Settings

General

The General tab in Meld Studio's Preferences allows you to configure essential settings for your streams and recordings. This includes:

• Canvas
• Encoder
• Stream Outputs
• Recording
• Clipping
• Screenshots

Canvas

The Canvas setting defines the base resolution for the Main Canvas, which determines the dimensions at which the content is captured for streaming or recording.

When Multi Canvas is enabled, the Vertical Canvas is also activated and uses a fixed resolution of 1080×1920 (Portrait 1080p). Settings such as framerate, encoder, and overall quality will automatically match the Main Canvas, except for bitrate, which can be configured separately.

Meld Studio supports a variety of resolutions for the Main Canvas, including:

Main Canvas

• 4K UHD
• 1440p
• 1080p (Default)
• 864p
• 720p
• Portrait 4K
• Portrait 1080p
• Portrait 720p

Note

Only one canvas resolution can be selected at a time, and it applies to the Main Canvas. The Vertical Canvas remains set to portrait 1080p when active.

Set Up The Canvas Resolution

1. Navigate to Preferences → General → Main Canvas → Canvas
2. Choose the Canvas resolution using the dropdown menu.

Note

Keep in mind that not all platforms support 4K streaming. Consider checking the requirements of the platform you've chosen.

Framerate

Framerate refers to the frequency at which frames are captured/displayed consecutively. Meld supports streaming/recording framerates of 30fps or 60fps.

Configure The Framerate

1. Navigate to Preferences → General.
2. Choose the Framerate using the dropdown menu.

Hardware Encoder

When hardware encoding is disabled, Meld Studio defaults to using x264.

Video Bitrate

Video bitrate represents the amount of data processed per second to determine the quality of your video stream or recording. A higher bitrate ensures smoother playback and greater quality, while a lower bitrate may result in reduced quality, such as pixelation or visual artifacts.

Set The Video Bitrate

1. Navigate to Preferences → General.
2. Choose the video bitrate using the dropdown menu.

Platforms Video Bitrate Support

• Twitch: Twitch supports a bitrate of 3,000kbps to 6,000kbps.
• YouTube: YouTube supports a bitrate of 3,000kbps to 40,000kbps.
• Kick: Kick supports a bitrate of 1,000kbps to 8,000kbps.
• Facebook: Facebook supports a bitrate of 600kbps to 15,000kbps.

Note

A higher bitrate requires greater internet bandwidth to maintain a stable stream.

Audio Bitrate

Audio bitrate measures the amount of data used to transmit audio per second. Higher bitrates result in clearer, more detailed sound.

Check out the platform's recommendations for Audio Bitrate to ensure compatibility and avoid unnecessary strain on your setup.

Note

This feature is currently locked to 160kbps. We will open this option up in a future update.

Quality Preset

The selected Quality Preset determines the balance between encoded video quality and CPU/GPU resource utilization. The Meld Studio defaults are good for most streaming workloads. However, you can adjust the Quality Preset to optimize resource usage and quality based on your setup and streaming preferences.

We support 7 quality presets for both the NVidia hardware encoder and the X264 software encoder. Unfortunately, the macOS hardware encoder currently does not provide quality presets.

Caution

Higher quality presets will increase CPU/GPU and memory usage.

Quality Preset	Description
Fastest (Low Quality)	Minimal resource usage; suitable for low-end systems.
Very Fast (Reduced Quality)	Low resource usage; slightly better quality than the fastest preset.
Fast (Balanced Speed & Quality)	Moderate resource usage; balances speed and quality.
Standard (Good Quality)	Higher resource usage; provides good quality for most streams.
High Quality	Increased resource usage; better quality for high-motion content.
Very High Quality	High resource usage; excellent quality for demanding streams.
Best Quality (Slowest)	Maximum resource usage; best quality; suitable for high-end systems.

Set The Quality Preset

1. Navigate to Preferences → General → Encoder Settings.
2. Choose the quality preset using the dropdown menu.

Stream Outputs

Add and edit all of your stream outputs. We have dedicated documentation for the Stream settings here.

Windows

Meld Studio automatically detects and utilizes NVENC (NVIDIA Video Encoder) when Hardware Encoding is enabled, and a compatible NVIDIA GPU is available.

Note

NVENC provides high-performance encoding with minimal impact on system resources.

macOS

Meld Studio leverages platform-specific hardware encoders based on your device. This includes Apple Silicon (M1/M2), Intel Quick Sync Video (QSV), or AMD hardware encoders.

Update

Meld Studio will auto-update. Easily check for updates anytime to ensure you're running the latest version.

Check for Updates

1. Navigate to Preferences → Updates
2. Click the Check for Updates button.

Note

Meld uses different update mechanisms on Windows and macOS. The Check for Updates button is only available on macOS.

If an update is available you can download it, and restart Meld Studio.

Meld Studio Not Updating

If Meld Studio isn't updating automatically, feel free to reach out to our team for assistance.

Advanced

WebSocket Server

The Advanced tab provides access to WebSocket Server settings. Enable this feature to allow external machines or services to connect to Meld Studio for advanced integrations.

Caution

Enabling this option should be done cautiously, especially on public or unsecured networks.

B-Frames

B-frames (bi-directional frames) are a type of video frame used for efficient compression. They rely on both the previous and next frames to encode motion, which improves quality at lower bitrates, but can increase latency.

To disabled B-Frames:

1. Go to Settings → Advanced.
2. Under Advanced Encoder Settings, toggle on Disable B-Frames for Encoders.

Disable B-Frames For Encoders

This prevents the encoder from using B-frames (bi-directional frames).

Some ultra-low latency platforms may not support B-frames.
Enable this option only if you’re streaming to a service that requires B-frames to be disabled.

Caution

Disabling B-frames may impact video compression and quality at lower bitrates, especially in high-motion scenes.

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Expose Advanced Encoder Settings

Enabling this allows you to set encoder options per output track (audio/video) individually, instead of using global settings across all tracks.

Audio

Set up your Output device in the Audio settings in Meld.

Note

Changes to the audio output device will take effect when you restart Meld Studio.

To make updates in the Audio Output device:

1. Navigate to Preferences → Audio.
2. Select the output device by clicking on the dropdown menu.
3. Restart Meld Studio to apply the changes made.

Smart Guides

The Smart Guides tab lets you customize the Snap guidelines:

• Adjust the Snapping Line Color to a preferred color.
• Set the Snapping Threshold (px) to control alignment sensitivity on the canvas.

Transition

The Transition tab to configure the global scene transition:

• Choose from transitions like Cut, Fade, Morph, and Move.
• Adjust parameters like the Easing curve, Transition duration, and other settings.

Scene Transition

To manage your Global Scene transition, navigate to Preferences > Transitions.

Meld currently offers the following transition options:

Cut

Instantly switches between scenes without any visual effect.

Fade

Smoothly dissolves one scene into another gradually.

Setting	Description
Transition duration	Sets how long the animation takes to complete.

Morph

Dynamically transforms layers between scenes.

Setting	Description
Easing curve	Easing curves give you more control over the pace of the animation, allowing you to fine-tune how it transitions over time.
Transition duration	Sets how long the animation takes to complete.
Strength	Controls the intensity of the Morph transition, determining how strongly elements transform between scenes.

Move

Moves layers to a new position during scene transition, creating a fluid animation when switching scenes.

Setting	Description
Easing curve	Easing curves give you more control over the pace of the animation, allowing you to fine-tune how it transitions over time.
Transition duration	Sets how long the animation takes to complete.
Layer reordering mode	Layers are reordered immediately when the transition begins.

Layer Reordering Mode

None

Layers are reordered immediately when the transition begins.

Midpoint

Layers are reordered halfway through the move transition.

Continuous

Layers are smoothly reordered based on their position throughout the transition.

Note

For the Move transition to work flawlessly, ensure the layers have the same name across scenes. This allows the transition to animate the layers when you switch scenes.

User Interface

Custom Chat Dock

The Chat Dock runs in a browser view, so you can load any custom chat URL, such as Streamer.bot, LumiStream, a Twitch Stream Manager link, or pop-out chat panel URLs.

1. Go to Settings → User Interface.
2. Enable Use Custom Chat Dock.
3. Paste your chat URL in the Chat URL field.

Your custom chat will now appear in the dock, replacing the default one.

Hotkeys

The Hotkeys provides a list of commands in Meld Studio that can be customized.

Hotkeys

Assign Hotkey

To assign or edit a Hotkey command:

1. Double-click on the Hotkey field, or right-click and select Edit.
2. Press the key combination.
3. Press Enter to save the Hotkey combination.

Disable A Hotkey

The disable feature is handy for temporarily deactivating a Hotkey command. To do so:

1. Navigate to the Hotkeys tab in Preferences.
2. Locate the Hotkey you'd like to disable.
3. Click the checkbox on the right to disable it.
4. Repeat the process to enable the Hotkey back.

Restore And Remove

Right-click on the hotkey and select the corresponding action.