[Legate Damar]

If I want to record a video of playing Freespace to upload it to a website, what is the best software to use?

[Black Wolf]

FRAPS is the most common, and it's free if you don't mind a watermark.

[Legate Damar]

It says it can only record for a maximum of 30 seconds, that's useless

[el_magnifico]

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
• Xfire
• Fraps (and yes, I couldn't record more than 30 seconds with this)

[Scourge of Ages]

You might also try HyperCam 2. I used it once to record this. It didn't get the audio, but assume that's a weirdness with the game and not the program .

[Legate Damar]

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?

[The E]

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

New youtube accounts have a 15 minute length limit, which after a time gets removed entirely.

[MatthTheGeek]

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.

[el_magnifico]

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

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 (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.

[Nohiki]

http://camstudio.org/

I'm using this, works well so far.

[KyadCK]

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.

[Legate Damar]

I got the microsoft thing working. Uploaded my first video: http://youtu.be/U_9p9q57LBw

[KyadCK]

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. 

[Legate Damar]

It was a lot smoother ingame. Problem with the recording I guess.

[mormon_boy]

the stutter is why fraps is so popular fraps doesn't do that

[Legate Damar]

Yeah but I would like to record more than 30 seconds

[KyadCK]

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.

[el_magnifico]

Dude, looks like a Lilith!

*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.

[Legate Damar]

IIRC I had it at 30 FPS. My computer is just very old and cannot handle a lot of programs running at once.

[QuantumDelta]

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