the moments you most want kept, and a reference video if you're chasing a specific feel. That note is often the difference between a first draft and a second revision round.

The rest of the working terms — where files live long-term, revision rounds, who owns the project files — are worth agreeing once in writing rather than mid-project. See what to agree with a YouTube editor and the editor brief template if you don't have terms written down. To describe the pacing and tone you want once the files are there, see how to brief your video editor; for how a comedy-gaming edit is built from footage like this, see comedy gaming video editing.

I edit gaming, Roblox and Minecraft channels as part of a wider client list — 1,215 videos and 143.6M+ views tracked on YT Jobs so far. Most of it starts the same way this page describes: footage recorded with sources kept separate, handed over untouched.

Recording gameplay FAQ

Can my editor split a track that recorded everyone mixed together?

No. Once game audio, your mic and other voices are combined into one track, an editor can raise or lower the whole thing but can't isolate one voice to duck it, remove noise from just one source, or fix one person's level without touching everyone else's. The separation has to happen at recording time, not after.

Does OBS support recording separate audio tracks?

Yes. OBS Studio can record up to six audio tracks in one file. Switch to Advanced output mode, enable the tracks you want in Settings → Output → Recording, then assign each audio source to its own track in Advanced Audio Properties. OBS also recommends recording to MKV rather than MP4, since not every container supports multiple tracks.

Should I trim or compress my gameplay recording before sending it?

No. Send the files exactly as they came out of your recording software. Trimming can cut context an editor needed, and compressing or re-encoding can add artifacts or crush audio that then has to be worked around instead of removed.

What if I recorded with friends over Discord?

Try to get each friend onto their own audio track or file, either by recording locally on each person's end or using a setup that saves each Discord speaker separately. A single mixed "Discord" track has the same problem as one mixed microphone track: nobody in it can be isolated later.