Game recording

Helium_Junkie · 7 Apr 2009 at 11:05

I have an old version of fraps, but it cuts my framerate rather drastically when recording 1920x1200 and the "record half size" option creates files that wont open... I wondered if there was an alternative anyone could suggest?

Thanks

PESolution · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:22

No warez talk.

Dark_Angel · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:25

Helium_Junkie said:
I have an old version of fraps, but it cuts my framerate rather drastically when recording 1920x1200 and the "record half size" option creates files that wont open... I wondered if there was an alternative anyone could suggest?

Thanks

What are the specs of your PC?

Mine doesn't run things too badly at 1920x1200 at full size with a Q6600 and 4GB of ram.

It may be a codec issue or something? Tried viewing it with a different media player / messed around with the settings?

Sirrel Squirrel · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:27

You have got no chance capturing 1920x1200 with Fraps unless you have a seperate RAID set as your capture drive. Using the system drive you will probably be able to capture at maximum about 1024x768 at 30fps. (note for video you don't need to have a frame rate any higher than that).

Dark_Angel · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:31

Sirrel Squirrel said:
You have got no chance capturing 1920x1200 with Fraps unless you have a seperate RAID set as your capture drive. Using the system drive you will probably be able to capture at maximum about 1024x768 at 30fps. (note for video you don't need to have a frame rate any higher than that).

True actually, it could be if the op is using his main hard drive that could be the issue.

I use 30FPS at 1920x1200 full screen on a seperate fast Sata drive, and it seems to be fine.

Lyon85 · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:32

PESolution said:
No warez talk

What's that going to fix?

Dark_Angel said:
What are the specs of your PC?

Mine doesn't run things too badly at 1920x1200 at full size with a Q6600 and 4GB of ram.

It may be a codec issue or something? Tried viewing it with a different media player / messed around with the settings?

I don't think it will be the playback of the vid that is the issue, rather the framerate while recording.

If the problem is that the framerate is suitable for video but not for game play (like 24fps), then some games can record the action (like Source and CoD games) that can be played back in game later and exported as video, this way the low framerate wont effect game play.

I can't imagine all but the beasiest machines can record at 1920x1200 without massive frame drops, and recording at half size may not change anything but the output filesize.

Spyke_UK · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:36

I find recording with Xfire less taxing on my machine than FRAPS, can't seem to record more than 20 seconds with FRAPS either?

What game are you wanting to record?

bloodline76 · 7 Apr 2009 at 12:39

I use fraps and record at 1680x1050 at 60fps and there is no slow down or problems.

Are you using a seperate drive other than the OS one? Could be the cause.

Are there any better programs than fraps for recording games?

Spyke_UK · 7 Apr 2009 at 13:07

CoD4, WaW and HL2 engine games you can record a demo from the console with zero slow down (i deff don't see any at least).
These can then be played back with a little player plug-in.

iKettles · 7 Apr 2009 at 13:45

Spyke_UK said:
CoD4, WaW and HL2 engine games you can record a demo from the console with zero slow down (i deff don't see any at least).
These can then be played back with a little player plug-in.

This doesn't record to a video file. These files instruct the engine what to do and effectively recreate the scene that had been recorded. You still need to record that using Fraps or other recording software.

Sirrel Squirrel · 7 Apr 2009 at 13:48

iKettles said:
This doesn't record to a video file. These files instruct the engine what to do and effectively recreate the scene that had been recorded. You still need to record that using Fraps or other recording software.

You can normally (with source anyway) export the demo as an image sequence and then join it together using virtualdub or QuickTime.

Helium_Junkie · 7 Apr 2009 at 14:44

This isn't just source games.
I record to a seperate drive only used for this.
Its not the playback thats the problem, unless I record at half size in which case I cant play back.
I get approx 50fps when not recording, 20-25 when recording. Its not THAT bad, but since im using a several year old fraps I wondered if there was something better.

Hardware: E4400 @ 2.66ghz, 4g ram, XFX 4850xxx.
I don't have a raid, just a standard (not too old) sata drive.

Sirrel Squirrel · 7 Apr 2009 at 14:48

The latest versions of Fraps are multi-threaded so that'd give you a performance boost. Not sure of any other software that can record in game. Dropping your res will get you by with your current setup.

Helium_Junkie · 8 Apr 2009 at 17:12

Well, I found that I can view the video that is recorded in half size if I open it in virtualdub. Since I need to compress it anyway this isn't a problem, so now I record in half size

Woot!

Frame rate stays over 30 so is thoroughly playable.
Thanks for the advice!

Bane · 11 Apr 2009 at 19:13

If you do fancy trying a different program, there's Gamecam.