SDA Knowledge Base - User contributions [en]

Digital Capture

2010-02-24T03:32:11Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Corrected a version typo.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using FRAPS enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the FRAPS counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': FRAPS uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Lock framerate''': Very useful feature that in most cases should be left turned off. This will allow you to record your runs without having FRAPS locking the framerate for you, which is useful if you have a slow hard drive or the game you're recording has extremely detailed graphics. The effect is that even though you set FRAPS to record at, for example, 30 fps you can still play the game at 60 fps. This feature was added in version 3.1.0 and will not be available in earlier versions.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab_v2.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GiB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2010-02-24T03:24:48Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Updated the section with the "Lock framerate" feature.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using FRAPS enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the FRAPS counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': FRAPS uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Lock framerate''': Very useful feature that in most cases should be left turned off. This will allow you to record your runs without having FRAPS locking the framerate for you, which is useful if you have a slow hard drive or the game you're recording has extremely detailed graphics. The effect is that even though you set FRAPS to record at, for example, 30 fps you can still play the game at 60 fps. This feature was added in version 3.0.2 and will not be available in earlier versions.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab_v2.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GiB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

File:Fraps movies tab v2.png

2010-02-24T03:10:49Z

Kibumbi:

Digital Capture

2009-12-05T15:45:27Z

Kibumbi: /* To Think About After Recording */ Changed GB to GiB.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using FRAPS enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the FRAPS counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': FRAPS uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GiB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-12-05T15:43:54Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Missed a "fraps".

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using FRAPS enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the FRAPS counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': FRAPS uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-12-05T15:42:11Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Moved the overlay pictures and picture text so they're actually "connected" to what they were supposed to demonstrate. Capitalized "Fraps" so that it's consistent through the article

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using FRAPS enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': FRAPS uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-23T11:00:52Z

Kibumbi: /* FRAPS */ Corretced a spacing miss.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-19T09:46:31Z

Kibumbi: /* Single Disk Recording */ Added sub-section "Minimizing The Risk".

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

'''What is safe to record?''': Unfortunately there is no way to be completely safe when using a single disk for FRAPS. Games that work the best though are older games, and games that don't demand much of the computer to run smoothly.

====Minimizing The Risks====
'''ReadyBoost''': Read [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost this article].

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-19T09:32:49Z

Kibumbi: /* To Think About After Recording */ Moved the link location so it makes more sense.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending guide] on how to properly append the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-19T09:30:44Z

Kibumbi: /* To Think About Before Recording */ Minor letter changes.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs to shut down before recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check your hard drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a guide on how to properly [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending append] the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-19T09:23:51Z

Kibumbi: /* FRAPS */ Added section "To Think About After Recording".

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs To Shut Down Before Recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check Your Hard Drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

==To Think About After Recording==
The maximum size of files will vary between [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system file systems], and to prevent any issues with files ending up too large FRAPS will limit the size of its files to 3.9GB each. This means that even though you only make one recording you might end up with several video files. There's a guide on how to properly [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Splitting_/_Appending#Appending append] the files together.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-19T09:12:12Z

Kibumbi: /* To Think About Before Recording */ Rewrote the section.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not. Once you are accustomed to using Fraps enable this option, some games will record with video artifacts if this option is enabled, if you see the fraps counter drawing multiple times on your game screen choose to hide the overlay to solve the issue.

'''Benchmarking Hotkey''': Fraps uses hotkeys for its functions, but they might be the same as the hotkeys used by the game to be recorded. You will not be using the Benchmarking hotkey so you may disable it to prevent future problems.

'''Overlay Hotkey''': When you use it the overlay position will change. You may disable this hotkey once you decide to keep it hidden.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
'''Programs To Shut Down Before Recording''': Anti-virus, p2p programs such as BitTorrent, instant-messaging services and VoIP/voice chat. These types of programs can interfere with FRAPS or the game you're running. For example, it's not acceptable to have AIM/MSN/Yahoo event sounds in your videos.

'''Check Your Hard Drive''': Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T05:35:44Z

Kibumbi: /* Single Disk Recording */ Moved most of the information to the intro of the section.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
'''Important''': Single disk recording isn't recommended since there's a much greater chance of getting your recordings ruined if Windows decides to access other files on the disk while you're recording. This section exists so that those who are forced to use a single disk can minimize the risk of getting their recordings ruined.

Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T05:32:02Z

Kibumbi: /* Single Disk Recording */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files while you're recording.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T05:17:15Z

Kibumbi: /* Single Disk Recording */ Moved announcement.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files while you're recording. If you have a lot of RAM (2GB or more for 32-bit Windows and 4GB or more for 64-bit Windows) in your system you can lower the chance of random disk access ruining your recordings by disabling paging.

'''Guide of how to disable paging will be added shortly'''.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T05:16:22Z

Kibumbi: /* Recommended Hardware */ Added a section for single disk recording.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

===Single Disk Recording===
Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files while you're recording. If you have a lot of RAM (2GB or more for 32-bit Windows and 4GB or more for 64-bit Windows) in your system you can lower the chance of random disk access ruining your recordings by disabling paging. '''Guide of how to disable paging will be added shortly'''.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T04:51:47Z

Kibumbi: /* Recommended Hardware */ Removed a single word.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives. Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files while you're recording.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T04:50:40Z

Kibumbi: /* Recommended Hardware */ Removed redundant information.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives. Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files on while you're recording.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-18T04:49:38Z

Kibumbi: /* Recommended Hardware */ Added some additional information about hard disk performance.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''The hardware listed here is not critical to be able to record with FRAPS, this is recommended hardware for getting the best possible performance out of FRAPS.'''

'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to minimize the risk of sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives. Older games might in some cases be possible to record without issues using a single disk setup, but there's still a huge risk of recordings getting ruined by the disk accessing other files on the disk while you're recording.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T18:47:57Z

Kibumbi: /* Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab */ Rewrote lossless RGB.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': Having this option disabled is the recommended setting, but feel free to try with it enabled if you want to. Important about this option is that it will not improve the quality of the final encoding due to the video codecs used on SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T16:54:14Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Small spacing miss fixed.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''': Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T16:46:47Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution through half-size recording. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T01:43:28Z

Kibumbi: /* FRAPS */ Spacing.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T00:27:27Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Re-arranged pictures and picture text.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T00:25:49Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Re-arranged pictures and picture text.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In the left picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording. In the right picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running and recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]] [[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-14T00:22:38Z

Kibumbi: /* The General Tab */ Re-arranged pictures and picture text.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

FRAPS 3.x on the left, FRAPS 2.x on the right.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]] [[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T23:25:44Z

Kibumbi: /* Can I Record All Games With FRAPS? */ Re-arranged word order.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw], although versions prior to 2.9.9 might have some issues with DirectDraw. Games using different rendering methods will in many cases not be possible to record, [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method] might solve some problems.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T23:20:04Z

Kibumbi: /* Can I Record All Games With FRAPS? */ Removed some redundant information.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games. If you're using Vista with Aero theme enabled and FRAPS version 2.9.0 or later, it can sometimes, thanks to [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method], be possible to record a lot of games that normally wouldn't be possible to record with FRAPS. Same goes for Windows 7 and FRAPS version 3.0.0.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T22:26:43Z

Kibumbi: /* Can I Record All Games With FRAPS? */ Added information about the Aero "override".

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games. If you're using Vista with Aero theme enabled and FRAPS version 2.9.0 or later, it can sometimes, thanks to [http://speeddemosarchive.com/kb/Digital_Capture#The_General_Tab this method], be possible to record a lot of games that normally wouldn't be possible to record with FRAPS. Same goes for Windows 7 and FRAPS version 3.0.0. Since this method requires Aero to be active it won't work on XP.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T22:12:55Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Added legacy picture of FRAPS for comparison.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_movies.gif]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T22:10:55Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Added legacy picture of FRAPS for comparison.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_fps.gif]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T22:08:36Z

Kibumbi: /* The General Tab */ Added legacy picture of FRAPS for comparison.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

Older versions of FRAPS will look like this.

[[File:Old_fraps_general.gif]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T22:04:13Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

File:Old fraps movies.gif

2009-11-13T22:02:56Z

Kibumbi:

File:Old fraps general.gif

2009-11-13T22:02:41Z

Kibumbi:

File:Old fraps fps.gif

2009-11-13T22:01:23Z

Kibumbi:

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:57:08Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

Note that the UI layout is somewhat different in 3.x.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:55:39Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Added picture of the Movies tab.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

[[File:Fraps_movies_tab.png]]

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

File:Fraps movies tab.png

2009-11-13T21:53:34Z

Kibumbi:

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:52:42Z

Kibumbi: /* Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab */ Added additional information about force lossless RGB capture.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will not exist if you're using an earlier version.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:51:12Z

Kibumbi: /* The Movies Tab */ Added additional information regarding external input.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive. This option was added in version 3.0.0 and will therefore not exist if you're using an earlier version. It also won't work if you're using XP.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:44:56Z

Kibumbi: /* The FPS Tab */ Added pictures and more detailed explanations.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
'''Overlay Corner''':Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner (highlighted with red in the picture) so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps counter.

[[File:Fraps_fps_tab.png]]

'''Hide overlay''': Enabling this option is not recommended since the fps counter also indicates if FRAPS is recording or not.

In this picture the counter is yellow. That means FRAPS is running in the background but isn't recording.

[[File:Fraps_not_recording.png]]

In this picture the counter is red. That means FRAPS is running in the background and recording.

[[File:Fraps_recording.png]]

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

File:Fraps fps tab.png

2009-11-13T21:36:11Z

Kibumbi:

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:33:17Z

Kibumbi: /* The General Tab */ Added picture.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

[[File:Fraps_general_tab.png]]

===The FPS Tab===
Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps-meter.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

File:Fraps general tab.png

2009-11-13T21:32:48Z

Kibumbi:

File:Fraps recording.png

2009-11-13T21:29:58Z

Kibumbi:

File:Fraps not recording.png

2009-11-13T21:29:27Z

Kibumbi:

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:25:41Z

Kibumbi: /* Recommended Hardware */ Added information link about disk swapping.

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_swapping disk swapping] that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

===The FPS Tab===
Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps-meter.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:23:13Z

Kibumbi: /* The General Tab */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden disk swapping that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
'''Monitor Aero desktop (DWM)''': Enabling this feature can in some cases allow you to record games you normally wouldn't be able to record due to lack of hardware accelerated graphics. This option only works under Vista (support added in version 2.9.0) and Windows 7 (support added in version 3.0.0) when Aero is enabled. This feature will not work on XP.

===The FPS Tab===
Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps-meter.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

Return to the [[Main Page|front page]].

Digital Capture

2009-11-13T21:06:41Z

Kibumbi: /* To Think About Before Recording */

Capturing a PC game is both easier and harder than capturing a console game. Unlike consoles, a PC game is already transmitting its video information in digital format; the only thing that is needed is for this signal to end up in a file as well. However, doing so will require running a recording program alongside your game, which may or may not cause problems.

=FRAPS=
==Introduction==
[http://www.fraps.com FRAPS] is by far the most commonly used method to record speedrun videos on the PC. For a long period of time FRAPS wasn't a very good program to use for this since it made games behave in weird ways and caused massive input lag, among other things. It has slowly been improved bit by bit and now it's actually a program you can recommend without being the slightest sarcastic. The program is running in the background and records the game you're playing, a process that's quite heavy on the hardware in most cases. Spite the hardware requirements FRAPS does have a few advantages over other recording methods such as DVD recorders.

1. Record in any resolution you want.

2. Extremely high quality recordings.

3. Easier encoding. No need to transfer your video from a DVD to your computer since it's already on your hard drive, ready for encoding.

4. No need to buy media such as discs.

5. Cheaper than a good DVD recorder.

The trial version of the program is not sufficient for recording runs for SpeedDemosArchive since it has a limit of 30 seconds per video and it also puts a watermark in them, and we do not like watermarks. The software can be bought for $37 which is much cheaper than buying a good DVD recorder, for example. Any updates after the initial purchase are free of charge. Other methods of acquiring the full version are not supported nor encouraged by SpeedDemosArchive.

==Recommended Hardware==
'''Dual-core (or better) CPU''': This will allow you to run the game and FRAPS on different CPU cores, significantly improving the recording performance.

'''2GB (or more) of RAM''': Even though FRAPS isn't the most memory hungry application you want to make sure there's plenty of RAM to avoid sudden disk swapping that can ruin your recording.

'''2 hard drives''': Same reason we want at least a dual-core CPU. Running the game on one drive while having FRAPS record to another will greatly improve recording performance. Note that drive partitions do not fall under this category, it has to be 2 physical drives.

'''Soundcard that can record using either Stereo Mix or ”What U Hear”''': By far the easiest way of recording sound. Just about all soundcards will have Stereo Mix, somewhat modern Creative Soundblaster cards will have ”What U Hear” which is the exact same thing but with a ridiculous name.

'''Graphics card''': Anything that has Nvidia GeForce or ATI Radeon printed on it. You want something that can at least keep a solid 30 frames per second when running the game with the resolution you're recording in. I have yet to find any solid information if the graphics card play any further role when it comes to FRAPS.

==FRAPS Application Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is written for FRAPS version 3.x. If you're using an earlier version some settings will not be available.

===The General Tab===
No settings that are important for your recordings.

===The FPS Tab===
Depending on if there are important HUD elements in your game you might want to change the position of the Overlay Corner so it doesn't obscure important information. Just click the corner where you want FRAPS to display the fps-meter.

===The Movies Tab===
'''Folder to save movies in''': Make sure this folder is located on a drive where you are not running any heavy applications such as the game you're recording. Also try to avoid recording to the drive where Windows is installed.

'''Video Capture Hotkey''': Ideally you don't want this button anywhere near the buttons you're using in the game you're recording, you don't want to push this button by accident in the middle of a run. To change key simply click the field and then push the button you want to use.

'''Video Capture Settings (fps)''': Here you have to do a little trial and error to see what your computer is actually capable of recording at. If you are trying 60 and the fps isn't steady at 60 you have to lower the recording frame rate or else you will get a choppy video. 30 fps shouldn't be a problem for most systems, but this can vary greatly depending on the game you're recording. FRAPS will also cap the frame rate of the game to the frame rate you've chosen to record at.

'''Video Capture Settings (image size)''': This should in almost all cases be set to full-size. If you are recording a game where the graphics scale very badly, i.e getting really ugly as you lower the resolution, it can be better to run the game at a higher resolution and have FRAPS lower the video resolution. Full-size requires more of the hard drive while half-size requires more CPU power due to the extra processing of resizing the image.

'''Sound Capture Settings (main)''': Record XP/Vista/Windows 7 sound, always checked and set to Stereo. There are some settings in Windows necessary to make this work properly, we'll get to that in the Windows Settings section.

'''Sound Capture Settings (external input)''': Always disabled when recording content intended for SpeedDemosArchive.

===Misc. Recording Settings Located In Movies Tab===
'''Don't sync audio and video''': Disabled.

'''Hide mouse cursor in video''': Disabled.

'''Force lossless RGB capture''': If you have a VERY fast hard drive, such as a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive], you might want to try recording with this option enabled. Keep in mind that this will eat hard drive space like nothing else, so don't use it for longer recordings.

===Screenshot Tab===
No settings here are important for your recordings.

==Windows Settings==
Note: This part of the guide is done using Windows Vista. Menus and options might look different on other versions of Windows.

===Drivers===
Make sure you have the latest official drivers for everything. Do not use third-party drivers when recording with FRAPS.

===Driver Download===
This is a list of the most commonly used official drivers/driver packages. These links will point you to the manufacturer's driver download section, not directly to driver installation files.

[http://www.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx AMD/ATI] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

[http://support.creative.com/Products/Products.aspx?catid=1 Creative] sound.

[http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support?iid=hdr+support Intel] chipset and integrated motherboard features.

[http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx Nvidia] chipset, integrated motherboard features and graphics.

===Sound Recording===
To get to the recording options click the Start Menu icon, settings, Control Panel, Sound, Recording.

It should look something like this.

[[File:recording_control.png]]

Make sure that Stereo Mix or What U Hear is selected as the default recording device. Sound recording with FRAPS should now work without problems.

==Game Settings==
These settings will vary greatly depending on the game you're recording, but there are a few rules of thumb that goes for most games. In most cases you want to go with image quality settings that are referred to as ”normal” or ”medium”.

'''Anisotropic Filtering''': Turn this off.

'''Anti-Aliasing''': Turn this off.

'''Nvidia PhysX''': Turn this off.

Not only do these settings raise the bitrate requirement for the video, they also put a lot more stress on your graphics card(s) which in turn might prevent you from running the game at a solid recording frame rate. Solid recording frame rate is more important than in-game graphics.

'''Vsync/vertical retrace''': If you're experiencing lag in your game turn this off. Do not be alarmed if you see [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing tearing], it will not show up in your video since the video frames are captured before they're sent off to the monitor.

==Can I Record All Games With FRAPS?==
Unfortunately not. FRAPS works great for games that are using [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directx DirectX] or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opengl OpenGL], but games using different rendering methods will most likely not work. FRAPS versions released prior to 2.9.9 might also have difficulties recording [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Directdraw DirectDraw] rendered games.

==To Think About Before Recording==
Shut down or disable any programs that might interfere with the game or FRAPS. Typical programs that possess this ability are anti-virus programs and instant messaging services that play sounds or display pop-ups during events. VoIP and voice chat programs, such as Ventrilo or Skype, should be turned off or muted. P2P programs, such as BitTorrent, will access your hard drive(s) a lot which is going to interfere with FRAPS so make sure these are turned off as well.

Make sure that the hard drive you're recording to has plenty of free space and is [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defragmentation defragmented]. If you have a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid-state_drive solid-state drive] defragmentation is unnecessary and actually hampers performance, so avoid it if you have one of these.

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