That Growl Cam is not working for me, because whenever I record my screen, it comes out all pixelated because I have Windows 7 with all the glitched graphics. I also tried it in window mode with Chaoslauncher, but that was too small to see. So now I think I will try it again with Chaoslauncher but in almost full screen mode so that you can read it good and it's not all pixelated

You could try this: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=229044 to both fix your colour problems and allow you to record fullscreen. The battlenet UI will be messed up but it works apparently; I'll be trying it tomorrow when I feel better.

Growl Cam crashes when I try to configure sound. It does not record at all when I toggle it by its bound key. I've concluded this program is shit.

Tried HyperCam and Camstudio, both have somewhat choppy recording and sound desync issues (I use xvid for all recording). Don't know what to do to fix them. Can't use Camstudio for Starcraft at all...

I use Taksi, but it's a bit dated, and has given me some grief with some applications. Seems to do the job when it isn't fucking with me, though.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 26 2012, 1:00 pm by Tuxlar.

I'll also try Flash Media Live Encoder and some video source program which I forgot the name of for doing recording, I use them for streaming but I'm thinking that if I record just to a local source it probably wouldn't drop frames and could be quite good.

It is still not working. It keeps showing up pixelated no matter what settings I try. I did the link from Teamliquid that you posted, but that still came up pixelated. Even the extended-size window mode wasn't working. Could I load a replay and you record it for me? Lol.

FRAPS is what I use for showcasing project videos and my own Let's Plays.

Seems to be the best since 64-bit machines and most Vista/Se7en computers refuse to work with Guncam. I never liked it anyways; it has a tendency to lag when recording during transmissions.

I tested streaming last night with FMLE and VHMulticam (or whatever it's called), that worked ok when I used windowed mode and lowered the screen resolution to 800x600 so it filled up most of the screen.

http://www.twitch.tv/sen_birdie
I'll next work on adding audio, probably using JACK if I can find a program that uses JACK properly.

I found out that FRAPS works very good for this (thanks to Pr0nogo). There is no lag in the video, and it has a nice and clear resolution. As far as I have seen from your video Jack, that video has some lag and is not as clear as FRAPS was when I tested it on Friday.

Post has been edited 1 time(s), last time on Apr 29 2012, 10:25 pm by DevliN. Reason: Removed unnecessary filler.

I stream in 320x240 because the PC I use can't handle more; the streaming system itself is capable of 1080p and probably higher. Lag's also my PC's fault, although I don't recall any lag.

It was mainly only in the beginning, but it could have just been my connection as well. I might actually do some videos of different base builds, but I'll see how much time I have with finals coming up.

EDIT: FRAPS only records for 30 seconds unless you buy the full version for $37... Screw that lol. I guess I'll try another screen recorder...

EDIT2: I finally got FRAPS to record something decent! But the problem is, when I loaded up to Youtube (168 minutes omg..) it was a black screen! It only had sound and I didn't even want the sound in there lol..

Post has been edited 2 time(s), last time on May 1 2012, 11:37 am by Mouse.

I see no reason to not use fraps when fraps is available readily. It's simply the only reliable choice in all of video recording. Streaming is unnecessary and overhyped, and all of the involved software and gimmicks are balls.

Also, if you're uploading straight fraps files, you're doing it wrong. Re-encode them with megui... you already know that, though.

I did not know that you needed another program to upload the videos to Youtube. But I totally agree with you, FRAPS works perfectly. Do you know where I can get Megui? And also if I have to pay for it like FRAPS for the full version (I didn't pay for it lol google ftw)?

http://google.com -> MeGUI -> http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/ -> http://sourceforge.net/projects/megui/files/latest/download

To summarize, megui is basically a GUI front-end for x264/avisynth. While it may seem like something to get into, if you're at all serious about video production you're going to be using x264 one way or another, through command-like ffmpeg or GUI's like megui or Simple x264 Launcher.

Fraps files are compressed, but not nearly enough for good upload speeds or distribution as you well know. The function of megui and such is to turn things like fraps files into much smaller, more malleable formats. So, I can stick entire sc2 games into only a few hundred megs while retaining extremely high quality at 1920x1200 resolution.

The difference between this and programs like growler guncam is guncam tends to do its own conversion. This tends to result in several problems, the first and foremost being performance. Fraps has its performance bottlenecks, but not nearly as problematic as doing compression in real-time. Additionally, programs like growler won't offer you nearly the kind of quality returns as a real pipeline will offer.

Megui and similar programs rely on avisynth scripts to feed them information. In comparison to the complications of high-end Staredit triggering these are child's play, with scripts looking as simple as this;



The scripts have much more power then just feeding the programs file names, but the idea is there.

To simplify the process of generating scripts for huge quantites of fraps files (I encoded sc2 stuff in chunks of 60 files), I use another free app called Avisynth Batch Scripter. The template I fed the program to generate stuff was this,



My youtube channel has a more detailed video guide regarding my process if you're interested in getting into it, just search it for "Megui".

Avisynth, megui, Simple X264 Launcher, and AVI batch scripter are all free.

I have been long time tempted to write a huge video recording/processing guide but figured few people, if anyone, would make use of it...

When you mean doing compression in real time, do you mean encoding to a lossy format like xvid or divx or some such while recording?

Yes. Encoding takes cpu. The more cpu heavy something going on, the more likely it is to compete with the game and indeed the recording itself.

Fraps is typically more drivespeed heavy than cpu heavy, but especially if you're cutting corners like using a make believe computer instead of a real computer (e.g. a brand name laptop instead of a hand-built desktop), performance hits can come from expected sources. A lot of programs, like camtasia (which is disgusting btw avoid this app at all costs) offer the ability to change codecs. But this can have dramatic consequences and they tend to perform very poorly regardless. Fraps compresses the videos, but not nearly as much to impact performance like that.

That said, if you have an i7 920 or better, you can probably encode x264 and fraps 1920x1200 at the same time like I can.

Also, no one in their right mind uses divx or xvid anymore. They're ancient.