LOW-DELAY MULTI-PASS FRAME-LEVEL RATE CONTROL USING A SHARED REFERENCE FRAME

A multi-pass encoding operation using a shared reference frame is implemented to encode one or more gaming frames into a game stream. The multi-pass encoding operation includes producing a shared reference frame based upon a second-pass reference frame used by a second pass encoding of the multi-pass encoding operation. The encoding operation also includes performing a first encoding pass on a current frame using the shared reference frame. As a result of the first encoding pass, an estimated complexity for the current frame is determined. A second pass encoding is then performed on the current frame according to the second-pass reference frame and the estimated complexity, resulting in an encoded frame. This encoded frame is then transmitted as part of a stream to a client system.