Screen Capturing

[T3hReaper91]

Okay so quite a few people here already make their own youtube videos of their game footage, but what is the best screen capture software out there?

 

Here is a list of a few avaliable:

 

Fraps

Bandicam

DXTory

Action!

MSI Afterburner

Elgato (Hardware + Software recorder)

 

Just to name a few.

 

With all this choice and possible money to be laid down on a registered copy you want to know your getting the best value for your money.

 

Although Fraps is easily the most popular out there it doesn't always mean its the best. Having used Fraps for some time i thought it was time to see what else was out there on the market that could seriously compete against Fraps. This is where i came across DXTory and most recently Action!

 

Even though i have used Action! for the shortest amount of time (less than a day so far) i can see it becoming my go to screen recorder for recording footage, let me explain why.

 

If you wish to record commentary video's Action! can record the game sounds and also a microphone just like Fraps & DXTory can but Action! puts the commentary as a second audio track within the AVI file. This means once recorded you can then continue to tweak the game sounds and microphone sound separately to get an equal level you are happy with.

 

The file size of the recorded files within Fraps can be HUGE to say the least where as in Action they seem a fraction of the size with no loss in quality.

 

DXTory isn't quite as resource heavy as Fraps but Action! seems to be the lightest of them all. Recording in either 1080p or 720p with Action! results in the same minimal FPS loss. So recording at 1080p with Action i seem to loose at the most 4 FPS. DXTory i was loosing atleast 4 FPS recording at 720p! This means i can record at a higher resolution without the frame rate hit.

 

I have only scratched the surface with Action! but it has become a much better program than both DXTory & Fraps.

 

What do you think and what is your opinion on this?

 

-----------------

 

Also found this on youtube showing a quick comparison between the 3 mentioned in this thread.

[Paladin Skylark]

Well I've used Fraps for over a year now and I can certainly say it's not the best to use. I've just kinda dealt with it and I'm glad to hear you looked into other things :P Fraps consistently records massive file sizes which have to be swapped around in format and it gets really bothersome and annoying.

 

I might take a look into Action! though if you think it's that much better. :)

[superhyper]

I use fraps as I almost always delete my previous footages when I'm done uploading them (so the big filesizes don't bother me that much). Will definitely look into Action! now though as it would make creating commentary videos a whole lot easier. (Nowadays I just have to use Audacity to record my voice so that I can adjust the volume afterwards). Also, less FPS lost is always good :)

[iLLGT3]

Might want to add MSI Afterburner to the list.

 

It's what I use.

[T3hReaper91]

Might want to add MSI Afterburner to the list.

 

It's what I use.

 

What is it like to use? Whats the quality at the end like and also how big of a performance hit does this have?

[khevolution]

i havent heard of Action! until today, but might have to have a look and see what its like, but previously i have been using Dxtory

[iLLGT3]

What is it like to use? Whats the quality at the end like and also how big of a performance hit does this have?

 

Well, on my setup, I don't really have too much of a performance hit though I've only used it a few times. Here's a snip of what the options look like. I assume they're roughly the same as the others.

 

 

I reset these to default for the picture.

 

I mainly use MSI Afterburner for hardware information while I'm playing. GPU frame buffer usage, FPS, and GPU temp.

[Ryzza5]

Now that I've worked out how to simultaneously output audio via RCA (to speakers) and nVidia HDMI (for recording) I use my elgato Game Recorder (which is how I record the PS3/X360/any device with video output). The device does all the encoding and sends it back to a PC (the same one in my case) via USB.

 

The software also TimeShifts so is constantly recording in case you want to rewind the record something. Once you've finished recording it's easy to split/crop tracks and export to MP4 in a couple of seconds where you can further edit in Vegas/Premiere.

 

Quality comes out great (everything that is sent to your monitor is sent to the recorder). There's no performance loss (it's recording to a separate HDD not used by Windows or the games. Keep in mind that I further compress the videos afterwards (losing quality) to upload faster.

 

Most expensive of all the software but if you want to record console footage then this is the way to go. No HDCP support unfortunately though. There's an adapter cable for PS3, guessing they'll have to make ones for the PS4/Durango if they're both using BluRay.

 

Find them on eBay if you want one.

 

FRAPS (probably):

 

MSI AFterburner:

 

Elgato:

[T3hReaper91]

I uploaded a video that i used Action! to record. Noticed a few Frame drops but that was my fault as i left alot of un-needed stuff open in the background whilst recording. Have done another test with the things closed and had no Frame Drops but will upload that tomorrow :)

 

Video can be found here:

 

 

And Ryzza your setup is a lot more advanced :P I could technically do the same if i had a separate PC to put my BlackMagic in but im happy using Action! at the moment :)

[Ryzza5]

Some notes about MSI Afterburner - it works quite well, less performance drop than FRAPS, it's 100% free (no full payware version), doesn't require a MSI graphics card as the name might suggest, and records to a compressed format from the start.

 

The only catch is that to edit the files in Vegas/Premiere, you'll need to install a Codec pack. If you're using a 64-bit version of Vegas/Premiere, you'll need 64-bit codecs (caught me out the first time). i.e. K-Lite Codec Pack 64-bit

 

The only thing I didn't like compared to Fraps was the lack of an FPS counter, but besides that it gets the job done pretty well. No support for Minecraft (Java) though.

[T3hReaper91]

Cheers for adding MSI And Elgato for me Ryzza!

 

Really tempted by the Elgato as it seems like a much better option for recording Xbox footage not to mention the PC footage.

[Ryzza5]

Yep, you just need to get synchronised audio output working on your PC and then you can record anything.

 

 

There is no discernable lag (response time in ms) in the video pass-thru (what you see when playing), but what you see here is the recording/processing/timeshifting lag in the recording software. So you can't play your console by looking at your PC screen, you have to watch the screen connected to your console via the Elgato.

 

Also when recording the PC in this loop configuration, be sure to click Mute in the Elgato software, otherwise all the sounds will be looped into your recording.

[BAk99]

I've been using FRAPS for years. It's only been since I switched to ATi it has taken more of a hit on my FPS. Yes I can record in 720p but when things get heavy the frame-rate can drop for atleast 5seconds.

 

Action! looking by what you've recorded & now researched seems to give an amazing quality of recording, with like you said, split audio for commentary.

The only thing that beats this in my eyes is the El Gato HDD Recording device. Outstanding quality & the ability to take the strain away from your computer so you can focus on gaming & commentary. I will be investing in one hopefully this months pay & a review should be out relatively soon after.

I currentely own a Haapauge HD-PVR mk I, which is an impressive peice of equipment but it can only record through S-video, Composite & Component meaning 720p or 1080i quality. It does a prefect job for the likes of retro & modern consoles but I need something more portable & reliable without all the software taking up my processing memory. This is why I will be upgrading.

[T3hReaper91]

Well thanks to Ryzza i ended up getting a Elgato Game Capture HD off Ebay. Not really had much chance to play with it but you can see a couple of results on my Youtube. The xbox test and then my latest minecraft video was recorded using it.

[Ryzza5]

Haha nice one. You'd think I'd have a Forza Horizon video up by now but no.... :)

 

We'll have to schedule an online party for it again one day.

[Ryzza5]

nVidia have launched a new option called ShadowPlay

 

NVIDIA ShadowPlay aims for always-on screen recording for gamers - SlashGear

[Ryzza5]

AverMedia has made a new version of their Game Capture HD device that actually looks pretty good. The main benefit of this over the Elgato is that you don't need a decent-spec PC to record to

 

Game Capture HD II | AVerMedia

 

[Ryzza5]

Might be worth updating the OP with the latest options including Win10 GameDVR @T3hReaper91 @Staff

[Eudemon]

I can give you control of the thread if you want?

[Ryzza5]

No, unless T3hReaper wishes it.

[GTAMADDOG]

I don't think he'll mind if someone does take over the thread to be honest. At least, he hasn't posted on the forums in almost two years (can't find where it mentions his last visit). He's still alive and kicking and all that, but life and stuff.

 

On topic, OBS doesn't do a bad job and has no performance hit that I've noticed (plus you can stream with it which is all the rage these days). Free to record and/or stream, but I've never got the video quality to be quite as good as other programs when it comes to recording. However, I can't say I've tried too much to get more out of it.

[TIMELESS]

Haven't seen Adam in ages, I'm sure he'll not mind a takeover.

 

Since going with an nVidia card I haven't used anything else but ShadowPlay, the quality is good and I can't say I notice a performance hit when I'm recording. The file sizes aren't exactly small but that's par for the course.

[Rassva]

Yeah, that Nvidia thing is really good, I stream a lot with it and it never failed.

[superhyper]

I'm in the shadowplay crew. I do use FRAPS if I need looseless capture for something cinematic but the ability to record something that happened moments before is pure gold and it also captures the possible voice chat in those situations unlike the "record that" feature on the Xbox. Nothing bad to say about it :nods: