Hard Light Productions Forums
General FreeSpace => FreeSpace Discussion => Topic started by: Legate Damar on July 18, 2012, 11:53:48 pm
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If I want to record a video of playing Freespace to upload it to a website, what is the best software to use?
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FRAPS is the most common, and it's free if you don't mind a watermark.
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It says it can only record for a maximum of 30 seconds, that's useless
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Back when I used to record playthroughs, I used Microsoft Expression Encoder Free Edition. It's REALLY nice, if you don't plan on exceeding the 10 minute mark (which is almost as much as Youtube is willing to let you upload). If you need more, you can always pause the game, start another recording session, and resume the game.
A warning, though: I used to have to run the game in windowed mode, because only Fraps and Xfire would record my fullscreen playthrough. Still, a nice software to have.
Don't waste your time looking for open source alternatives. I did. They aren't good enough yet.
tl;dr version
- Microsoft Expression Encoder Free Edition (http://www.microsoft.com/expression/products/Encoder4_Overview.aspx)
- Xfire (http://www.xfire.com/download/)
- Fraps (http://www.fraps.com/download.php) (and yes, I couldn't record more than 30 seconds with this)
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You might also try HyperCam 2 (http://download.cnet.com/HyperCam/3000-13633_4-10004511.html). I used it once to record this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUsDqATkw5s). It didn't get the audio, but assume that's a weirdness with the game and not the program .
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I tried the Xfire thing but it can't identify FSO in its "detect games" feature. Is there a way I can add it manually?
Also can you access the video files you create with that program and edit them (for example, add your own music) and then upload them to youtube, or can you only upload them as they are to the program's website?
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if you don't plan on exceeding the 10 minute mark (which is almost as much as Youtube is willing to let you upload)
Not true anymore :P
New youtube accounts have a 15 minute length limit, which after a time gets removed entirely.
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I tried the Xfire thing but it can't identify FSO in its "detect games" feature. Is there a way I can add it manually?
Rename the exe to fs2_open_3_6_10.exe. XFire is dependant on the exe filename and it has never been updated for FSO since .10.
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if you don't plan on exceeding the 10 minute mark (which is almost as much as Youtube is willing to let you upload)
Not true anymore :P
New youtube accounts have a 15 minute length limit, which after a time gets removed entirely.
Bah! Few missions in freespace last more than 10 minutes to begin with :p (FS1's Exodus is the only exception that comes out of my mind right now, though there could be a few more).
Besides, for us people with SLOOOOOOOOOOW and unstable internet connections, 10 minutes is a reasonable mark if you want to upload a high quality video without being driven insane in the process. :lol:
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http://camstudio.org/
I'm using this, works well so far.
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FRAPs to record
VirtualDub to patch
Handbreak to encode
Handbreak and Virtualdub are free, while FRAPs is not, if you want it to be useful in the least. The paid version does not cut off at 30 seconds, and does not have a watermark.
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I got the microsoft thing working. Uploaded my first video: http://youtu.be/U_9p9q57LBw
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I got the microsoft thing working. Uploaded my first video: http://youtu.be/U_9p9q57LBw
Please tell me that stuttering is just the recording software, and it isn't how you normally play Freespace. :shaking:
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It was a lot smoother ingame. Problem with the recording I guess.
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the stutter is why fraps is so popular fraps doesn't do that
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Yeah but I would like to record more than 30 seconds
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Yeah but I would like to record more than 30 seconds
The paid version doesn't have that limit, or the water mark. If you want/need something free, Zacam found some recorder he was happy with a while back. Maybe he'll see the thread and share.
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Dude, looks like a Lilith! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nf0oXY4nDxE)
*rimshot*
Sorry, couldn't resist it.
It was a lot smoother ingame. Problem with the recording I guess.
OK, lame pun aside, perhaps you need to reconfigure your recording settings. Try raising the number of frames per second (fps). They should be somewhere between 22 and 30. Less than that and you get stuttering. More than that is unnoticeable (I think). Be advised, the higher the fps, the harder your hardware is pushed. I had to PLAY with stuttering to be able to record at 20 fps, but then again, my laptops always suck when it comes to gaming (and the current one is even worse).
Also, there are lots of Creative Commons music you could use for your videos if you're worried about copyright infringement. Check the licenses carefully because not all of them would allow you to embed them on a video for free. I'm no expert here, so you'll have to investigate yourself. This could be a good place to start. (http://www.jamendo.com)
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IIRC I had it at 30 FPS. My computer is just very old and cannot handle a lot of programs running at once.
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30 is a minimum, ideally you should be recording at whatever your actual FPS is, if your FPS is above 60, I would suggest limiting it, you wont miss /much/ extra.
Use FRAPs, it's worth the money, it's the best recording suite around, mostly the only good one because all the others have given up competing with it.
Unless Zacam's one was one I missed ;o
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Well I'm just glad I was actually able to record and post my video
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XFire for Recording (no limit or watermarks, runs pretty smooth - problem is that it takes ungodly amounts of hard disc space but what doesn't).
Adobe AfterEffects/Premier for editing etc.
It's what AndrewofDoom and I used to record/process clips for the DE opening(s).
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Another alternative for Screen Capture is DxTory (http://www.dxtory.com) as well.
But if you do not want to pay anything, then MSI Afterburner (http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/) should your Tool of choice. Better than every other Freeware Capture Software.
Of course you have more Quality with FRAPS or DxTory, because both uses a lossless video codec.
I record commented gameplays over a year now, i use Fraps (http://www.fraps.com) for record, TMPGEnc (http://www.tmpgenc.net/) for edit and MeGUI (http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/) for encoding.
But it is also possible to use a freeware editing program like Avidemux (http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/) as well. (Only if you have anything, that needs editing, of couse.)
Freespace do not produce big files. A record of Freespace Ports Mission "Big Bang" needs only 240 MB on 2048x1152 after the encoding was finished. Codec is x264 on Constant Quality Factor 21.
If you do not mind, that the Commentary is german, you can see the video for an example of quality here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9HyyXZYK0Q).