Capturing cRPG gameplay

[Teeth]

I want to be able to capture crpg gameplay, but I can''t really. I tried with fraps and on lowest settings ingame, half size and 30 fps it's still somewhat choppy. Does anyone have any tips to optimize fraps performance or some other software to capture gameplay?

These are my computer specs:
ATI Radeon HD 5870
Intel Core i5 750
8 gigs of RAM

It's not state of the art, but it's not that bad either. Do you really just need a NASA computer to capture shit or is there some performance to be gained by tweaking?

[Kafein]

I heard fraps is maybe not the right choice if you want low impact.

[Largg]

Not sure if I'm right but I think recording with 30fps reduces your fps in-game too. Have you tried recording with higher numbers, say 60 fps? Sure takes a lot a of hdd space uncompressed though.

[Ptolemy]

Fraps will lock your FPS in game to whatever you're recording at. To increase framerate, you have to increase the rate it records at.

This does increase filesize, but it also allows for slow-motion shots, if you're so inclined.

Conclusion: Record at a higher FPS for better results.

[ThePoopy]

save it to a different disc then fraps is on

[Teeth]

save it to a different disc then fraps is on

Just have one harddrive. Or do you mean a different partition? Like Fraps being on C: and saving on D:?

Fraps will lock your FPS in game to whatever you're recording at. To increase framerate, you have to increase the rate it records at.

This does increase filesize, but it also allows for slow-motion shots, if you're so inclined.

Conclusion: Record at a higher FPS for better results.

The problem is performance while recording, doubt recording with higher FPS will reduce the strain on my computer.

I heard fraps is maybe not the right choice if you want low impact.

Did you happen to hear about any alternatives? Still, loads of people that record gameplay use fraps and even record in HD and with a much smoother framerate. Do they all just have 2000 euro computers or something?

[Ptolemy]

The problem is performance while recording, doubt recording with higher FPS will reduce the strain on my computer.
Check that Fraps is using all available CPU cores (ctrl+alt+delete, right click fraps.exe, check associated cores - or something like that). If it already is, then the only solution is to get a better computer.

Did you happen to hear about any alternatives? Still, loads of people that record gameplay use fraps and even record in HD and with a much smoother framerate. Do they all just have 2000 euro computers or something?
Thread on this subject.

Also, try defragging your harddrive, sometimes that helps with Fraps recording speeds. Although don't hold out much hope for that one.

[Angantyr]

Use the much superior Playclaw instead.

[Ptolemy]

You say superior - for me, playclaw creates corrupt videos after 4GB file size.

[Vibe]

I want to be able to capture crpg gameplay, but I can''t really. I tried with fraps and on lowest settings ingame, half size and 30 fps it's still somewhat choppy. Does anyone have any tips to optimize fraps performance or some other software to capture gameplay?

These are my computer specs:
ATI Radeon HD 5870
Intel Core i5 750
8 gigs of RAM

It's not state of the art, but it's not that bad either. Do you really just need a NASA computer to capture shit or is there some performance to be gained by tweaking?

Funny enough, I have pretty much the same specs as you and recorded my vid with fraps at about 35 fps (I think) without problems.

[v/onMega]

Set 30 fps in FRAPS - Uncheck "Lock framerate".
Use a different partition then m&b is on.

Fraps doesnt lock your fps necesserily. Uncheck "lock framerate" and you ll just get double the fps ingame your video is supposed to be at.
So video 30, ingame you get your 60.

If that doesnt help, forget about Fraps.

Your harddrive is not able to write the necessary data ( i assume)
1080 p @ 60 fps is over 400mb p second. // half of it for 30 fps.

Without an SSD this is pretty much impossbru (since you only have 1 hdd)


And yes, Playclaw can be a great alternative ;-).

[Teeth]

Funny enough, I have pretty much the same specs as you and recorded my vid with fraps at about 35 fps (I think) without problems.

wat, you have an ssd or second harddrive?

[Vibe]

wat, you have an ssd or second harddrive?

a normal (eg no fast speed or something) harddrive

HD Radeon 5870
i5 760 @ 2.8 ghz
8 gig RAM

Could just be the processor? But I doubt it. I mean I wasn't getting perfect fps, eg it did stutter a bit, but it was playable.

[CrazyCracka420]

I tried recording the other day using fraps and it was fucking terrible.  My C-rpg runs on my solid state hard drive (c: drive) and my recording was going to my E: drive.  I have a basically brand new computer, and even trying to play at 60fps (which locked my in game to 60fps) was fucking retarded, I couldn't play for shit.  I normally play with 200+ fps in game, so that may be it, but I used to play games back in the day with 60fps and it wasn't hard to play at all.  With Fraps it was laggy as shit on 30 or 60 fps.  If you try to customize it, the highest it lets you go is still 60fps. 

So tonight I'm going to experiment with another program I found online...but it's possible that I just need to retry Fraps using half video size or something?  I play in 1280x1024 on pretty high settings normally. 

[Teeth]

a normal (eg no fast speed or something) harddrive

HD Radeon 5870
i5 760 @ 2.8 ghz
8 gig RAM

Could just be the processor? But I doubt it. I mean I wasn't getting perfect fps, eg it did stutter a bit, but it was playable.

I looked at your vid and it was in HD aswell. I don't even get a fluid recording at halfsize with lower ingame settings. Perhaps I just have a crap harddrive, don't think the slightly better processor would make that much of a difference.